Wednesday, January 08, 2014

freezing!!

I just never think of winter here, the sun is shining but inside away from it's rays it is icey. My fingers hurt and I have been quite a baby having a big whinge.
I have so much paperwork, catalogues, posters I am working on for the Garment Fair in less than 2 weeks,
sample making is going well, some teeth gnashing as well but manageable....
Nandu is still having a bit of a bad hair day so we took over the workshop and got some printing done....did you notice I said WE and it was WE for the first time Praveen picked up a block and did some printing...nervous at first but he enjoyed it once he got going- Good Man xx
Ranjit is madly labelling, Papu-ji machining g samples, Mumtah hand stitching
crazy, crazy, crazy....

Our Stitching Business is a social enterprise- we want to run a profitable business whilst being fair to all involved and making a positive impact in our area... stage 1 is going OK we employ rural women who work from home and earn a fair wage [Craftmark authenticated even] - we need to find more markets so we can increase the number of women we employ..... working on that...

Stage 2 we would like to do more locally to encourage education. I have been in love with the idea of a library for some time, I dream of having it mobile - I have a name "Hope Initiative"  I think it could one day also offer stitching training, computer training, what else to help women earn more income?
Time is the biggest factor- we are so busy and finding more time almost impossible....
but things keep happening to encourage the idea

stage 3 or maybe 2 - create work with direct input for our women, pay them for time per piece and then upon sale share the profits with those involved....for the exhibition in May I can see a starter piece called "Many Hands" I'll set the design for this one but hope to involve the woman to innovate in their block of the quilt.....kind of like the old idea of a community quilt- recently read Tracy Chevaliers' "The Last Runaway" perhaps a seed of an idea came from there....[ great read by the way]
  • this week I received a second donation of books- textile technique books- lots of pictures suitable for ladies to look at, gleam ideas
  • was thinking kids library and friends who have been to Laos suggested this model of Big Brother Little Mouse sounds good....now to find time...I also have a wallet of money people keep popping in my hands.....whew!
and of course it is new year Creative Arts Safaris Tours info to do....

it has been an interesting week with what comes into the email...
Social Enterprise has been the focus a few emails...interesting timing
Conserve India have been mentioned in a new book on social enterprise,
I heard about a group out of Australia 40K Foundation all about education and training social entrepreneurs....

and this morning a new idea Wello- they said....
Wello is a social venture with a bold mission: to effectively deliver clean water to a thirsty world.
By reframing the water crisis as an opportunity, Wello has reinvented the wheel and developed an innovative business model that empowers individuals to use the WaterWheel as an income-generating tool to lift their families out of poverty.
By giving people easier access to potable water, the WaterWheel frees up valuable time, and in the process, removes barriers that prevent children from going to school and empowers women to engage in more productive activities. Research shows that when women have extra time, they choose to spend it on activities that boost family income, education, health, and wellbeing. Women with even a few years of education have smaller, healthier families, and are more likely to send their children to school. Female education is a key means of breaking the cycle of poverty.
 
I have written to them, would love to get my hands on some and see if we can introduce them to our local area.....
charity is not the way to go, education, empowerment through fair employment for adults -women most definitely but men can't be left behind either.....
 oohh so are hopeful New Year dawns.....
off to shiver and stitch in the sun for a while whilst I thaw out.

2 comments:

Anu said...

Your work sounds very interesting, Great!!! Xxx Anu

Unknown said...

Clearly the cold helps inspire many new ideas, Fiona. All power to you.