Dehingkal Ghar

Project Overview

Near the bank of The Dehing River, lies the village of Dehingkalghar. The village is inhabited by some wonderful people who, for generations, have lived a rather simple and easy-going life and are involved in farming, fishing, etc. Even though they live in poverty, they clearly did not have enough guidance to face the immense hardships of their life, The speciality about Dehingkalghar village is that money power doesn’t work here unless people are kind and warm. In order to do a project here, one needs to gain the trust of people as the villagers often become offended regarding various issues. Hence, one needs to be calm and patient

Step by Step Projects

We began our workshops in handloom for our weavers in Dehingkalghar. We spent a total of ₹30000 in the handloom workshops which continued for 15 days . We procure raw materials which included eri silk and wool . The master trainer for the weavers was paid ₹1200 per day for the training and the trainees were provided ₹600 per day as their labour charges. The finished products were marketed under WEAVERS COTTAGE . 

The women who were initially housewives dependent on their spouses for all financial needs , were transformed into socio entrepreneurs who were becoming financially independent. The weavers began producing for us as we continued providing them with raw materials and they only began charging the weaving labour fee. Weaving charge for a muffler cost ₹90 and a set of Mekhala Chadar cost ₹400.

 At first they used to weave using traditional looms but we eventually introduced “Maina Automatic Handlooms” which makes the weaving process swifter. But some are still not comfortable with using the automated handlooms hence our startup began proving a blend of both. 

The artisans and weavers are both our partners and teammates. Total weavers and artisans who are working full time in weavers cottage are 4. And partner artisans who supply and sell their products to our startup .

These workshops not only provided a much needed optimistic change in the social fabric of the village but also transformed the lives of many families for better. Initially the people were skeptical towards welcoming such an establishment in their village , but once they got to experience the fruits of their labour , their enthusiasm enhanced manifold. WEAVERS COTTAGE provided a platform to the women , not only to enhance their skills but also to become financially independent. This reduced their dependence on patriarchal tendencies present in the communities and people began acknowledging their importance and potential in the society. Youth , adolescents and women were empowered through this project. Socioeconomic changes in this villages were brought about by the dropouts.  The artisans and weavers who were  initially dropouts belonging to extremely poor families and desperate to find employment could build their own future and  become self sufficient.

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