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Find Your Feet: Glass Bead Making Project in India
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| Website |
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| Link ID |
252 |
| Title |
Find Your Feet: Glass Bead Making Project in India |
| Url |
http://www.fyf.org.uk |
| Description |
Background to the Project:
The city of Varanasi in northern India has long been famous for its exquisite silk fabrics. Thousands of traditional silk weavers are employed in the industry, but sadly most of them live in extreme poverty.
The vast majority of the silk weavers are members of the dalit caste (formerly known as ‘Untouchables'). As such, they suffer from every conceivable form of discrimination and are denied the right to live their lives with dignity.
Faced with chronic poverty, many silk weavers have been forced to sell their looms to moneylenders and middlemen, to whom they become bonded by cripplingly high repayment rates. The weavers are made to work long hours in appalling conditions; women, for example, often work 18 hours a day and it is becoming increasingly common for their children to work alongside them. The weavers are paid the bare minimum for their labour whilst the middlemen make a huge profit at their expense. The recent slump in the silk industry has only compounded an already precarious situation.
International development charity Find Your Feet (FYF) and local organisation the Human Welfare Association (HWA) are working together to enable the disadvantaged weaver communities to build a better future for themselves. The weavers are organised into community groups and collectively contribute regular savings to a group fund, which is used to establish a revolving fund. This fund is then available for members who wish to take out low-interest loans to set up small businesses so that they can earn a decent income.
Find Your Feet's Glass Bead Making Initiative:
One of the most recent small business initiatives to be introduced is glass bead making. Community group members have received training in making glass beads and are now running profitable businesses.
Vilda Devi is a young mother who has just started working as a bead maker to help boost her family income. For Vilda, the project is bringing about great improvements in her quality of life:
“Until recently, I wasn't working and my husband had to support us alone as a construction labourer, which pays very badly. Then, through my community group, I was offered the opportunity to start working from home making glass beads. I took a loan for the raw materials, and HWA sent a craftsman to come and train us in making and decorating the beads safely. At the moment we are buying the raw materials and selling the finished products to traders, but HWA are looking into sourcing the materials directly from suppliers and linking us directly to markets to make the business more profitable.
These days, I earn 50 rupees (60p) for every kilogram that I produce and I am currently producing a kilogram in about a day and a half.
My community group has also successfully lobbied the local government to provide a crèche for dalit children. I now send my child there so that I am able to work during the day without having to look after him or worry about him being near the flames.”
The beads that Vilda makes are a variety of colours and designs, some of them with extremely intricate detail. She is proud of her work and grateful for the opportunity to earn a steady income.
This is just one example of the many projects that Find Your Feet supports. FYF is dedicated to bringing hope and self-sufficiency to poverty-stricken communities in India and southern Africa .
But this valuable work depends on the generous support of people like you.
If you would like to support Find Your Feet by making a donation, please send a cheque/postal order/charity voucher made payable to Find Your Feet to: Find Your Feet, Freepost, LON7827, London, SW9 8BR. Alternatively, you can make an online donation by visiting www.fyf.org.uk.
To find out more about their work, visit their website or call 020 7326 4601. |
| Category |
Bead Charities > Online Bead Charities |
| Keywords |
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| Date |
Feb 9, 2006 |
| Contact Name |
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| Email |
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