Clearing a Path

March 27, 2014
| 853 Comments
| Empowering Women, Tailoring Training Program, Uncategorized

IMG_3266For many months now, the question of how to enter the local market in Wayanad has been weighing on my mind. It felt a bit like a hiking trip I took a couple years ago. In the wilderness, out of my comfort zone, so many obstacles to overcome physically and mentally. There were times I felt as though I was not going to make it to the end of the trail, flash floods and rocky cliffs testing my resolve. While my struggle to enter the local market has not been nearly as life threatening or wet and free of blisters, (Thank Goodness!), I have found myself, again, in new territory, needing to be creative and take advantage of any trail or opportunity that may present itself. No longer at the mercy of Mother Nature but the free market rather.

Making my way through the thick foliage, searching for a path into the local market, and then, there it was. I just had to call for some help. I called Dr. Anil, the principal at the local Government Engineering College. He told me about an exhibition called Tech Fest that the college would be holding from February 20-22. Isel and I made our way to the college to meet with Dr. Anil to discuss the possibility of having the tailoring women set up a table.

IMG_3255

The next thing I knew, there I was, on the bus with the first group of women, crammed in the back seat with our bags of goodies, ready for the local market. The day before the event, Aneesh and I sat with the women and discussed sales techniques and went over the cost breakdown of the bags and discussed what price they should be sold for. I was very proud when I saw the women putting the sales techniques we discussed into practice at the exhibition.

IMG_3237

The first hour or so, the women were a little shy, tentatively watching interested students and visitors looking at their handiwork. Once they warmed up, they would pop up out of their seats when a prospective customer was making their way over to the table, hungry for a sale. On the first day, their hunger was quickly assuaged, making the first Profugo Development Initiatives (PDI) local market sale in the first 5 minutes after we set up. A woman bought one of our clutches in a deep purple color. Any fears I may have harbored about selling our products at the exhibition melted away.

IMG_3272

 

Throughout the 3 days at the exhibition we received a lot of positive feedback on the women’s products. In addition to Profugo products, Mary also designed some special items just for the local market. To think how far each of these 11 women have come in the past 2 years makes me smile. Their creativity, confidence, business savvy, and own smiles have grown. They will continue to flourish as the forest that is the local market continues to clear and we become more familiarized with it. The outcome is that much sweeter when you have to struggle for it.