So I wanted to share a new collaboration I've been working on. It's something thats been on my mind for a while.
I came across the Bali Street Mums Project not too long after it started when I saw their market stall at the Samadi Farmers Market in Canggu which just happens to be close to our little Bali house.
They take some of the poorest women off the streets and the rubbish dumps where they beg and scavenge to try to make enough to feed their children. These women come from the poorest parts of Bali where their villages have been cut off by volcanic eruptions in the past and where there is no way to make a living.
So as well as supporting the women while they are out there on the streets, they encourage them to come and visit the centre they have set up. Its a place where the women are exposed to all kinds of activities and crafts to find something they are good at or enjoy that they can then potentially make an income from. As the women increase their skills and create products that are sold at the market they realise they have other options..its so empowering for them and increases their self worth.
I visited the centre after discussing some ideas .. something simple to provide jobs for the less skilled women, we decided on a drawstring bag that I could use as a storage bag or gift bag for my quilts.
The women come and go as they please and have the peace of mind of working when they want to and knowing that their children will be educated and fed in the safe little classrooms set up at the centre.
Here are a few images below of the ladies at work creating my bags as well as beaded jewellery projects, glasses and toy making. The girls did a lovely job on our bags which I will also have instore as a gift bag option. We don't aim to profit from these but cover the fabric and their wage and the shipping so that we can continue to provide work for them.
You can head to their Facebook page if you'd like more information here.