Our producers
The groups and communities we work with are from all over India, and provide support to a range of people.
The desert communities and city projects of Gujurat
In the Kutch region of Gujurat in the northwest of India we bring hand embroidered bags which use the traditional embroidery techniques used by the rural artisans for many generations. The embroidery is traditionally a form of visual expression of how they perceive the world around them. The women also produce cotton patchwork quilts embellished with embroidery. The support organisation which organises the production and marketing of the products, focuses on the production of high quality merchandise using the finest of crafts from the region. Local skills are adapted by a team of designers for contemporary use, urban market and exports, without losing the handmade and traditional flavour.
Across the country in Ahmedabad, we are working with a city based organization which aims to organise women workers for full employment, so the women obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and shelter). It is hoped that security will lead to self reliance, so these women can be autonomous, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.
“We aim to provide support services like raw material supply, training, quality control, design development, and marketing support to these small groups of artisans, most of whom are women, at grassroots level”
Rural village women of Kerala
In southern India, in the state of Kerala, we are working with the Khadi and Village Industries Board - an organisation which produces Khadi handloom cotton: a simple, handspun and hand-woven cotton cloth, which was seen by Gandhi as a means for prosperity and self-reliance for the villagers, with the method of production preserving the natural quality of the raw materials. Gandhi described Khadi as ‘the livery of freedom’. This organisation seeks to plan, promote, facilitate, organise and assist in the establishment and development of Khadi and village industries in the rural areas, and employs over 12,000 artisans, mostly women below the poverty line. A big advantage of Khadi and Village Industries is that they require little or no capital to set up, thereby making them an economically viable option for the rural poor.
The Board has three main objectives:
- The Social Objective - Providing employment in rural areas
- The Economic Objective - Providing salable articles
- The Wider Objective - Creating self-reliance amongst people and building up a strong rural community spirit.
“Khadi stands for simplicity…it sits well on the shoulders of the poor, and…can adorn the bodies of the richest and most artistic men and women. It is reviving arts and crafts.” Gandhi, 17th March 1927
Disadvantaged village women in the hill stations of Tamil Nadu
In the hills of Tamil Nadu we are working with a women’s group of seamstresses and jewellery makers. These disadvantaged women, who have suffered, and are still suffering huge problems and who have experienced traumatic events in their lives, work together to provide much needed financial support, both in terms of an income and saving programme, for themselves and their families. Equally as important, their working community provides emotional support for each other.
“Nobody can believe that I can earn money. I wasted my whole life uselessly sitting in the house day in and day out, just because I am disabled. Look at me now! “ - Manimehala
