Artisans

In cities such as Kolkata (Calcutta), India, many women live in traditional patriarchal communities and are not allowed to work outside their homes. ConneXions offers these women the opportunity to collect the raw materials for their quilts and scarves and take them home to produce. This opportunity to work from home and earn a living wage opens the door to economic empowerment for the artisans. With the income received through their employment with ConneXions, the artisans are able to increase the educational opportunities for their children (especially their daughters) as well as help their families survive setbacks, particularly when illness or unemployment strikes.

Eden Ministries reaches out to red-light districts through prevention, outreach, and advocacy strategies. Eden’s model is to reach, rescue, and restore the lives of women trapped in human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Eden has worked in Asia for many years. In that time hundreds of women have received holistic care that includes safe shelter, education, rehabilitation, and therapy–empowering them with hope for a new life and a bright future.

Eden’s jewelry is handcrafted by young women like Thiri, who was sold to over 20 men per day during the three years she was trapped in sexual slavery. Thiri said that before arriving at Eden, her heart felt like it was shattered into thousands of pieces. But now, Thiri knows that her heart is being sewn back together by the love she receives at Eden.

In Jordan, people with disabilities are often in the position of living as “takers" and search for whatever handouts they can persuade someone to give them.

Through Glad Tidings, people with disabilities are transformed into artisans who work with dignity to provide for themselves and their families. These artisans are thankful to continue to the age-old tradition of carving olive wood. The sale of their handcrafted products provides the artisans and their families with precious commodities, such as food, clothing, shelter, and an education. These artisans do not despair of their disabilities; instead they rejoice that Glad Tidings values them and does not turn them away as so many others would.

Graffiti 2 Works coaches adults to develop the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual skills necessary to achieve their best. Learning to sew and sell products gives these artisans jobs and builds their self-esteem.

As the artisans of Graffiti 2 Works sew together, they develop relationships with each other and with our Father.

Hill Top Crafts in Chiang Rai, Thailand employs Hmong women who sew unique, handmade purses. The artisans employed at Hill Top Crafts send their much-needed income home to their families in small villages in Laos and Vietnam. They are provided with shelter, as well as leadership training and discipleship courses. Their work at Hill Top Crafts helps them build self-esteem, encourage self-confidence, and provides essential hands-on skills to be successful in life. The women donate a portion of their sales to provide food, clothing, and shelter for orphans.

Within each stitch of the Himalayan Tapestry artisans’ handiwork is a story of illiteracy, abuse within marriage, and culturally conditioned gender discrimination. While these Indian women suffer quietly, they are expected to carry the financial burden of their families. The women come to Himalayan Tapestry with little education and no basic skills, but here they learn to quilt, tailor, read, and manage money. Working with this organization enables women to make money from their new talents, and it enables them to receive crisis counseling, which brings financial and emotional comfort to their troubled lives.

As markets open up, the women of Igira Impuhwe in Rwanda earn needed income from the sales of their eco-friendly, handwoven grass baskets. Igira Impuhwe lifts women like Mukangenzi Laurance out of desperate poverty. She now rents a home, has health insurance for her family, bought clothes for her children, and rents a garden to grow food. Each woman in the group is also presented with the life-changing offer of eternal hope. Mukangenzi thanks God for changing her life. Igira Impuhwe means “God is compassionate” in Kinyarwanda.

In the mountains of North Africa, the Berber artisans of the Leather Project skillfully craft leather scraps from a furniture and upholstery company into smooth bags. This time-honored tradition helps them to earn money that supplements their jobs as subsistence farmers and shepherds. More and more, Berbers are forced to move to the city to look for business jobs, but this artisan group allows them to stay with their families in the mountains and provide for their needs.

The scarring influence of the sex trade does not affect only one generation in India. Desperate mothers often leave a legacy of poverty and prostitution to their daughters who are forced into the same predicament because they know no other lifestyle.

Enter Love Calcutta Arts. This artisan group’s handicrafts unit enables young women to support themselves with dignity and help their mothers leave the sex industry. These hardworking women make high-quality handmade paper products, including journals and cards, in a loving environment where they learn of their heavenly Father’s love for them.

Throughout central Asia, cultural and artistic traditions have been preserved through the generations as women work with their mothers and grandmothers creating masterful crafts. Master’s Handicrafts is helping to preserve these traditions by employing women who would otherwise be forced to work in miserable, inhumane conditions. Through Master’s Handicrafts, women are able to stay home with their children, do something they love, get paid a reasonable wage, and continue to learn new skills and techniques.

The partnership between Master's Handicrafts and WorldCrafts enables these women to pay their bills for food, electricity, and other needs. Some have even been able to buy freezers to store food for winter. These women have expanded their worldviews and spend time thinking about the offer of eternal life.