Collage: WomenWeave Charitable Trust by Sally Holkar

Collage
Charity
Wednesday, 02nd October
COLLAGE: WomenWeave Charitable Trust by Sally Holk...

CLICK ON THE GOLD ARROW BELOW FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH SALLY HOLKAR

“I live and work in Maheshwar, a town on the banks of the Narbada River. My connection to handloom weavers in Central India began quite by accident. I married the son of Maharaja Holkar of Indore, a family whose patronage of local traditional weaving communities stretched back several centuries. Over the past few decades, with the help of my husband and innumerable well-wishers, I am the 'mother' of two organizations. Rehwa Society produces versions of traditional Maheshwar cotton silk cloth with intricate golden borders. WomenWeave Charitable Trust provides opportunities for women from impoverished communities to spin locally grown cotton, creating scarves, stoles, yardage and saris, which, in turn, support their families.”

~Sally Holkar

Sally Holkar co-founded the non-profit Rehwa Society in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, in 1978. She provided the weavers with work and gave them housing, education and healthcare. In 2003, she set up WomenWeave, a charitable trust, to bring to the forefront shadow weavers (mostly the wives and daughters of male weavers) and later, in 2009, started the Gudi Mudi project (under WomenWeave). The latter aims to support spinning yarn from locally grown (Madhya Pradesh) cotton and develop income-earning opportunities for women who come from non-weaving backgrounds.

2014