We had thought that Mr Jagan uses natural plant pigments to dye his papers, however we were proven wrong after we showed him some berries that Mandy and Ashley had picked. He actually uses chemical dyes, which he gets from Delhi as the pre-mixed contents would be more consistent, and longer lasting.
Mr Jagan is also revamping parts of the area around the unit, such as having a wall erected, and work started today. It was amusing watching Yongchang turned "farmer" when he asked us, " Do you want to see a farmer at work?", then proceeded to rig the soil where the wall is to be constructed.
Bead making continued while Mr jagan started the pulp beater machine. He showed us how paper pulp is created, and we each had a go. With fresh pulp avaible, Ashley experimented with it to find out if there was a difference between fresh and re-pulped beads.
After lunch, the team came up with some functional products made from the beads, a necklace and some beads made around wooden pencils(an idea by Mr Jagan which we improved on).
We were invited to some students' home, which also housed a provision shop, just right beside Sangam Academy . We were shown to a sitting room, where the cold breeze entered through a nasty crack in one of the windows. One of the teachers of Sangam Academy was present, and she applied spontaneous henna designs on the ladies' hands, over tea, biscuits and crackers. We were shown hospitability like such since day 1, and it was a warm feeling to experience in our hearts.
After dinner, homecooked porridge and a boiled egg was delivered to Weixin by the PMU crew and Hiang Tee came along too. Betty has been sleeping over with Weixin, and hopefully she gets well soon under Sachita's care.