Artisans Efforts was formed in 2003, as a cooperative of Indian Artisans in West Bengal. Many of the artisans are single or widowed women who had worked in the commercial Indian textile industry, but left because the wages and working conditions were deplorable.
One member is named Mariam(age-32yrs.) who lost her husband three years ago leaving behind 2 sons(age-10yrs.,7yrs.) and 1 daughter(4yrs.). After the death of her husband, she was tortured mentally and physically by her in-laws.
Finally, she was told to leave their home in March 2004. To feed her children, she worked 18 hours a day in garment industry.
However, she was very skilled in hand embroidery work, and early this year she joined Artisans Effort. Now, she is getting a fair
wage for her work and her children are enrolled in Artisans Effort's cooperative school.
Artisans Effort cooperative structure gives each artisan a voice in how the organization is run and an equal share in the income generated by their work.
