CraftHER Venture Week 1 | Laidlaw Students Community

On June twenty fourth I arrived in Cochin, India for the CraftHER Management in Motion challenge, sponsored by Swara! Over the following six weeks my cohort shall be touring round completely different cities in Kerala, working with quite a lot of organizations and studying about conventional crafts and handiwork whereas uplifting and amplifying the voices of girls who work in these sectors. Alongside the way in which, I’m immersing myself within the colours, sights, sounds, and tastes of this new place, attempting to soak up as a lot as I can suddenly. To this point the expertise has been exhilarating, informative, and so enjoyable. I am full of a lot gratitude for this place and for all the individuals working to make this challenge doable, particularly @Asha Scaria Vettoor I am unable to wait to proceed our work, go to new locations, and meet extra girls across the state over the following few weeks! 

Throughout our first week in Cochin, my cohort labored with a corporation known as Save the Loom and their affiliated retailer, One Zero Eight. Save the Loom was established after the devastating floods Kerala skilled in 2018 with the objective of rehabilitating and restoring the follow of making hand woven cloth. Their work began by actually rebuilding the enormous wood looms which had been smashed aside by the water, however has grown and continued over the previous years—they now concentrate on using and empowering weavers, most of whom are girls attempting to offer for themselves and their households. This artwork is dying, with much less individuals taking it up yearly, however Save the Loom is attempting to reverse that pattern and preserve the normal follow alive by each educating individuals in regards to the handloom and promoting merchandise made with the weaver’s cloth, offering them a gentle revenue. Over the course of some days we discovered in regards to the weaving course of from begin to end and acquired to witness the yarn being dyed, spun, processed, threaded, and woven. Each one among these processes is finished solely by hand with no electrical energy. I attempted my hand on the loom and it was so troublesome—these girls are actually forces of nature to have the ability to weave the way in which they do, utilizing each a part of their physique to maintain the items transferring in an ideal rhythmic trend and ending yards of cloth in mere hours. At a few of our website visits we additionally had the privilege of talking with the ladies, listening to about their lives, how they discovered the artwork of weaving, and what they hope for sooner or later. Listening to their tales and witnessing the work firsthand simply makes the merchandise they create that rather more invaluable. 

After studying all about their work and visiting with some of their companions, we labored with Save the Loom to create a brand new social media technique and up to date on-line presence for the group. By offering content material and technique ideas, we hoped to go away them with a sustainable plan that can improve the web attain of their group sooner or later. 

Working with Save the Loom was an excellent introduction to our total challenge, offering a complete and detailed historical past of the craft sector in India, in addition to its present state of affairs. I left feeling so impressed. On daily basis right here is really a brand new journey and the weeks are flying by. Trying ahead to extra studying alternatives and new experiences as we proceed onwards!