The Rocking Yak

The Rocking Yak is a  grassroots company working in Tibet to aid in poverty alleviation. The mission is to work with rural Tibetan communities in the Yunnan province to produce quality, handspun yarn of pure yak down, knitting patterns, & kits to sell in local & foreign markets.  The Rocking Yak is committed to paying fair wages & earning a FAIRTRADE status for the company.  All of the profits are reinvested into the communities we work in.  

Our goal is to help the Tibetan villagers in our region by:

1.  Providing them with a chance to earn additional income, to better their livelihood, & reduce the income gap with them & the urban dwellers.

2.  Increase their self-worth as we impart in them a skill that has market value, while embracing the beauty of their culture.

3.  Using the profits to improve their quality of life through investing in healthcare & education.

As of now, The Rocking Yak is in the beginning phases of opening. Lots of work is being done on the Chinese side to get all the paperwork finished for approval by the Chinese government.  This is not as easy as one might think. 

My role in The Rocking Yak is to write patterns & design items to be made by the Tibetan villagers. I am currently working to complete the finishing touches on a few patterns.  These patterns will be available for purchase in my shop.  All income that is made from the sales of these patterns is going back into The Rocking Yak to help with the start - up costs of getting things rolling.

I am also working at putting together my first trip to Tibet. I am hoping to be able to go in the fall of 2009, but may have to wait until 2010. We will see how well plans fall into place.