A visit from the Secretary of State

May 7th, 2012

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was in Kolkata yesterday and today.

There was an event focusing on Trafficking of Persons…and Sari Bari was invited to be a part of it.

…what an amazing opportunity to advocate on behalf of the women we love so dearly.

…Sari Bari had a table of goods for sale at the hotel where folks were staying…and we got to tell our story and show off our amazing products…

…Beth got to introduce Tinki to the Secretary…and after Tinki told a bit of her story, she said, “But now i have freedom. I’m so thankful for Sari Bari. it gave me freedom.” and then the Secretary hugged Tinki and said she was thankful for Sari Bari giving Tinki freedom too. (this image gives me great joy!)

…Sarah got to be a part of a round table discussion…and got to share the Sari Bari story.

…and then later in the day Secretary Clinton came…and she bought a bag…and as she was leaving the room she looked at us and said, “You ladies are doing great work.” (which is nice to hear!).

As i was manning the table the past two days…telling the SB story and selling beautiful products (and meeting some really cool folks!) I got to hear and see lots of responses to Sari Bari. It was a great opportunity to advocate for Sari Bari in ways i don’t usually get to.

here are some of the great moments in my mind…
* When people were surprised that i lived here…and asked what brought me here…and i could say, “Sari Bari.”

*selling beautiful products (they have a way of selling themselves!)

* when i told one gentleman one of our prices and he said, “really, that’s it?!?!”

* After i explained Sari Bari briefly one woman exclaimed, “Wow…i couldn’t possibly love that story anymore!”

And as i’ve thought about the past few days i am thankful. I am thankful for this new platform that we were able to advocate for our sisters on…it is an honor to be acknowledged and thanked and celebrated. It is an honor that we were able share the Sari Bari story with people of such influence…but even more than all that…it is an honor to be a part of the Sari Bari story. To know the women i know…to walk the long, winding, messy road to freedom…to celebrate, and cry, and wonder, and rejoice with the most amazing women in the world…now that is an honor.

Secretary of State holding a Sari Bari Throw.

The way I walk…

April 19th, 2012

I walk the same way to work everyday. Out my door, take a left and then a right winding my way past my friend who makes Chai tea. This woman who graces me with her smiles coming and going and has offered to kick a little butt when I am being followed. Down the alley a bit, to the sweet old man who always say’s”good morning” and “goodnight” but never at the right time of day. Past the man who sells fish and sometimes curiously and shyly inquires why I am coming or going. Into the red light area, where sometimes on some days, I pass some hero’s on their way to Freeset (a freedom Business), who greet me with smiles and an occasional accusation as to why I am not yet married. I go farther along, past some jewelry and sundries shops, past an idol, past groups of men sitting in chairs idylling the morning or evening away. As I enter the main lane, busy with men, always busy with men, I meet the eyes of every girl I know, chat a little, and try to meet the eyes of those I do not know with a smile. Sometimes I get a smile back and it feels like it might be a good day. Sometimes the girls who are working farther down the line call after me and scold me for not stopping if I happen to be in a hurry and there is no hurrying past. Some of them know my name and some of them just call me by the name of whatever friend they can remember, Puja or Moussumi. If I do not come by or have been out of town, they all notice and ask where I have been and even if it has only been a few days, they ask if I went to my country. I turn left walking past the some of the youngest, freshest faces working the line, toward Sari Bari. Still a ways to go, passing another idol, maybe a caudron of something cooking in a vat for some puja I do not know about. Men line the lane. Shopkeepers nod. Children zig and zag in slow motion across my path competing with the street dogs for dominance. To the left a circle of women gather water, filling their jugs for the day, chatting, gossips, observing everything and a little ways over men bathing on the road nearby. This lane is so dirty, always muddy. Walking past some madams nodding, smiling, past the open cesspool of urine and trash on the corner winding my way, holding my breath. Deeper in now, I chat with more women I know, begging some of the scary madam to smile back at me, willing it. Looking for an invitation to speak. Sometimes, women from Sari Bari who live in this lane, pull me in to their rooms for tea and breakfast. Sometimes, it’s a race to see who will get to the door of the office first or out the door first depending on the time of day. Walking past another trash dump, greeting more women already waiting for customers in the morning at 10am and going home in the evening more women out than before, weariness from the day already drawing down their faces. And then up the stairs into Sari Bari, past the potted plants, where the guys are cutting bags, and the air rings with greetings. The floor is full of stuff, beautiful stuff, blankets in the making and the scraps of every type of sari and color imaginable. This is the tale of my daily comings and goings. It is the way that I walk from home to home and back again. And I say that someday this walk through these lanes into the beautiful space of Sari Bari will bear much fruit. At least that is what I dream.

