Our Producers Partners

Our producer partners

Rabha Women’s Cooperative

The Rabha Women’s Cooperative helps women from the Assam and West Bengal areas in India. These districts are at an important stage in their development; good education is urgently needed so that the younger generation can enter the crowded Indian workforce, and the community needs to develop a broader economic base. Cottage industry is a way to make this happen, with immediate results.

In response to the need of the Rabha people, Chami voluntarily started a weaving centre for women. The centre enables Rabha women to relearn the age-old craft of weaving and to produce traditional designs. This has led to the resurgence of traditional Rabha clothing, which in turn provides employment for the women and enables them to supplement their subsistence agricultural economy. At the moment, the women in the cooperative weave tablecloths, table runners, traditional clothes and other similar items.

Sugandh

Described as a centre for creative learning and earning for people living in extreme poverty, Sugandh, which means fragrance in Hindi, was formed in response to the great needs of people in New Delhi, India. It aims to provide non-formal education and opportunities to improve life skills through vocational and other training. Sugandh has a policy of networking with other groups and organisations in order to effect changes in the lives of the poor at grassroots level.

Some of the skills taught and developed at Sugandh are sewing, embroidery, the production of handmade cards and silk painting. These skills in turn develop creative expression, skills training and a source of income for the people involved. As well as this craft centre, Sugandh runs informal literacy and numeracy classes for young children and provides medical and other assistance as needed. Special English classes to help young people improve their chances of more steady and rewarding work, adult literacy classes for women, community self-help groups and micro-credit enterprises have been initiated as well.

Iren

Loin loom, also known as back-strap loom weaving, is an indigenous weaving technique of the people of Mizoram, NE India. The loin loom weaver produces exclusive products as each piece is individually warped and hand woven. A 200cm stole will take around two to three days to weave, depending on the design and the thickness of the yarn used. This weaving cannot be done on a regular loom and is produced by highly skilled ladies of the community. The unique technique allows for great variety in terms of design and colour combinations as each product is crafted piece by piece.

Irene is a fashion designer who felt drawn to maintain crafts which are rapidly dying out. She started a handloom industry where she trains the weavers to the highest level of quality and aesthetic sensibility. Products created by Irene have been developed to ensure that this dying craft survives through time and will be passed on to future generations, thus continuing to provide employment both now and in the future.

Post Tsunami Health, Education and Livelihood Promotion (HELP) Project

After a series of relief and rehabilitative work in different parts of India, ADRA - India is currently working for the development of the poor and vulnerable women of the Cuddalore district. Project HELP (post tsunami Health, Education and Livelihood Promotion) has been initiated to address this objective.

As part of the livelihood programme, the agency has trained vulnerable women and adolescents in alternative skills, based on resources available locally in the areas affected by the Tsunami. They have learned to produce a variety of handicrafts such as perfumed decorative candles, fancy cotton bags, perfumed incense sticks and cones.

A common interest women’s group has been organized, and selected vocational training has been given according to interest and feasibility. The women are now running these production units on their own and, in turn, are producing various handicrafts in different areas of the Cuddalore district in southern India.

Heritage Handloom and Handicrafts (HHH)

Based in Mizoram, NE India, Heritage Handloom and Handicrafts (HHH) was established with the objective of creating a viable avenue for the less privileged members of the society through their unique skills in handicrafts and handloom weaving. The artisans working for the unit are both men and women who combine their various skills in order to create competitive merchandise to suit contemporary life.

HHH aims to provide sustainable employment to the artisans through traditional crafts and to generate more employment opportunities in the handloom and handicrafts industry. The ultimate aim of the unit is for social entrepreneurship to become a creative force in building a just and fair society. Each product of HHH is exclusively handmade using traditional skills such as loin loom and fly shuttle looms. The most popular items are handwoven belts, neckties, table runners and placemats.

Sahayak

Sahayak is the community development project of the social action wing of Delhi Bible Fellowship.

Sahayak means 'helper' in Hindi and works with Zakheera which is a slum community in Delhi.

The various programmes running in Zakheera are 1. Adult women literacy classes, 2. Medical camps and treatment, 3. Values classes for adolescent youth in the slum and women's empowerment programme (income generation)

The profits of the purchases of the products of the income generation program contributes towards:

1. Increasing the women's family's income by 25%

2. Supporting their children's education

3. The profits further contributes to the larger slum community by the following:

· Nutrition program: providing milk five days a week for 25 malnourished children in the community.

· Preschool: For 15 children (3-5 yrs of age) who are from very poor families.

· Motor water pumps are being installed where more than 100 families benefit from it as there is no provision of water in any of the houses in the slum and they depend on public water supply and hand pumps most of which are non functional.

· Zero interest loans are provided to the women in cases of emergency.

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