Kumbaya
Kumbaya, our garment fabrication centre, has empowered women by creating a new skill and employment opportunity in the area. We have trained over 500 women from 45 villages in ready-to-wear garments and patchwork products. In the absence of a traditional marketable craft, by designing products that compete with mainstream fabrication units, Kumbaya guarantees work and a market to women producers for 300 days a year. Most of these tribal women had never stitched a garment before and had no options other than manual labour. Kumbaya makes a range of Indian and western casual wear, duvets, patchwork cushion covers, table and bed linen, curtains, wall hangings and different types of bags and rucksacks.
The accomplishment of Kumbaya has been that the product by itself instantly leaves a brand imprint leading to an ever-growing demand from customers, retailers and exporters in Delhi, Bangalore, Pondicherry, Bombay and Indore. The compelling pressure from hundreds of women in the area demanding fair livelihood opportunities and the ever-increasing demand for its products has enabled Kumbaya to now open 3 training and production centres in the area. Kumbaya is also hope for many differently-abled people, particularly women, whose inability to contribute manual labour in an agricultural area leads to their abandonment. The Kumbaya centres are supervised by a team of skilled and trained local people, who manage training, production, and accounts.
SPS Core Team member Nivedita Banerji guides Kumbaya