↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Mumbai Flooding Devastates MarketPlace Artisans

Little media coverage of the immense flooding in Mumbai, India has left most of the US unaffected and indifferent. But the tragic monsoon rains that claimed nearly 1,000 lives have far-reaching consequences, and MarketPlace: Handwork of India is right in the thick of it.



Last Monday, July 25th, between thirty-six and sixty inches of rain fell on the Indian state of Maharashtra, flooding the capital, Mumbai, and triggering landslides, electrical outages, and widespread transportation shutdown. The outskirts and slums of Mumbai were the hardest hit areas; most are already drowning in water with more rain expected this week.



Headquartered in these very slums is MarketPlace: Handwork of India, a fair trade, non-profit organization working to provide low-income women economic and social opportunities. The artisans comprise 14 cooperatives, where they make apparel and home dcor items for consumers in the United States. The women are involved in every aspect of production, from dyeing fabric, to hand embroidering patterns, to making catalog and business decisions. They have a safe, secure workplace, receive living wages and technical training, and have the ability to participate in organization social programming.



The floods have disrupted all this in one foul swoop. The MarketPlace office is currently covered by five feet of water, destroying all three computers, all files, all samples and all paper patterns. The cooperatives have lost the majority of their sewing machines, stock fabric and furniture. It is a devastating blow to the MarketPlace mission, but one that the artisans, none of whom have been injured, are taking with grace and optimism. Heads of two cooperatives have told MarketPlace President Pushpika Freitas that they are determined to get back on their feet and continue with production and with their lives.



It is this positive spirit and resilient attitude that drives MarketPlace forward. Founded in 1986 in response to the lack of financial independence of impoverished, uneducated women in Mumbai. Since its inception, MarketPlace has grown from three artisans to 480, and sales in the US have reached $1 million. Through SHARE, a non-profit working with MarketPlace, the artisans are now social activists, engaging in problem solving in the local community. Still, it will be an arduous process of recovery, as sewing machines are expensive to replace, and many artisans are without savings or emergency finances for themselves and their children. With their determination and communal spirit, and the generosity of Arun Gandhi, SERRV International and Ten Thousand Villages, MarketPlace: Handwork of India will face the floods with dignity.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

---

This article has been robotically scanned and tagged by Prnewsnow with the following search tags. No human manipulation of these tags take place.
| Business | Marin County | marin county businesses |

---

4902 readers online...

, Local News