Our Trip to the Wood Factory

We were privileged to take a field trip to the Sr. y Sra. Ese wood factory during our last week at school. The store is a third generation family owned business that has manufactured woods for over 45 years. They supply wood products to gift shops and venders not only in Costa Rica but in other countries as well. This past week as we returned from a conference in Mexico, I found the same wood jewelry in the Mexico City International Airport, with it's made in Costa Rica label. The field trip allowed us an inside look at all the steps required for manufacturing the beautiful products we see in the local gift shops.

Due to the high levels of dust, we were required to wear masks as we started the tour. I didn't mind so much as it provided me a bit of anonymity as I walked as far away from these characters as I could! The pictures below show the different types of wood and their beautiful grains. The logs are dried outside for about 4 years before being cut and stacked for another drying time. After, the logs are planed and cut for specific uses and then sanded for a smooth finish.

Here you can see the variety of beautiful woods as well as the different sizes of pieces. Nothing goes to waste as plastic buckets of tiny pieces and beads are used as embellishments or for jewelry. The pieces themselves are put into a tumbler where the natural oils in the woods surface to give a beautiful shine without the use of any chemicals or finishes.

The pieces are categorized according to the products being made and each worker makes the individual product of his or her choosing - whether it be a purse, decoration, or jewelry. The more complex the item, the more time required to assemble it. Therefore, the worker is paid not only by quantity, but on a set quota determined by the complexity of the item. The woman below making these pens topped with small butterflies assembled one per minute. The woman assembling the wooden bowl below created one every 4 minutes! In addition to manufacturing wood products, Costa Rica protects it's national forests (there are 13 forest reserves) and practices conservation to protect against deforestation - a problem we witnessed while in West Africa where wood exports are a source of income as well.