Moves

Some good things have been happening for several of the ladies who attended our training last year.  Cases have slowly been resolved with compensation paid and this has enabled some of them to establish some small businesses (little shops, tailoring etc).  Others have been abe to purchase some land and others have moved back with family as they are not dependent on them.   The women have started a small cooperative that is entirely separate from Samunnat and they make decisions together about microfinancing small loans and supporting others in need.  It is really encouraging to see this happening. A few months ago, in response to water problems that were not being addressed by our landlord, we moved (yet again) and our new office is wonderful.  We are on the ground floor of this blue building which is quite a landmark as you can imagine.  Most of the rooms are light and airy and there is more space than we had before.  We have two taps INSIDE the building and water comes out of both of them.  And sometimes we have impromptu dance concerts right outside the door (see the top photo) We are excited that this will be ready for the visitors who will be arriving over the next few weeks.  (And won't there be some breathlessly excited posts then!!!)   The ladies who make the clay jewellery are going from strength to strength and are now working on some of their own designs.  Ambhika and Gita were both thinking along similar lines with a bead shape that we all loved and thought might look good repeated in a necklace.  Gita taught us how she shaped the beads, learning how to give the instructions clearly enough that we all did the same thing and then we made some prototypes.  This was followed by a design team meeting, some discussions about what made the really good beads good and then Gita proudly modelled the results.