Women Artisans in Janakpur

Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center was the first artisan workshop we associated ourselves with over a year ago.This woman-owned and operated center produces original and distinctive designs and has been running for over 15 years. Janakpur is located in the southeast region of Nepal bordering India and is a world away from Kathmandu. The illiteracy rate is over 65% and education is still not looked at as a priority for many families in the area. Most of the women that work at the center have not been to school and some have tragic and painful stories of family abuse, personal loss, extreme poverty and caste discrimination.

The employment opportunity the center provides these women not only offers them a financial income, it also encourages their creativity and self confidence. By working at the center and gaining economic independence, they are role models for their daughters and success stories in their communities. The artisans work either at the center or in the comfort of their own homes (some of their husbands do not allow them to leave the house). Each artisan is specially-trained in a certain aspect of production, for example, master fabric cutter, detail painter, tailor, designers, etc.

On my current trip to the Center, I was able to meet up with women who we have worked with from the beginning. It was great to hear their stories and find that most of them are healthy. Ranju, the master seamstress who makes our cushion covers, has recovered fully from an emergency hysterectomy. That is good news. And since we were there last, they have added 5 women on staff. It is great to go into the workshop and be remembered and feel natural amongst the women artisans. We am proud to be working with them, for them and creating a connection between them and YOU!

Skills Training w/ Lanjana

In September Global Daughter sponsored our lead designer, Lanjana, in a skills training workshop in Kathmandu. Here she was instructed by a fashion desinger from India on techniques in fushion of raw materials. For example, combining leather with elephant grass or nettle fibers with wood or bamboo. She attended the one-week course with about 20 other women artisans from the valley. We were proud to have her there representing our producers, Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center. She told me she learned many new things, and already she has started to produce protypes. We are very fotunate to have her associated with our project and hope to get her involved in more skills development workshops in the future! (Also, congratulations to Lanjana on her up-coming marriage!)

Lanjana joins Global Daughter!

Welcome Lanjana, Global Daughter's new lead designer and master seamstress. We are very excited to have her on the team and look forward to seeing what great things she comes up with in the future! She has just left work at a felt factory where she was the senior manager and coordinator of 50 women artisans. Ten years back she worked for one of the major fair trade organizations in Kathmandu as a seamstress and has extensive experience with export-quality manufacturing.

The felt factory Lanjana was recently working at was shut down by the Maoists (communist party) because the factory owner refused to "pay them off." When the group of hooligans came by the factory monthly to collect money for the "people's movement" the owner was forced to "donate." Until one month he basically said piss off. So the Maoists threatened him and eventually closed the factory. So Lanjana and the other 50 women were out of a job. The manager of our main production workshop, Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center offered to hire Lanjana because of her great reputation as a hard worker and designer. So she started working with him and then Global Daughter offered to pay her extra to exclusively design for us. This is a great opportunity for her and she seems to be very excited about being creative again and designing her own stuff.

She is 30 years old and is the only daughter and youngest of 7 children. Her parents have arranged her marriage and she will be married in November. She has been a seamstress since she left school in grade 8 and is a very progressive Nepali woman with spunk and confidence. She has no formal training in design, but she understands the domestic materials that Nepal has to offer and she has experience with any and all fabrics.

Welcome to Global Daughter, Lanjana!

THE SEWING MACHINE PROJECT

Global Daughter aims to provide women artisans the best opportunities to be creative and productive. That is why we have initiated a project that will supply the women of Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center with a brand new sewing machine. Half of the proceeds from the new "I want to be a Global Daughter" shopping bag will go to a fund to purchase a modern sewing machine for the women's workshop in Janakpur, Nepal.

They currently have 3 dinosaur-old second hand machines, two of which need to be repaired. The Center does not have the money to repair the old ones or buy a new one. This has effected production volume and that effects the women's income. A new sewing machine not only creates more opportunities for the women artisans, it also contributes to the growth and potential of the Center. And that is what we want to see with all our producers. We want to invest in their lives and establish long term relationships.

One quality sewing machine can make a big difference to women artisans whose livelihoods are connected to their handicrafts. So, join the project, pick up a Global Daughter cotton shopping bag at the next house party or wait to purchase when our online boutique is launched in September!



A bag that tells a story......

Meet Sweta..and little Shreeshyam

Sweta just started working with Global Daughter. She lives in the basement of the owner of Janakpur Arts and Crafts (our main producer). She is 27 years old with one child, the sweetest thing in the world, Shreeshyam. Shreeshyam enjoys cheese balls and likes to help mom stitch, but because he is underage and GD follows fair trade practices, we will hold off on hiring him full time! Sweta is in a love marriage with a man from a caste that her parents find "less desirable," so that is why they live seperate from their families (this is rare in Nepal). While her husband is at work, she sews and stitches GD's cushion covers and curtains; most recently she has been working on our new "i am a global daughter" cotton shopping bag. She can sew on a button faster than the best! She is a quick learner and eager to use her time home alone with Shreeshyam in a fruitful way.

