“To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.”
Abraham Lincoln
Former U.S. President
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Civil rights leader
“When you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”
African proverb
“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”
Author unknown
Proverb
Garbhanga Handloom Center is Sneha Karma Foundation’s first Social Enterprise, a working handloom and handicraft unit in Guwahati, Assam that turns skill training into a livelihood for women who missed the chance of a formal education. We believe education alone is not enough; a woman also needs the confidence and the income to stand on her own. The Center was built with the support of our project co-ordinators at Parijat Academy and a team of volunteers, and it began operations in March 2019. Here, women weavers and teenage trainees earn, learn and grow into independence that no one can take away.
Our Impact
Why a Handloom Center
Sneha Karma Foundation has always believed that simply educating an underprivileged woman is not enough. In fact, we believe it would be more harmful to teach someone about her rights and then deny her the opportunity to exercise them.
We also believe that missing the chance of an academic education need not stop a woman from becoming independent and self-empowered. The right skill training provides the foundation she needs to become confident in her own ability. But skills alone are not enough either. Financial security is essential to true independence and to feeling equal to others.
In a developing country like India, employment is not easy to find. It is far harder for an underprivileged, academically uneducated woman, and harder still simply because she is a woman. That is where Sneha Karma Foundation steps in: we can provide both the required skill training and the opportunity to earn a livelihood.
Our Impact
A Social Enterprise Takes Shape
In October 2018, Sneha Karma Foundation decided to set up its first Social Enterprise, a Handloom and Handicraft Center in Guwahati, Assam. The Center is 100 ft x 30 ft in size, large enough to house about 12 handlooms and the other machinery needed to produce handloom products. When completely operational, it will directly employ more than 25 underprivileged women as weavers, with an equal number as trainee weavers, and will directly touch the lives of more than 100 people.
“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Educator and civil rights leader
Our Impact
Milestones
Six months of construction — thanks to our project co-ordinators, Parijat Academy, and their team of volunteers, the Center was completed in a record six months.
March 2019 — operations began at the Center.
April 2019 — the Center ran 4 handlooms, employed 5 skilled women weavers who had not been formally educated, and trained 5 teenage girls who had missed the opportunity to go to school.
Product plans — we first produce goods for the local market, and by the end of 2019 we aim to make quality products for the international market, such as the USA, through our online Social Enterprise Platform, Sneha Karma Collections.
Becoming self-reliant — we expect the Center to pay for its own running costs from June 2019 and, by the end of 2019, to pay for all the girls of Garbhanga in our Support-A-Girl program.
A center in the forest — by June 2020 we hope to use the Center’s profits to set up a handloom and handicraft center within Garbhanga Forest Village itself, transforming the villagers’ belief in girls’ education and self-empowerment.
Our Impact
Support Our Work
We at Sneha Karma Foundation believe that what we are doing is transformational, but we also believe that we are on a never-ending journey. Every human being, including you, has a role to play in driving this transformation. This is not something we can outsource to a government or to private companies, and we promise to put whatever you give to the right use.
You can help by donating your time or your money. If you have about five hours a week and some pro-bono skills, please consider our Virtual Volunteering opportunities. If you would rather give financially, please donate online or by check.
We are looking forward to changing the life of one underprivileged girl or woman at a time. In the days ahead, we plan to roll out our programs at many more program sites, in India and around the world. Come join us.
Donate (one-time or monthly), volunteer your skills, start a fundraiser, or partner with us as a foundation or company. Every gift reaches the programs because our overheads are covered by a founder member.
Yes — a US 501(c)(3) (EIN 47-3774368). In India, we are a Section 8 company. For 80G and FCRA status, please contact us.
In India, including the Northeast and the Garbhanga forest villages of Assam, with volunteers and donors worldwide.
