Ahmedabad and SEWA: Part 2

I was supposed to spend two days in Radhanpur, one to visit the new museum that SEWA has opened and a second day to meet with local artisans.  We arrived at what is essentially a SEWA compound.  The Hansiba Museum is the focus.  SEWA opened the museum last year to showcase the local embroidery artwork of their members.  It has two floors but currently only the first floor is complete and open to the public.  There are several other buildings including a large hangar-like building where the artisans work and a series of meeting rooms.  We started with a brief overview of the museum followed by a wonderful tour.  The embroidery work is remarkable.

Following the tour we were served lunch.  And, just by chance, Ella Bhatt, the octogenarian  founder of SEWA was there for some meetings, so she had lunch with us.  After all of the reading I had just done about the organization, I felt like I was meeting a real-life heroine /superstar.  She was quite warm and welcoming.  One of the young women I was with, Jinalben*, was really star-struck by her.  It was very sweet to see.

* Note - they add a suffix to most people's names: "ben" (sister) to the end of most women's names and "bhai" (brother) to the end of most men's names as a term of endearment. So I was always referred to as "Jimbhai."  (The "h" is silent.)  The second young woman that was with us was  Bhagyashree.  I added "ben" to her name and was quickly corrected.  Her family is from a higher caste and they do not add the suffix.  Who knew?!

After lunch we meet for a while discussing the museum's website and possible advertising opportunities to explore.  This time it was them frantically taking notes!  They were super appreciative, which was nice.

There were some local artisans working in the work space, so we  were able to start my interaction with them then, rather than waiting to start in the morning.  The next several hours I spent sitting on the floor listening to these amazing women tell me their stories.  It was really the highlight of this part of my trip.  They loved talking to me (with Bhagyashree interpreting) and they said they wanted me to stay longer and teach them English - they are so sweet!  They think that being able to speak English will really elevate them to the next level.  They all laughed at each other's stories and we had a great time.  

One women, Raniben (a 22-year member of SEWA), told me this story:

Some SEWA staff was taking a group of their members to exhibit their work at a conference in Washington, D.C.  This was a huge deal.  Most if not all of the women had never been away from their families or their village.  Now they were going to board a plane for America!  They were all very excited and SEWA helped coordinate getting visas for them.  Shortly before they were to leave the visas arrived, but there was a problem with Raniben's and they needed to resubmit it.  They didn't tell her so she wouldn't worry.  A few days before they were to leave her visa had still not arrived.  They contacted the visa office and wee told it would arrive on a certain day...the date they gave was the day after they were to depart for Washington.  So the SEWA office changed Raniben's flight for the next day, but they decided not to tell her until the day before the rest of them were leaving!  So the day before the group was to leave they were all together talking about how excited they were to be leaving the next day.  Then Reemaben, the head of SEWA said, "well, we are all leaving tomorrow...except Raniben. You will be leaving the day after tomorrow and meeting us in Washington."  She then told her about the delay with her visa.  She burst into tears!  How would she ever get on a plane and travel to the U.S. all alone?!  How would she manage?  She didn't even speak Hindi (they speak Gujarati in this part of India), much less English?  She was illiterate.  She couldn't even sign her own name (she just uses her thumbprint as a signature).  She said there was no way she could go.  Reemaben told her she could do this, she would find people who would help her...she could do this.  

The next day the group left for Washington... without Raniben.  After a full day and night of crying, Raniben thought that if Reemaben told her she could do this, then she would try.  To make a long story short, she made it to D.C.!  She met a guy at the airport who was going on he same flight and spoke Gujarati and English.  She made her way through customs (and used her thumb print for her signature!).  She was met at the airport by her SEWA sisters and fell into their arms crying...this time it was due to her happiness for having made it.  While in D.C. she sold all of her embroidery work that she had brought with her and for a much higher price than she ever imagined.  Now she feels she can do anything and gives all of the credit to Reemaben for telling her she could do it, for telling her she could get on that plane.  And she now has such joy in telling this story, and it was a true honor to hear her tell it to me.

After several hours of stories, we decided I wouldn't need to spend the night and we could return to Ahmedabad that evening.  So, after another harrowing ride, this time in the dark, we made it and I was back in my comfy hotel room.

Over the next week and a half, I worked on writing copy for the brochure and, via email, worked with Bhagyashree on some ideas for the museum and the website.  I finally submitted my draft to Reemaben this past Tuesday.  She had two changes, eliminating two small sections.  Other than that, much to my surprise, she was happy with what I had done.  Between the brochure copy and the work on the museum, they all seemed very pleased with my contributions in the end.  It was a huge relief.  I'm just so happy I was able to help the amazing organization and it's members, even in a small way.  

The rest of my time here has been spent exploring the city, avoiding being out too much in the intense (dry) heat, eating and sleeping!  I'm very excited to be heading to Mumbai on Saturday for three days of exploring that city.  I'm also feeling a bit sad as that will bring my time in India to a close.   I'll try to post from Mumbai before I leave for Istanbul.