Again, seeing everything produced from start to finish is so thrilling. Meeting the women (and their little ones) is the most rewarding part of the process. All of these women are mothers first, so if they can work in the comfort of their home while caring for their children, they are more productive, more independent and happier.

Enjoy your "i am a global daughter" cotton shopping bag, thanks Sweta!

MEET URMILA AND ROMA

Urmila working on a new design

Their room

Roma needling beads for the Cleopatra Malla necklace

Meet the artisan

Don't quit your day job

Bead Beauties

Urmila, 70 and her daughter Roma, 24 make the beaded Global Daughter Cleopatra Malla necklaces. They work out of their home, a 16' x 16' room with one bed to share, a night stand and a portable cooking stove. They rent the room out for about $14 a month. It is just them in the family, the husband died 10 years ago and they have no other living relatives. They are originally from a border city in Southwestern Nepal. Roma left school in 8th grade to take care of her mother. She started bead working at 14, when her father died to earn a living. Urmila has been doing bead work for over 30 years. She is uneducated and it is the only skill she has to generate an income. At 70, Urmila is a very spirited and energetic woman; she had a smile on her face the whole time I was visiting. Roma takes care of her mother and will probably never marry because she would have to go live with her husband's parents and leave her mother. Despite her fate, she constantly is laughing and smiling. 

Both work 8 hours a day, Sunday through Friday and can finish one necklace in 4 hours. They sit cross-legged on the floor in their tiny room and needle beads from morning until night. They get paid per piece, so the more they make, the more money they receive. They make about 30% of the cost of one necklace. They have been working for Anup Beads for 10 years. They told me that all day they are working, they are talking, drinking tea together and enjoying the relaxation of beading. They are both extremely detail-oriented and very skilled with intricate designs. 

It was great to be able to meet them and see the artists behind our beautiful and unique necklaces. Their modest life made it clear how much they depend on their bead skills to survive. We look forward to giving them as much work as possible! I will begin working with them this month to design and create beaded drink coasters and bracelets. Hopefully, we can bring them more business and introduce their fine work to consumers worldwide. They are very warm and friendly women and I am proud to be working with them. Visits with women artisans are the most rewarding part of the Global Daughter journey and the key to our mission.

Visiting Global Daughter Artisans

Our visit to meet the Global Daughter women artisans was nothing short of incredible. We both were overwhlemed by their spirit and talent. The fifteen hour overnight bus trip from Kathmandu in a junker bus riding rims was all worth it. We stayed four nights in Janakpur with the women- in the house of the project's coordinator, Rina. She lives on the top floor and the workshop is in the basement and outside on the patio. Fifteen women artisans work at the shop and several others work from home (some husbands don't allow their wives out of the house). They each specialize in a certain skill. Some are detailed painters, some build boxes, some stitch and tailor. They range in age from 18 to 70. The 70 year old takes a nap everyday from 1-2- she sprawls out under the paints table and takes a little snooze.

The conditions of the shop are comfortable and the women have freedom during the day to go at their own work pace. They eat lunch together and socialize as they assemble their boxes, paint their Christmas balls and embroider their cushion covers. After seeing it with our own eyes, we would like to assure our customers that the work environment is safe and the women are being compensated fairly.

The name of the project is Janakpur Arts and Crafts Center. They are commissioned by other sellers in Italy and Japan to do traditional Mathila art work. Mathila art is a special form of drawing figures that depict auspicious occasions like weddings and baby devotionals. The items we are having them make are more fashion-forward western trends. When we met them and spoke to them (through a translator) we realized that our design ideas are so new and different for them. We have full confidence after seeing their work, however, that our products will be top quality and will sell well in western markets.

Every woman who works at the shop has a personal story that is fascinating. Some have been abused, some are widows, some come from extreme poverty, and most are uneducated. In the future we would like to feature their individual stories on our website or on this blog. We have so much to learn from them as women and citizens of the world. We invite all customers and friends of Global Daughter to come to Nepal and meet the artisans that make your beautiful products.

Our interactions with these women will be woven into the Global Daughter mission. We knew we wanted to be a part of the development of women here, but now after witnessing what fair trade can do to change lives, we are charged now more than ever. This renewed inspiration will help us forward through the rough and discouraging times of getting this whole thing off the ground. Please continue to follow the movement....there are women on the other side who thank you.