through sewing. That's what the Lydia Project at OM in Hyderabad is doing. The women take old saris and turn them into jackets, dresses, purses, small bags, pillow covers, and more. They learn a skill, sell what they make, learn how to budget their income, and use some of their proceeds to make micro-loans to other women. The cycle of poverty is broken in small ways to the hum of a sewing machine.
Grace and I took a couple of hours one afternoon and walked up the stairs to the sunlit room full of women, sewing machines, and fabric scraps.
Meena showed us around and pulled out lots of items for us to choose from.
I love purchasing right from the creators of such beauty, knowing that they will directly benefit. It's a joyful kind of shopping.
3 comments:
Oh, those silk purses! (bottom photo) My daughter likes those; we've bought them at Tibetan stores. How to the women sell what they make? Is it local or do they export?
Laura,
They do both. They sell right in the workroom and they also export through people they know and church groups, I believe. I don't know all the details of the export side, but have the contact info if you're interested.
Sure! I don't know if it would make sense for me to contact them for one bag, but if I knew a store they sold to, I could shop there knowing it was helping them. I've bought these bags in Tibetan stores, but as those usually have a strong Buddhist overtone, I'm wondering where these ladies sell.
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