Mrs. Savitri, Weaver

Physically Handicapped Training and Rehabilitation centre, Sangli, Maharashtra.

Located in the compound of Sir William Wanless Chest Hospital, Sangli is a large workshop lined with rows of small and complicated weaving looms that clack rhythmically and very fast as the women weavers work.

They are all people from a nearby leprosy colony who have been trained and employed for many years in the centre making shoulder bags, table mats and runners for export to Fair Trade Buyers all around the world.

Their main buyer is one of the oldest Fair Trade Organisations, Ten Thousand Villages, USA who provide shade cards each year to help the centre develop products that will suit international markets.

Kalavathi and Savitri seen in the picture have also spent time in MESH design Studio learning new techniques and working on a range of scarves using wool for the first time.

MESH has been buying from PHTRC for more than twenty years