In the World of Crochet

We all love to crochet, and most of us do so for the pleasure and enjoyment of creating something made with our hands. Many of us crochet for charitable organizations or to make special gifts for family and friends, but in some parts of the world, crochet is supporting women and their families through nonprofit initiatives. Hathay Bunano (which means “handmade” in Bangla) is one such fair trade company that is giving young women in Bangladesh the opportunity to work close to home, near their families and children while earning a fair wage. Handknit and crocheted toys and baby items sold under their own brand, Pebble, are sold worldwide through retail outlets and websites. The company was founded in 2004 by Britishborn Samantha Morshed, in response to her first trip to Bangladesh with her British-Bangladesh husband. Samantha was overwhelmed by the lack of opportunities to earn a living, especially for young women who often must move to large cities and work long hours in garment factories in unsafe conditions, spending most of their income on overpriced rent in unsanitary slums. Morshed and her husband made many trips over the years researching other nonprofits as they formulated their plan. With a keen eye she saw that the embroidered items traditionally made by women to sell to the tourists didn’t provide a broad enough range of products to be sustainable on a larger scale. She kept asking herself and others, “Would this sell in a shop in Europe or North America? For me this is the single most important question when starting any production or manufacturing business: Where do you plan to sell, and who is the intended customer?” Hathay Bunano’s sustainable model is innovative in two ways. Firstly, it places labor-intensive, time-consuming production work in the rural villages where young women who are often illiterate or disabled are able to earn wages that are 25 percent higher than Bangladesh’s minimum wage. Marketing, branding, product development and material acquisition are

localized at the head office where staff are able to coordinate more specialized tasks. And secondly, women are employed in their own home villages keeping families together, where their earnings are often spent locally, which helps to generate new businesses in the community. Hathay Bunano’s plan is simple and effective; upon invitation from a local community, they establish a production center wherever a group of 100 women are interested in working and willing to undergo six to eight weeks of training. Each center is managed by two to three salaried local supervisors who are responsible for production, oversee quality control and pay the workers each week. Even better, they frequently cluster two to three centers together for more efficiency, which also helps retain employees, raises productivity and reduces the costs of training and transportation. Local women are also hired to provide childcare and teach preschool if needed, so the workers can be near their children throughout the day. As new centers are established, two trainers are sent to the center to live with the women. The trainers teach the women to knit and crochet and make specific products. Producing a quality product is of the upmost importance; whether it is a soft squishy crocheted rattle shaped like an octopus with striped legs, or an organically-grown cotton granny square baby blanket, the women are taught to work to specific standards. Products are then shipped to the head office where each item is finished, washed and inspected again. Items that do not meet quality standards are sent back to the respective worker to be fixed, establishing a sense of pride and responsibility for their work. Production centers are clean and safe, as opposed to the overcrowded and unsafe working conditions in the garment factories in the larger cities. Childcare and education for children up to age 6 is also provided, allowing families to stay together. Because the women are paid on a piece-rate basis, they can work flexible hours, maintaining their daily patterns of rural life. Currently Hathay Bunano employs over 6,500 women aged 18-30 in flexible, well-paid jobs in more than 65 rural production centers, helping to reduce poverty in a country where 40 percent of the population live on less than $1 a day. As Samantha Moshe says in their promotional video, “At Pebble we want to put smiles on faces worldwide.” As crocheters who understand the joy of making something by hand, we are sure to smile along with these women who have the opportunity to earn a living wage from the toys and other products they crochet. To learn more about Hathay Bunano and Pebble visit: www.pebblechild.com and www.facebook. com/pebblechild.