Meet the artisans
WSDO in Pokhara, Nepal.
Women’s Skills Development Organization (WSDO) is a Fair Trade organization that has been working since 1975 to empower women who face difficult and significant social and economic hardships—being differently abled, abused, widowed, divorced, single, orphaned or of marginalized castes.
WSDO provides continuous job trainings for the artisans on different steps of making products as well as on business management and various other skills related to making handicrafts. All of this is meant to enable them to plan for the future and become self-supportive.
By providing free vocational training along with essential life skills, WSDO has empowered thousands of women to build a better future while also providing premium quality handmade products that reflects Nepalese tradition to global customers.
The products, including bags, toys, purses and accessories, are 100% handmade using cotton imported from India and Allo Nettle from the foothills of the Himalayas.
Quick Facts:
- Number of Staff: 24
- Number of Artisans: 600+ (100% women)
- Job Training: Weaving, Dyeing, Sewing, Cutting, Skills Development, Gender Sensitization.
- Social Commitment: Annual scholarships to artisans' children, free annual health check-ups, health awareness campaigns, co-operative programs, aid to members in case of injuries and sickness and performance bonuses.
Woven Nepal
WOVEN is a young brand inspired by the founder's mother Ramkali Khada and her work in WSDO (Women's Skill Development Organization). After working there for 10 years, the founder Anup made up his mind to start something that would help empower women as his mother did.
Drop Earrings Not Bombs
Drop Earrings Not Bombs is based in Istanbul, Turkey. Syrian women displaced from their homeland design and handcraft each pair. The aim of this project is to foster the empowerment of women who are natural leaders, all within the creative and collaborative space of a community center, a home to families and a hub to ideas. The women are able to work from home, which gives them flexibility and respect their family needs.
The collective has access to Turkish and English language support to ease the difficulties of social integration. Additionally computer classes alongside entrepreneurship skills are fostering the empowerment of the group, towards a future where their lives are in their own hands. In the short term, the project allows the collective to earn a living and support their families.