Green Skilling Program, Bangalore:
CSR Donor: Accenture India
Objective: skill development in creating marketable products from discard materials such as used flowers, silk thread discards, fabric discards, flex banners and newspapers.
Beneficiary Profile: persons with intellectual disability, women from low income communities, women inmates & psychiatric patients at Bangalore prison, persons with autism spectrum disorder and those being rehabilitated from domestic violence are being trained in a range of craft skills.
Beneficiaries trained: 850
(a) Therapeutic benefit*: 400
(b) Income generation: 450
Discards processed:
- 20,000 kilos of flower waste
- 500 kilos of Silk thread discards
- Also fabric discards, flex banners and old newspapers.
Design and Production:
- Flowers – Holi colours, DIY Flower Sand Art Kit, Rangoli-Diya kit, Potpourri
- Silk threads, Fabric discards – a range of jewellery, personal accessories, floor rugs, travel kits for men and women, jewellery pouches, seat belt covers
- Flex banners – tote bags, travel kits, cosmetic pouches, cheque book covers
Skill Training Partners: Grameena Abyudaya Seva Samsthe (GASS), Jaya Organic Yojana, NIMHANS, Orione Seva (Kripa Trust),Peacemakers, Pragati Centre for Autism, Richmond Fellowship Society, Seva In Action and Spandana Rehabilitation Centre.
Publications:
Research paper published along with NIMHANS and RFS on “Eco-Friendly Holi Colors: Hospital-Based ‘Income Generation Activity’ for Persons with Mental Health Challenges at a Quaternary Mental Health Care Facility in India” in the Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health
Manasadhara Program, Government of Karnataka:
Craftizen is working with the Government of Karnataka as a skill training partner under the Manasadhara program focused on rehabilitation of persons with mental health issues. We are currently supporting 2 centres in Doddaballapur and Bangalore (Urban) and will soon be adding 2 more centres in Tumkur and Mandya districts.
Design Experiments:
Craftizen in its endeavour to upcycle different discard materialshas also experimented with a range of household plastic waste including single use plastics, milk packets, tetra packs and so on which can be converted into marketable products.
Project period: February 2016 to date
*This program offers therapeutic and cognitive benefits for beneficiaries with severe to moderate intellectual disability.Working with flowers has resulted in improved social skills, higher concentration levels, enabled colour recognition and fostered team work.
Skill and craft for women’s empowerment, West Bengal:
Objective: Using craft skills as a means to train disadvantaged persons in order to enable rehabilitation, income generation and economic self reliance.
Beneficiary Profile: Women rescued from a life of trafficking, tribal and rural women
Beneficiaries trained: 200
(a)Women rehabilitated from trafficking: 105
(b)Tribal and rural women: 95
Brief: Craft skills range from hand-block printing, screen printing and tailoring to tie & dye, fabric discards, bena grass jewellery and kantha embroidery. We have 3 centres, one each in Kolkata, Bonnerpukur Danga village in Bolpur and Jalpaiguri. The training is enabling beneficiaries to earn an income, making them economically self reliant and developing the confidence to live and work independently, and be rehabilitated into society. To date 60% of the beneficiaries are absorbed in the production centers while the remaining have opted for self employment.
Production:
- Garments: stoles, scarves, kimonos, dresses, jackets, blouse pieces
- Home accessories: cushion covers, placemats, runners, coasters
- Jewellery: neck pieces, earrings, bracelets, anklets and so on.
Implementing Partner: Women’s Interlink Foundation
Project duration: September 2015 to date
Swayam Sakthi project, Hyderabad
Objective: Enabling empowerment and economic self-reliance through craft based livelihoods.
Beneficiary Profile: unschooled and unskilled women from economically underprivileged backgrounds
Beneficiaries trained: 100
Brief: advanced skill training in three complimentary skills – hand embroidery (from zardosi to banjara mirror and thread work), painting (on fabric, paper, metal and wood), and tailoring to enable sustained income generation from an integrated group enterprise
Impact:
- 50% absorbed in production unit, remaining have opted for self-employment
- Design workshops have enabled high levels of creativity and encouraged our women to undertake design development
- The group has been receiving regular monthly orders from various Corporates, B2B, B2C and B2B2C channels
- Average income per month ranges between INR 1,500 to 5,000 per artisan
Production:
- Jewellery – Banjara mirror work, Handpainted wooden pendants
- Home Décor – Coasters, Trays, Wall arts and wooden plaques
- Home Furnishings – Cushion covers
- Fashion accessories – Tote Bags, Drawstring bags, Potlis and Pouches
- Garments – Hand painted and embroidered blouses, Free size tops and dresses, stoles
On ground support partner: Centre for Social Service
Project duration: January 2017 to date
Plastic Upcycling project, Hyderabad
Donor: Social Venture Partners, Hyderabad
Objective: Collection of household plastic discards, which would otherwise end up in landfillsto convert them into marketable products, using different craft skills, thereby generating livelihoods
Beneficiary Profile: Unskilled minority women from economically underprivileged backgrounds
Beneficiaries trained: 30
Techniques used to upcycle plastic: Crochet, Fusing, Mix media artworks
Impact:
- Skilling:
- 70% absorbed in production unit
- High focus on design development and experiments with various innovative skills and techniques
- The group is fulfilling various niche orders from retail buyers and corporates
- Average income earned – INR 1,000 to 2,000 per month
- Environmental impact: 180kgs of a variety of plastic discards including:
- Single use packets
- Shopping bags
- Food packaging
- Milk packets
- Cement Bags
- Pet Bottles
Product Innovation: A wide range of innovative products have been developed including:
- Home Décor – Coasters and Tablemats
- Stationery – Pen stands, Earphone clips, Organizer Trays
- Bags & Bag accessories – Conference Bags, Tote Bags, Keychains, Bag hangings
- Jewellery – Earrings and Finger rings
- Mixed Media Artworks – inspired by contemporary and folk arts, replicated entirelyby upcycling plastics
Waste Management Partner: Bintix Waste Research Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad
Project duration: August 2018 to date