A note from Sari Bari

April 11th, 2012

Dear Friends of Sari Bari

The sky is blue and the sun is brightly lighting up the city with energy and warmth.
We have already welcomed the heat of summer here in Kolkata with temps soaring over 100 in these last days of March. We are perched under the powerful fans that you can only find in India and are continuing to make some pretty beautiful stuff in spite of the heat!

The last years have been hard times for many in the States and for some time we were shielded here in India. However, in the past year we have seen an exponential rise in prices not only in the material goods that we use for production but in the basic costs of living, from rent to rice. India is currently at 16% inflation with the prices on basic food and necessities rising exponentially in the last year. The value of the Indian Rupee has fallen and it is just not stretching as far as it did two years ago.

At Sari Bari we have seen this raise in prices deeply affect our women and their ability to stretch the income they make at Sari Bari to cover their expenses. So this year we are offering all the women of Sari Bari a healthy raise in a desire to better support the women and their families. Because of this, we will be raising prices on Sari Bari Products to support these raises and to cover the increasing costs of goods and services that we need to run the business of Sari Bari.

As of April 1, 2012, you will see a price difference in many of the items at www.saribari.com. We will continue to introduce new items for you to enjoy and a number of new lower priced items so the opportunity to share in the freedom stories at Sari Bari remains open to everyone.

We apologize for the Sari Bari websites empty pages in February and March. We have been facing some production challenges that now seem to be working themselves out. And we are hopeful that raises, newly introduced Artisan Producer Forums (where the women can be heard and make decisions about how Sari Bari is run), and a more intense focus on aftercare and mental health support will positively affect the overall outlook for the Sari Bari Community from personal mental health to production.

We are so thankful for your continued support of the cause of Freedom for the women at Sari Bari through your purchasing power. You have a choice and we are thankful that you have chosen us at Sari Bari.

For all of us at Sari Bari,

Sarah Lance, Managing Director

Business: Tailor Made

March 10th, 2012

Have you ever thought that the parable of the workers should be your business paradigm?    I am mean a paradigm of work where each person is considered in the production process and their emotional, physical and spiritual well being is taken into account and where everyone gets paid the same, even though some products are easier and some are harder.  It’s not “fair” and yet is creates an opportunity for something more than being just “fair.”
In the early years of sari bari, we realized that same product would not work for everyone, especially if we wanted a diverse range of women of all ages to find freedom and new life within the doors of sari Bari.  We in those days had more than enough work with Sari Bari Blankets alone, demand was high, and we did not need to make anything else.  Except we did, not for our customer but for our women, the reason for doing the business in the first place.  We introduced bags at Sari Bari because it was our women who need the product diversification for them to be successful.  Some of the women were just not succeeding at making the blankets, their age, their emotional difficulties, their own fear of hand quilting such a large surface area were holding them back from successful production and wages.  So bags were born.  About 30% of the women at Sari Bari are engaged in hand making our beautiful bags and putting them together on the sewing machines. The needs of the women guided and directed how we would move forward and grow as business.

Their needs continue to shape not only what we make but also how we do business.  It is not so with all businesses where sometimes profit comes before people.
The generally practiced fair trade paradigm of business has always irked me a little. Mainly because it is possible to run a profitable efficient fair trade business when you do what most businesses do: hire the best workers, at the highest price, to get the most efficient production in order to make the highest profit.  It is a reasonable way to do business and can be profitable.

And it may not be the best way to do Justice. Social Businesses seeking to implement fair trade practices often hit some walls.  In many cases, the target employee may not be the most efficient, most productive or most cost effective way to make the a product.  And of course, these businesses still want to pay fair or better than fair wages and at least break even in the process.  Yet, it may in fact take years to empower and encourage an individual employee to reach the place of doing their best.  They may have years and years of trauma, negative internal and external messages, and culture barriers to overcome.  And their personal growth process may never translate into efficiency but always seems to translate into life change.

