Dewas, henna and wonderful people

Concept Society (the assignment I am working on) has projects in Dewas and Indore Districts. Dewas is about 50 kms out of Indore. Today we went to Dewas where Hemal (our client) has an office and we also visited one of the villages who benefit from the work that Hemal does. This was an incredible day. Let me share this with you.

Here are the 3 field officers that run the Dewas office for Concept Society:

This is Kalpna

Manisha

And Mukesh

Each field officer is responsible for a different area of programs. At the Dewas office, this is where they make leather bags and jewelery. They are handmade and are made from genuine leather. Around 40 bags are made per month.

Here is an example of the jewelery they make. Pretty impressive hey?

To be even more impressed, have a look at the process that is involved in making a bag:

Hemal demonstrates how they use these templates to make each bag

Here is a video of one of the workers using the sewing machine. Think about how these are now mostly seen in antique stores as collector items. Not on this side of the world. It is a tool that allows a way of life to occur through offering employment and creating a positive impact on the community. Can we think of one such simple item in our tool kit that can give this level of flow-on effect?

Have a look at the detail that goes into each step; this is all hand-done.

A staff member responsible for cutting out each section of leather from one pattern and then sewing it inch by inch together another bag.

Can you imagine being that painstakingly careful for hours on end, every day?

Her workstation

The final product - these felt incredible and had the Concept Society tag inside of the bag. I felt really proud of that achievement and I have only just become involved with this assignment. Can you imagine being part of this production (and I wish you could see the way this work touches the rest of their society- more info on that in later posts) but this really makes it clear in my mind what it can take for a person to become proud of themselves. I don't want to live in the clouds anymore, don't get me wrong- I am not rejecting my way of society but I can feel the changes occurring where I am starting to look at my world in a different way. I needed this. My life was becoming too perfect and whilst I engineered it to that level, I need to help others more. I need to get my hands dirty and be a part of a solution, not just speculate on the subject.

We were given lunch upon arrival. This was really tasty! If not a tiny bit spicy for me :)

Tea is very popular in India as you can imagine, and this is a very sweet drink.

A great, and appropriate, slogan for this NGO. And let's face it, life in general.

The girls gave Anika and I some henna as we were pretty excited to learn that this was something they offered within their training programs to enable women into the workforce. These girls do this for a hobby and I had 13 year old Sonu kindly do mine for me. Check out the new outfits Anika and I now have!

Our visit at the Dewas office has now come to an end for the first day as we are now going to move on to our first village visit (which was so.incredibly.special- it will have its own blog post). But there is always enough time to cuddle a cute baby!!

She was very cute, giving us kisses on the cheek when we left.

Here is what Concept Society, Dewas office looks like from the front:

From the front

Anika, Tyler and I out front of Concept Society, Dewas office. Sneaky arm pose on my behalf. Or maybe not so sneaky...

The view from the side of the office front.
#ibmcsc

Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context - Margaret Wheatley.