Helping women living with HIV, poverty
Lagunitas woman's jewelry company helps HIV-positive women in India
Laurel Gunnarson will never forget her first trip to India when she was 16 years old. It wasn’t just that it was one of her first times abroad or that she saw the Taj Mahal or visited her older sister, who was a student at the University of Delhi. She was struck by the country’s beauty and kind and welcoming people, but also its pollution and poverty.
Gunnarson returned to the country numerous times since and 10 years ago started the Didi Jewelry Project, a jewelry company that provides fulltime employment to women in India who have been infected with or impacted by HIV/ AIDS.
The Woodacre native and Lagunitas resident designs the jewelry pieces, teaches the women how to make them and
then sells in stores, at craft fairs or through her website at thedidijewelryproject.com. Her
company also works with Aashiana, a non-governmental organization in New Delhi that serves those affected by HIV/ AIDS.
Q What inspired the Didi Jewelry Project?
A
I had been making jewelry since I was a kid and I was teaching jewelry-making at a homeless shelter in Berkeley. It was a nice way to interact with these women and it was meaningful to me that they said it was therapeutic and meditative. It gave me the idea to go back to India for six months, and teach jewelry-making at like 10 different NGOs. A year after that, I realized some of them were
able to sell the jewelry, but it was just a little bit of extra money every once and awhile, so I decided to make this a business. I took some business classes and had been working for other jewelers doing production work, so I learned a lot from them.
Q Where does the name come from?
A Didi but means in India, older you sister, call anyone who is your friend or around your age, which I think is sweet. They call me didi, they call each other didi, and I like the idea that by buying this jewelry, you are helping your sister in India.
Q
How has the pandemic affected your business?
A I was in India when lockdown happened here and there. When I left, India had police officers out, and you got a fine if you left your house. It was really strict, so for a few months, there was no work here or there. Luckily, I’d had enough savings and was able to support them
and still paid them a salary even though they weren’t working. Even if there was work, they couldn’t have gone to get supplies or work together. It wouldn’t have been safe, as almost all of the women or someone in their family is HIV positive, so they are more susceptible for catching COVID. In December, they were able to come into the office and take supplies home, and are happy to work. Up until COVID, for the past few years, I have been
able to give them full-time work.
Q
How’d you get involved with working with women who’ve been impacted by HIV/ AIDS?
A should My start partner, had an a dream NGO Vinita to that help Bahadur, she HIV-positive women and families. She happened to be in the same building when I was doing that jewelry training and we ended up talking. Two months later, I was still in India and she said, “I started my NGO, will you come teach how to make jewelry?”
Q
Do you hope this helps to destigmatize HIV/AIDS?
A Yes. In India, people are really stigmatized. It’s hard to remarry or get an apartment or get a job, and also a lot of these women became HIV positive because it’s not talked about. People are too ashamed to say they have it.
Q Why has this work resonated with you?
A I feel lucky to share something that I love to do with them, and for them to be empowered and feel confident. One of the first women that I worked with, Champa, used to sit around and worry all day about how to get by and feed her kids. Now she feels confident that she can support herself. I also have realized it’s a privilege to let yourself be creative. As a kid, I had everything I needed, so I was encouraged to draw and play and be creative. If I am worried about feeding my kids or if I am sick or if my basic needs aren’t met, I am not thinking about that.