We can confirm that it happens…I have seen it with own eyes over and over again.  A woman transformed, almost miraculous in front of our eyes.  The “I can’t” is replaced with “I can” and “I not only can and will but I want to be excellent.”  This belief in self, the ability to change the broken paradigm of one’s identity is what we hope for through the work at Sari Bari.  If you were to ask the women at Sari Bari what work they do, they would not tell you about you about the beautiful bags and blankets that we make, they would tell you that work of both their hands and hearts is FREEDOM.  And you if you asked them what mark’s their life and their identity, they will say VALUE.  A profound value that is affirmed daily in the presence of other women who journey with them.

These women, my friends and hero’s,  are not what they do.  This is a true statement both now and before they came to find freedom.  The women you will find when you walk through the doors of this socially oriented, fair trade practicing business, are a beautiful tapestry of uniquely made human beings.  They are unique, broken and healed, transformed, efficient and inefficient, mother and daughter, friends and family.  They are the fabric of our reason for doing business.   We partner with the women for freedom, empowerment, wholeness, generational and community transformation, personal transformation and new life and we find it together.

The women, human beings, shape the whole paradigm of how we do business at Sari Bari. We may not be efficient, we may only break even but we have earned something more important along the way:  A journey toward new life that we do not have to travel alone.

THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM AT THE TABLE

February 22nd, 2012

There’s always room at the table by Melissa

A few months ago we celebrated a freedom birthday (which is a regular occurrence). But this particular freedom birthday turned out to be a very bizarre celebration. There were lots of other things going on that particular day. There was a work man who’d come and was installing a new sewing machine (and making lots of noise while doing it). And then right before the celebration Beth had to run an errand to the police station. As Beth and one of the Sari Bari women were walking down the street, they ran into a woman who was an acquaintance . . . and she is also deaf. She ended up coming back with them to Sari Bari. She jumped right in, animatedly telling her story to anyone who would “listen” even though our knowledge of Bengali sign language is limited at best! During the freedom birthday, we listened to many stories of freedom. Each woman saying what she’s learned or gained, or how her life is different since coming to Sari Bari. We cut cake and ate snacks. We celebrated. There was banging in the background as the workman kept on working, and the chaos of a woman we didn’t know, and couldn’t communicate with very well. (an then on her way out she tried to take a pair of shoes with her!) There was a posture of embrace and openness and welcome. There’s always room for one more at the celebration.

Shortly after that we went to a wedding. The daughter of one of the Sari Bari women was getting married and we were all invited. It was a great night. A great party. To walk in and see all the Sari Bari women dressed to the nines. We hung out with our friends. We laughed, we ate, we celebrated. And then all of a sudden we were sitting around the table eating. And one of our friend’s husbands was at the table with us. In some ways I know a bit too much about him to be happy to be sharing a meal with him, but in other deep, true ways it was beautiful to share a meal and celebration with him. It was amazing to sit around the table and joke and laugh, and to see everyone interacting with one another laughing, having fun, and celebrating.

And then to top off the evening, we noticed other guests. We were a gathering of outcasts. There were men and women who we would consider to be oppressors, “the bad guys,” and there were cross-dressers (who, in many ways are considered outcasts even among outcasts), and some of the cross-dressers had 5 o’clock shadows (one had a moustache). Sex workers and former sex workers. And foreigners who think we fit in much better than we usually do. We were a motley crew. Folks coming from all different stages and seasons- of life. But there we were together. Celebrating. Each welcomed into the celebration – regardless of where we came from, or what baggage we brought with us. It points to something deeper and truer – that there is always room at the table. There is always room for one more at the celebration, and if I am not fully engaged in the celebration, it is because of the state of my own heart, not any external circumstances.

There is always room at the table. There is always room for one more.

Call for Quilters

February 7th, 2012

Sari Bari Quilt Project

Call for Quilters
Sari Bari would like to invite the partnership of experienced quilters and quilting circles. In the fall of 2012 we will hold a Quilt Raffle/ Auction to raise funds for Sari Bari. Sari Bari will produce 10 large quilts and would like to have 5 -10 quilts from gifted quilting artists like yourself. We hope to engage churches, schools and our friends around the world in this Raffle/Auction and hope to attract thousands of participants to raise funds for building purchase.

The funds will be used to purchase property for the Sari Bari Kalighat Unit, which was our founding unit. Rent prices are soaring in Kolkata and making ends meet with rent costs has become difficult. We hope by purchasing a space we will ensure the long-term possibility of freedom for women employed by Sari Bari in the Kalighat Red Light Area.

