1,000 Women Out of the Fields
On a trip through Southeast Asia, Beryl and Karen were impressed by the quality of the handmade goods found throughout the region. One product in particular, handmade quilts made by women in the villages, was so outstanding that they decided to explore the opportunity to help grow the nonprofit.
They discovered that about ten years ago a woman moved from her small village to a big city but never forgot the hardships under which the villagers especially the women worked. Both men and women left their homes early in the morning to work in the nearby fields, as that was the only source of money and food available to them. It was back-breaking labor and one of the many worries was that the children were left on their own while the parents were working. While they were supposed to be in school, there was no way to know for sure that they were in class or being truant. The quality of family life suffered greatly.
So this visionary thought to teach some of the women in the village her passion: quilting. Five women took the classes and began quilting. She took the quilts to the city to sell and found a ready market for them.
Fast forward ten years and there are now 310 women quilting in villages in Southeast Asia producing quilts for sale in three storefronts in the region. The number of quilt designs has expanded exponentially and it is a successful nonprofit with most of the profits being returned to the quilters.
Some of the women have been with the organization since the beginning, others for five or seven years and some beginners. To a person, they describe how the business has changed their lives and created a home environment where their children were accounted for and in school every day. The women walk them to school in the morning, share lunch, and help with homework. It was so life-changing that those interviewed said they would want to do nothing else as the work was both satisfying and rewarding.
indoTreasures is now the U.S. representatives for the nonprofit with the goal of getting 1,000 women out of the fields and into a better life.
indoTreasures is a for-profit organization doing business with a nonprofit in Southeast Asia.