We travelled to India to learn about social enterprise initiatives that are taking place in the South of the country. We arrived to Madurai airport on the 28th June, and one of the founders of Madurai Craft Studio, Ashokkumar Goshi, was waiting for us there. This recently established social enterprise designs, develops and produces Eco-friendly products for regional and international markets. Madurai Craft Studio aims at mixing the traditional arts & crafts with modern innovative techniques to produce authentic quality products.
We went to visit Madurai Craft Studio facilities straightway and had the opportunity to talk with the other people involved as well as interview Ashok. As he explained to us, we want to renovate the traditional arts and crafts from extinction, ensure better living for the artisan community and promote eco-friendly products, at the moment artisans are not valued in India and their earnings are very low. A very interesting project with a lot of potential!
The next day, we travelled to Thanjavur in the Tamil Nadu region, where the well-recognised social enterprise, Aravind Eye Hospital operates. We went to visit a social enterprise named Arohana that means ‘ascending’ or ‘climbing’ in Sanskrit. Arohana is a social enterprise organisation that provides highly productive dairy clusters and supports rural women in 34 villages. We interviewed some staff at Arohana as well as we delivered a four-hour course on social enterprise for around 20 women in the Arohana faciltieies. Two interpreters helped us to deliver the course in Tamil. We had real fun and enjoy the experience very much as well as we think women enjoy the course and learn about social entrepreneurship.
We then went to visit these women and their facilities to learn more about the impact that Arohana has made in their lives. It was an amazing experience both the social enterprise course and the experience of visiting the project in several rural areas.
Article Source: Living in Minca