HAWI — The Hands of Tibet, an online business and store in Honokaa that added a shop in Hawi last December, is all about connections — connections within communities and across the planet.
HAWI — The Hands of Tibet, an online business and store in Honokaa that added a shop in Hawi last December, is all about connections — connections within communities and across the planet.
Co-owners Tenzin Norbu and Robyn Scarth met in 2000 while teaching at a boarding school in Nepal. Norbu, a monk at the time, had been sent by his monastery to teach Tibetan. For Scarth it was her first teaching job after college.
After Norbu left the monastery, they married in 2002. Before coming to Hawaii, the couple lived in Vermont.
“The Hands of Tibet was a hobby of his in a tiny little closet in our apartment,” said Scarth.
But when they moved to Hawaii, where Scarth was hired to teach at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, the hobby grew into a business.
“We moved here and I had a job but he didn’t, so he put all his time and energy into his hobby,” she said.
The Hands of Tibet soon grew from an online, garage-based business to a shop on main street Honokaa in 2015 and another in Hawi a year later.
“It’s kind of nice having a shop in two different small communities on the Big Island. You get connected to the people who live there and the things that are happening there. We definitely have that in Honokaa, and now in Hawi we’re starting to building up connections,” said Scarth.
In a way, Scarth and Norbu are carrying on and expanding old traditions gleaned from Norbu’s roots.
“His dad was part of the salt trade between India and Tibet. He would go to India and buy things and take them to Tibet, trade them and then go back again,” she said.
Many of the items in both shops literally come from the hands of Tibet, across the planet to Hawaii. While the business is based in Nepal, many of the employees, as well as Norbu, are from Tibet and have weathered the difficulties of political instability.
“Thupten and Palkyi are the couple that make most of our malas (prayer beads). They are both Tibetan refugees who were a monk and a nun. Now Thupten is our main contact in Kathmandu. He knows the other artists we work with and he’s Tenzin’s go-to person. Palkyi is in charge of training others to help with making malas,” said Scarth.
Each store has a giant singing bowl, along with smaller affordable ones, as well as pendants, woven table cloths, wall hangings and clothes. They will soon add more books to the few they carry.
In addition, the shops have a plethora of prayer flags, which also come from Nepal.
“Samten is our source for prayer flags in Kathmandu. His family came to Kathmandu from Yolmo, a village outside of the Kathmandu Valley. We visited Samten’s prayer flag business several times and were able to see how they print the different flags and talk with the women working in the shop,” said Scarth.
The Hands of Tibet is a planetary network of interpersonal connections.
“Tenzin goes on buying journeys at least once a year. This year he was able to stop in Thailand and meet some of the people that make the products from there,” she said.
Those personal connections are one of Norbu’s favorite parts of the business.
“Like the people we work with in Bali, he knows them. We’ve met their kids. That’s really important to him,” said Scarth.
The Hands of Tibet supports globalization in the best sense of the word.
“Yes it’s great that he can support his family, but then he has all these other people he’s supporting so they can support their families,” she said. “Wayan makes yoga clothes, banners and flags we buy from Bali. He and his wife have several shops. They employ several people and work directly to make the products themselves.”
Along with community connections, the shops provide an educational venue.
“Having a shop like the ones we have, I feel like there’s a lot of education that happens. People come in and have questions about a product and often those conversations turn into conversations about Buddhism or Nepal or Tibet. In Honokaa there are kids that come in while they’re waiting to go to their hula halau and ask questions such as ‘What’s this? Aunty, what does this mean?’” Scarth said.
The two communities have their own unique flavor.
“In Hawi, it’s very much a yoga community so we have a lot of yoga clothes. But there are also a lot of visitors who find their way to Kohala and are curious about the community, so as well as meeting the local community in Hawi, it’s fun to meet the visitors and find out what they’ve done, where they’ve been,” she said.
The same aloha is extended to all who venture into either shop.
“Yesterday there was a homeless woman who lives in Honokaa and she really wanted one of these dresses. She was trying the dresses on and trying to figure it out. Here you are, talking to someone who lives in your community, who doesn’t have a home. She said she was thankful that there are businesses with people who are willing to just talk to her and not shoo her away,” said Scarth.
While Tibetan traders braved the Himalayas, fortunately Norbu and Scarth have only to traverse the Kohala Mountain Road that, while at times fierce, is a little less threatening. Hopefully their two market places will be as enduring as those in the ancient world.
“When we were in Nepal last year we went to several of the old market places and sometimes traders would come from India and Tibet and they would meet in these central squares in Katmandu. Those squares are still the main shopping areas of the city,” she said.