If I take a brutally honest look at myself I would tell you
that I may or may not have rolled my eyes on more than one occasion at signs
announcing fair trade. I’m old. I didn’t grow up with this stuff. Walking
through the pristine isles of Whole Foods, the scent of Lavender and Patchouli filling
my senses, it’s easy to look at hand woven scarves declaring they are “Fair
Trade” and think “Oh yeah? Fair to whom?”
I won’t lie, it just seemed like another gen x ploy to guilt
us in to spending more money. Until today. Today Derek and I went on a shopping
trip sponsored by the embassy. We really didn’t have a clear picture of what
the trip would be about, but it had the work ‘shopping’ in it, so I was in and,
well…Derek just humors me a lot.
At 8:30 this morning, a group of about 25 of us clambered
into a comfy air conditioned bus and spent an hour navigating our way through the
congested Dhaka traffic. Eventually, we arrived at a weathered looking building
and were greeted warmly by a woman who has worked for a company called Tarango
since 1994. The first thing I noticed about her was her intense enthusiasm for Tarango’s
mission. After climbing four flights of stairs we were shown to a medium sized
room where I was surprised to find, we would be seeing a presentation on
Tarango.
Like any large impoverished country, Dhaka has a huge
population of women who have been left victims of domestic violence, or
abandoned by husbands, widowed, or otherwise left with little or no resources
or options. It is Tarango’s mission to rescue these women through empowerment.
They are taught skills and given a purpose and a sense of dignity where there
was none before. A Priest from Germany was the initial founder of the
organization back in the 1970’s when Bangladesh first became its own nation.
Within the brick and concrete rooms, women of all ages are taught
weaving and sewing and other production skills. Their workshops are clean and
cool and they are treated with respect. I was touched, as our guide showed us
the facility, by the pride radiating from her face as she told us that every
item except things like zippers and snaps was handmade. All of the fabrics are
woven by the women. Purses and bags stitched together, baskets woven, all by
these women. Daycare and shelter are provided.
At the beginning of our tour, the
entire organization was explained with a power point presentation; as the
presentation finished a group of beautiful young girls entered the room in
black and red outfits. They looked to be anywhere from 12 to 20.
My heart and
throat both tightened as it was explained that each of these girls was
divorced, widowed, or simply a victim of domestic violence. Most had children
of their own. Even the very young ones. A girl was brought forward and asked to
turn to the side. Our guide lifted her kameez to relieve that her side was a
solid mass or scarring. Her husband’s family had killed her husband and set
fire to her, burning over 80% of her body.
The girls danced for us. It was a beautiful, empowering song and you could see the smiles on the
girls’ faces as they danced to words of courage and self-respect.
At the end of
the presentation we were shown several stark concrete work rooms and then a simple
sales room. Beautiful woven jute baskets and woven handbags lined the walls. Bags
of all shapes and sizes made from old cement bags were stacked high. The girls
themselves took our purchases.  |
| all hand woven textiles |
After spending some time there, we were led to
another building and shown the daycare facility. Once again, it was the women
themselves who tended to the children. In situations where it is not in the children’s
best interest to stay with their mother, boarding school is provided.
 |
| Bicycle bag |
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| these are made from actual cement powder bags |
 |
| A jute basket that I did NOT buy for Chumleigh, but try telling him that. |
 |
| woven wallet |
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| hand woven orno (scarves) |
It will be hard for some of you to see the pictures and
believe me when I say this is a good life for these women. You have not seen
the factories and sweat shops that I have seen. Or maybe you have. I was
shocked to hear our guide proudly announce that the women make 300 taka a day.
That’s about $3.85. A day. I was more shocked to hear that in the garment factories
they often make 20 taka a day. There are no paid vacations, no benefits, no
medical, but at Tarango there are. There is even profit sharing.
After a sumptuous lunch of local foods provided for their
VIP guests, it was time to leave. I think we were all a little extra generous
in our purchases for having met these child/women.
Our next stop was a company called Basha. Basha is run by a
lovely American woman named Robin who came here on a Mennonite mission and
couldn’t bear to leave. Basha is a rescue for girls who have been forced into
prostitution and want a way out.
There isn’t a time or a culture in the history of…well…history
that hasn’t dealt with prostitution. It has always been here, but for these
girls, in this place, an answer to their prayers is being provided. It’s a
simple plan. Women in Bangladesh often make blankets out of their old Sari’s.
Sari’s are beautiful. Turn one into a blanket and suddenly you have a beautiful
blanket. It’s that simple. The complicated part is rescuing these women.
There
is a lot of human trafficking here. Young girls from outlying villages are told
that they have secured a job in Dhaka or Chittagong, but when they arrive, they
are raped. Accordingly to some Muslim culture, once a girl has had sex, she is
unclean, unworthy. They become cast offs and often have no recourse but to turn
to prostitution. Some are just sold into prostitution outright.
At Basha the girls are trained to hand sew these beautiful blankets,
throws, pillow covers and bed runners. They are currently being sold across the
U.S. in stores like Pottery Barn and other upscale stores. In an effort to help
educate buyers to the real life women behind the products, each Basha blanket
has a tag in one corner with the name of the girl who made the blanket. You can
go to their website and read that girls bio.
I am pleased to tell you that this
is not a scam. I have seen these girls. They are real. They are beautiful and
Basha is helping them and their children.
So, our day did not go exactly as we had anticipated. A
little shopping outing had turned into so much more. I will never look at a fair
trade sign again and think, “Fair to whom?” I know who it is fair to because I have
met them and they have changed my thinking forever.
To Learn more about Tarango and Basha you can go to their
websites at:
1 comment:
Thank you so much for sharing this post. I learned so much. Their work is truly beautiful.
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