The following are the terms of participation:
We would like to engage your participation by asking you to share your quilting skills with the Sari Bari Community through the production of a quilt for our Quilt Auction/ Raffle. Sari Bari will provide the materials you will need to complete a Twin, Full or Queen size quilt made out of Saris. The quilt design and complexity will be up to the quilting artist. We would like to do the Sari Bari Quilt Raffle/Auction in October and we would need to receive the completed quilt no later than September 10, 2012 in order to photograph and prepare for Raffle or Auction. We will name you as the Quilt artist on the website.

Sari Bari will provide:
• A shipment of Sari’s in a color scheme of your preference
o We will provide enough sari material for not only the described project but enough for your own future personal projects
o You can choose to work with new Sari’s or recycles sari’s depending on your preference
o Materials request and color preferences should be received by Feb 15th for March Delivery or March 15th for April Delivery or April 15th for May Delivery.
• You may request an upfront stipend for estimated materials costs.
o Thread
o Batting
o Backing material
o Coffee ☺

What you should know about recycled Sari’s:
• These are previously used Sari’s
• The material is very thin and very soft
• The saris will be washed before being sent from India and you may want to wash them again before you begin to piece.
• Recycled sari’s have a tendency to stretch when pulled and this may make it hard to work with smaller pieces
• We will send you a lot of saris so you can pick and choose what you think will work best.
What you should know about new Sari’s:
• New Sari’s are highly starched and will need to be washed multiple times for workable softness
• We will need to know the amount of yardage needed and less variety will be available by volume.

If you would like to participate as a Quilt Artist and donate your quilting skills for the cause of Freedom for the women of Sari Bari, please contact sarah@saribari.com with your request for materials including your mailing address and phone number.

With thanks,

Sarah on behalf of all of us at Sari Bari

hospitality

January 5th, 2012

A reflection by Erin:

Sitting on an upside-down bucket, I watch her line-up and pour six cups of milk tea while she hands two other customers samosas. She asks me how my day was and what I had eaten for lunch. My friend, who we’ll call “lady cha,” owns and operates a tea stand near our house. It’s a small tarp-covered structure surrounded by a few red and blue stools, a bucket or two and one bench. When I first met lady cha, we only exchanged perfunctory greetings – but after a few months we have become friends…well as much as our limited ability to converse in the same language allows us to be. My friend never lets me pay for cha. If I try, she says “we’re friends aren’t we – done.”

 

Lady cha’s hospitality is not a rarity here in Kolkata. During my short time in this city, I have been given and gifted with deep kindness that I cannot truly convey with words. It’s crazy really when I think about it. Four months ago, I was a stranger in this sometimes overwhelming, sometimes glorious, always incredible place, but I am no longer a stranger. I have been welcomed and loved by so many. The hospitality I have been shown is without measure. If you have a spare moment-or week-or month, come on over to Kolkata and we’ll treat you to some good ole fashioned Bengali hospitality. Or better yet, gift someone in your neck-of-the-woods, maybe a stranger or “newbie”, with some kindness. I hear nothing beats a warm cup of tea on a cold day!

 

 

Christmas at Sari Bari

December 29th, 2011

photo credit - Taylor Fuller

Last week we had the joy of celebrating Christmas at all 3 Sari Bari units. It may be the most beautiful (and exhausting) trilogy ever!

There are images from the parties floating around in my head. Snapshots of beauty, joy, freedom and celebration.

We dressed up. We ate a beautiful meal together. We danced. We celebrated.

Laughter

December 16th, 2011

A Reflection by Natalie:

One of the joys for me at Sari Bari has been playing with the ladies’ kids when they come to visit the office. While at Sari Bari I have followed a five-year-old as we were sneaking around and he pointed out his favorite part of the office, a kite he got stuck on a light. I have been the tickle monster and slayed like a dragon all while the sound of laughter fills the Sari Bari buildings. The laughter is a reminder that joy fills the offices as freedom is not only for one lady but for her children as well.

Without Words

December 1st, 2011

A reflection by Taylor

I arrived in Kolkata without knowing how to speak even a single word of Bangla. After visiting the Sari Bari offices and realizing how difficult communication with these ladies would be, I was so hesitant to believe true relationships could be formed. But if I leave with any small treasure of wisdom, it will be that words do not have the all-consuming power to create or negate relationships with these beautiful women. The ladies of Sari Bari have hearts that will melt any barrier that can be erected…language or not. They love so well, and have so much to give. Whether it’s by passing you a plate full of rice at lunch or by applying hand cream to your dry hands, they will show you how welcome you are into their family…and they will do so without using words.