It’s not often that a job places you in Bangladesh, halfway around the world from home (Kansas, USA). Even rarer is the chance to visit face-to-face with the women in Mumbai, India who make up a grassroots organization that you have admired for years. Add to this the alignment of your vacation dates with the visit of the organization’s founders, and your good providence provides you with a trip that is fun, educational, and inspiring.
I first learned about Marketplace Handwork of India (MPI) in 2001 as a Women’s Studies student at Kansas State University. Inspired by the organization’s mission and model, I volunteered with a women’s weaving cooperative in Guatemala. Upon graduating, I joined Equal Exchange, a fair trade worker-owned cooperative near Boston, Massachusetts. Over time I met and maintained contact with Pushpika Freitas, founder of MPI, seeing her at fair trade events and interviewing her for an article in 2007. Reading, thinking, and writing about a pioneering group, however, cannot compare with visiting the organization itself, as my sister and I did this past September.
We caught Pushpika a few days into her Mumbai trip. She was the most gracious of hosts, despite lingering jet lag and a hectic schedule. Delphine and Nooreen of SHARE managed our visit details, arranging housing, transportation, and activities—leaving us with the sole responsibility of showing up. What an amazing team!
To begin our visit, we headed to the main workshop space in Santa Cruz with Pushpika. The empty space was soon bustling with designers, fabric dyers, and SHARE employees—all ready to prepare the spring collection for production. Katrina and I were happy to stay out of the way as everyone got down to work. Soon Prajakta, SHARE Program Manager, arrived and we headed off to the Pushpanjali collective, some 40 minutes from the Santa Cruz space.
Pushpika discusses embroidery with Meeta and Dipika (embroidery supervisors)Travelling by auto rickshaw to Pushpanjali, we passed slums, high rises, and large trucks belching diesel fumes; the noisy traffic forced our conversation to something akin to screaming. All the same, we enjoyed chatting about Mumbai, Marketplace/SHARE, and our respective work. Arriving at the Pushpanjali collective, we were greeted by over 20 smiling women. We were offered chairs, but opted to sit on the floor like everyone else (a gesture that would leave our American bodies rigid within an hour or so!). A group member applied tika with red and ochre powder to our forehead, and we were given a rose and served hot tea and biscuits.
Meeting with members of the Pushpanjali collective
Prajakta translated as we explained our visit and the women answered our questions about their lives and work. The majority of women have two to three children and live in a room about 10 x 10 feet with their family. Before joining the collective, many women were afraid to leave their homes; now they can travel across town on their own. While many husbands resisted their wives working, the women persisted in showing up at the workshop, sometimes beginning work at 10:00 at night. With Marketplace, the women learned about women’s rights, domestic violence, and have gathered the courage to voice their concerns. One woman mentioned that she now feeds her children—girl and boy—equally.
View of the neighborhood from the Pushpanjali collectiveIn the afternoon, Katrina and I visited two other collectives with Hasinaji. We weaved between two story houses with narrow walkways and walls jutting out (us tall Americans had to watch our heads!). In the Nirmaan collective, women sewed in a tiny room on the ground floor while on the floor above them, more women embroidered; in the last tiny space available, children had class (and got to practice their English on the visitors!). The Sahara collective required ascending a steep ladder to the second floor, where we were greeted with more smiling women who were delighted to find that my sister shares the same first name as a Bollywood actress.
Children at the Nirmaan collective
Katrina with members of the Sahara collectiveEvery collective we visited, we were greeted with big smiles and small, sincere gestures of hospitality. Since learning about Marketplace years ago, I’ve dreamed of meeting the women in person. Visiting the groups, it’s clear to see that this organization is truly about empowering women. When asked how their lives had changed since joining Marketplace, one artisan had said, “We have our own money now.” After our visit, however, it is clear that personal income is only one among many benefits that these women gain; in turn, they had so much to share with us.
Nooreen and Katrina join the Dandiya dance (during Navratri Hindu festival of worship and dance)
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I was struck by the key support that SHARE provides for Marketplace artisans. My visit allowed me to witness the organization’s commitment to grassroots development and women’s empowerment, and I wholeheartedly recommend supporting SHARE through a monetary donation:
No, we don't have tortillas here in Bangladesh. But we DO have parathas--a sort of flat bread. And our friendly neighborhood grocer Mr. Moonshine (yes, that is really his last name) provides us with kidney beans and olive oil. I get Australian colby cheese at Khulshi Mart grocery store. And the cukes, onions, garlic, and tomatoes are widely available in veggie markets here.
