At Hope for Happiness, we pride ourselves on creating win-win projects that provide mutual benefit to everyone involved. On Saturday November 28, 2015, we aimed to do just that during our time at the Stratford Farmers Market in Stratford, Ontario.
These beautiful embroidered purses, wall-pieces and handmade wares were lovingly made by a group of grandmothers and mothers in the rural village of Thana Bula Khan, Pakistan. On the dirt streets, women like Anila (pictured) hunch over their wares, sewing painstakingly carefully to ensure that every stitch is perfect. Their fragile wrists and hands flit over the material with a speed and precision that no sewing machine can parallel. Young eyes and old eyes alike are as sharp as the needles they use. Many of the womens' husbands have left for the bigger cities in search of work, and many of the men never return, leaving their wives and children to forage for themselves. Most of the women are lucky to have even attended elementary school. These are the reasons the grandmothers and mothers sew as they do ~ to fill the empty stomachs of their children and grandchildren in the best way they know how.
But for all of their hard work, the women are rewarded very little when they sell their wares in the local markets. Hope for Happiness wants to expand the size and scope of their market to global community. In an effort to accomplish this, we purchased a large quantity of items from these dear grandmothers and mothers to sell in Canada in order to increase their profits and to share the stories of these intrepid women. Additional proceeds will go towards our sustainable farm in Mugeta Tanzania.
Above: Anila sewing her quilts in Thana Bula Khan, Pakistan, August 2015. ©2015 Hope for Happiness.