Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre and MESH

Some weeks ago I answered the phone to hear a booming military voice requesting an appointment. Admiral Koppikar and I finally met last week and he came with some nice surprises. Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre in Dehra Dun, right at the foot of the mighty Himalayas, was opened By Group Captain Lord Leonard Cheshire and his wife Baroness Sue Ryder way back in 1959. As a child I remember my parents speaking about their work with great admiration so it is rather extrodinary to find MESH, forty years later, becoming associated with one of the centers they established.

Raphael Centre has residential facilities for people with special needs who do not have any family; a day care centre for other people with special needs; a residential home for people affected by leprosy and vocational training for all of those people. They are making very pretty block printed scarves and stoles, whimsical printed brown paper gift bags and some very promising hand woven woolen shawls.

They are looking for more sales and we are looking for some nice new products so I think we shall be working together in the months ahead. We have ordered a few things for our Delhi shop and after some more discussions and a visit I think we might be able to offer some products for export too.

29.5.2013