Handicraft Catalogue 2012 - Calcutta Rescue

The Handicrafts Project TodayWhat began as a peripheral clinic activity has developedinto a vibrant, stand-alone project that now has formalFair Trade accreditation. In 2008/09, more than half of allhandicrafts sales were to Fair Trade shops.It has a workshop in the Soba Bazaar area of north Kolkata.Staff members are former patients – widows andwomen who have been deserted by their husbands, orwhose husbands are too sick to find regular work. Studentswho have had difficulty with academic educationor dropped out of school are also employed. They arelearning new skills and are continuously improving thosethey have learned. And, of course, they are earning valuableincome for themselves and their families. This is allthe more significant in a context in which uneducated andunskilled women are typically at the lowest level of employabilityand constantly vulnerable to exploitation.In mid-2009, the Handicrafts project had 25 sewing traineesand four art trainees (all ex-patients or drop-out studentsfrom Calcutta Rescue’s schools) – in addition to the12 regular daily staff. Not only does the project producea wide range of handicrafts that are sold both in Indiaand abroad, it also makes clothes and other items forthe patients and students at Calcutta Rescue’s Clinics andschools. Its catalogue includes cards, bags, cushion covers,table linen and many other quality products. A newand innovative range that recycles old silk into attractiveshawls, scarves and bags, for example, has proved tobe very popular among customers in Europe and NorthAmerica. The Handicrafts Project works closely with CR’sWeaving Project, using, whenever possible, cloth that hasbeen spun and woven there.5