John Gomes giving out gifts to the artisans.
This story was shared with me by John Gomes, the Director of Shohojogita, a Fair Trade Organization in Bangladesh.
" I want to self-establish in the society and educate my children it is my vow....I found the spark of hope and light to change my family." These words were spoken by Kabita Mollick, jute producer of Shohojogita at Dhorjirpar, Agailjhora.
Kabita Mollick is 38 years old living with her old mother-in-law and father-in-law. She has one son(8) and one daughter(5). Four years ago,
her husband died of an unknown disease. Telling the story to me, her Mother-in-law was crying. I (John ) couldn't stop her crying.
from her mother-in-law how to make a basket. When I was questioning her...she said that making this basket is hard but she is getting good price/wage for this. She was smiling because this time she is making nine jumbo baskets !! She wants continued orders then she can solve all the problems she faces.
This year Kabita received advanced payment for the purchase of the jute raw material as stock.
Jute is a vegetable fiber derived from the bark of an annual reed like plant grown mainly subtropical areas of Asia: Bangladesh, India, China and some other countries.
It is one of the great natural fibers in the world. The fiber from this plant is extremely versatile and has a wide variety of uses. Jute is bio-degradable and articles made from jute, unlike their synthetic counterparts, are easily decomposed. Thus, jute is the perfect ecological substitute for artificial fibers.
