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Crafts People
YWCA Dhaka, Bangladesh
In 1973, the YWCA Dhaka opened a jute craft centre. The aim was to provide training and job opportunities for women, especially those who are uneducated and destitute. Today about 450 women attend the centre.
The Goals and Objectives of the Craft Centre are:
- to provide skills training and an income for women, especially those who are uneducated, destitute, socially isolated or disabled
- to develop markets for the products made by the women at the centre
- to establish craft centres in other parts of Bangladesh
The YWCA also provides additional services to the women including literacy training, a compulsory 10% saving scheme, subsidised daily snacks, health and nutritional advice, subsidised medicines, interest free loans, legal advice and an annual recreational programme.
In November 2005, the YWCA opened a second craft centre in the village of Savar, about 30kms out of Dhaka. The dream evolved due to the concern of YWCA staff that many of the producers from this village travelled to the Dhaka centre by bus daily, a two hour journey each way. There is a plan to build an aged people’s home at this centre (something almost unheard of in Bangladesh), so there will always be a home for YWCA staff and producers who do not have family. A nursery and children’s centre will also be built, where the retired women will care for the children of those still working.
The YWCA Dhaka is a member of the International Fair Trade Association.
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