This week's FOW takes us to rural villages in Nepal where women are given the chance to learn valuable life skills and create some pretty cool bags in the process.
When it comes to beautiful products created with a social conscience, you can bet that the HoneyKids team is going to be all over it – especially if it means that a woman from a developing country now has career options. This is what Rae Indah-Purnama, co-founder of Purnama Outreach, and her husband, Charles Pitts, are all about. After travelling through Nepal in 2013, they visited an orphanage home and a not-for-profit school and realised both places needed more than supplies and books. Rae then met with the good folks from The Nepal Project, a skill development program that provides training for women in Pokhara (a region of mountain ranges in the Himalayas).
Through this program, the women receive literacy training on top of weaving and sewing. The goal? To make them employable with the skills they’ve learned, which in turn helps them turn their families into dual-income households and give their children a chance to go to school.
In Indonesia, Purnama Outreach works with local Indonesian artisans to promote water conservation throughout the archipelago. How do they do it? By turning trash into treasure. Purnama Outreach uses upcycled car tyres to create cool bangles and other accessories.
Why we love Purnama Outreach
Not only does Purnama Outreach create TDF woven bags and accessories, it also gives Nepali women a sense of independence and pride. Today, through their website, Purnama Outreach markets and sells the products around the world. We love the fact they want to create quality products that do better for the local communities, for the environment and for the world. And for every product we purchase, part of the proceeds goes towards the funding of these programs. Pretty awesome stuff, we think!
How do we get our hands on a tote?
Simply head over to www.shoppurnama.com to get your very own woven tote. Our personal fave? The Quidnet Beach Bag – roomy enough to store all our beach essentials AND a bottle of wine (just because).
Happy shopping!
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