Valerian Handicrafts

Bangladesh

Team 1

Purpose

The goal of Valerian Handicrafts is to help very poor women obtain income for the basics of living.

Producers

Valerian has 600 members in the villages which are called sub-centres. Most producers are landless and handcrafts provide their sole source of income. Men and children help when needed. The women like to sit together in the village to work all religious groups are represented, with a large proportion of divorced Muslims.

Serious floods in the area destroyed houses in 2000 and replacements funded by NGOs were often never completed

Benefits

Handicraft is the sole income for many of the participants, enabling them to buy cows, for example, and to fund education for their children. The participants are paid monthly on a piece rate. There is also an adult literacy programme and the participants receive monthly religious/moral teaching and instruction from the visiting nuns.