charity

Once Jeanette has handpicked the sari and the colour combinations for each unique Kantha she hands them over for hand stitching to Sasha, a Fairtrade organisation in Calcutta, and to a local field charity in Calcutta for distribution to local village women. These women use their stitching skills, handed down over many centuries, to create beautiful Kantha and to generate income for their own families.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for workers in the developing world. By paying above local (Indian) market prices, Jeanette is supporting Fairtrade’s efforts to reduce traditional discrimination against the poorest, weakest producers and to enable them to improve their lot and have more control over their lives. Visit www.fairtrade.org.uk for further information on Fairtrade.

Jeanette also helps fund a small sewing group of 16 girls from the Tollygunge slums. This provides training and paid work.