Amid the multiple demands on women to keep their families afloat, weaving had slowly been relegated to the background because it requires money for yarn and equipment, and time to produce the fabric, which local women had struggled to find.

    NEADS is now working with about 2,500 women in 28 villages in Sadiya sub-division, organized into 20 weaving collectives.

    The program was launched in 2012 with a handful of women, after the area was hit by severe floods, destroying crops.

    NEADS subsidized their purchases of yarn, upgraded their loom skills through expert training, and offered advice from designers on fashionable colors and patterns, Saikia said.




posted 1905 days ago