Opportunities

Recently I had a chance to visit Atelier Shanti a weaving and embroidery unit in Puducherry right beside the sea. They were one of the early leprosy groups that started a production unit as an alternative to begging, way back in the mid 1960’s. The unit is still in production more than fifty years later but with a much-reduced number of workers and none affected by leprosy. Instead, there are a total of thirty workers, mostly women from low-income groups and six are people with disabilities for whom this work is their only hope of earning a livelihood. One of the bobbin winders was just leaving for lunch as we left and I noticed that she has post-polio disabilities to her legs and is unable to stand, that I had not noticed when watching her hands busily turning the ratnam and guiding the thread onto the bobbin. MESH used to buy from Atelier Shanti their lovely adjustable handwoven aprons with traditional kolam designs embroidered on the pockets. They only weave organic cotton and the quality is very high but for a while their prices became uncompetitive and our fair trade buyers seek what they think they can sell rather than selling what our skilled people know they can make.

That there are no longer people affected by leprosy working in the unit is a matter of great joy for it means the earlier workers have grown old and retired (they live nearby and have their own registered society) and there are no new leprosy patients needing sheltered work of this kind. This is a pattern we see in other leprosy communities too. Good and effective leprosy treatment became available in 1984 and over time, the presence of leprosy has fallen to “controlled” levels of less than 1 per 10,000 population and even those people can get effective treatment leaving no disabilities and so with no threat to earning a living.

MESH still buys products from leprosy communities in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Utter Pradesh, Beautiful handwoven cotton table linen

and kitchen linen

and bags,

made by the family members of people affected by leprosy, so contributing to the income of the communities as a whole.

Now that leprosy is “controlled” and polio vaccination campaigns having brought the incidence of polio to zero in India, the challenge for organizations like MESH is how to work with men and women with intellectual and development disabilities, like autism and Down Syndrome as well as those with multiple disabilities. For that, we are delighted to work alongside organizations like Kiran near Varanasi and Nav Prabhuthi Trust, Bangalore and SCD in Delhi. Those groups have highly skilled staff working alongside people with disabilities to draw out their abilities and identify what they can make which we can sell.

Over many years I have seen women like Adamma who had nothing but stumps for fingers and thumbs choosing to find a way to wind bobbins in a weaving unit because she wanted to work. I have seen a young man with autism who wasn’t at all interested in tidy perfectly placed block print patterns work as a team with another man with autism to print lovely fabrics.

And we have seen Rohit, with very shaky cerebral palsy who is almost non-verbal, serve customers in our shop for more than twenty years….I know amazing things happen when people with disabilities are given opportunities. Help us to keep those opportunities coming.



And finally.....a special request


Rohit had an accident on his three-wheeler coming to work a couple of weeks ago and is currently in hospital with a drain in his lungs and a number of broken ribs to mend. I know he would love to receive a word of encouragement from you here

April 1st 2025