There is a famous saying that if you give a man a fish, you give him a meal. But if you teach that man to fish, he will be able to eat for the rest of his life. For March 8th, International Women’s Day, this saying should be changed to say that if you give a woman a job, she will empower her community, feed her family, send her children to school, and bring herself and those around her out of poverty.
This is not just an idealistic fairytale, but based on fact – when women are employed and empowered, their whole community benefits. For example, across the world women perform 66 percent of the world’s work and produce half of the food, yet they earn only 10 percent of the income and own only 1 percent of property across the globe. Women are doing more work across the world, for more hours than their male counterparts, in the informal economy and dealing with degrading work conditions. However, according to UN Women, increases in female labor results in faster economic growth, decreases in child mortality rates, increases in education, and greater organizational effectiveness.
As a company, GlobeIn strives to empower artisans around the world and many of those artisans are women and many of the products are a result of women-led cooperatives. Here is a small summary of the many women artisans who GlobeIn supports:
Hanging Lanterns from India
Farzana Parveen, age 37, mother of 4 boys, manager of her house, and de facto cook at all family functions, is on top of all that also the creator of your new lantern. When she was married, she did not know any crafts, but her husband taught her how. Together, they have established their very own workshop. Growing up, Farzana had always wanted to get an education, but her society forbid her from studying past the 8th grade. Although she was unable to fulfill her own desires for an education, Farzana’s dream has become for her sons to be well-educated. Her work in the workshop gives her agency in making this dream come true.
Collapsible Breakfast Tray from India
Noorjahan comes from a Muslim family where she was very much bound to traditions. Women working was strictly prohibited which continued even after her marriage. They were living below the poverty line, a
nd there was no other alternative except to work. When she joined the workshop as a cleaning lady, she had no woodworking skills and learned everything from scratch. Women of conservative families do not usually work in woodworking workshops; however, when her husband passed away, she decided to take the reigns and make a living for herself. 15 years later, Noorjahan lives in a small house that she owns herself! Owning property independently is extremely uncommon for a rural woman in India. With the money she earned with this GlobeIn order, she repaired the old leaking roof and water connection to her house.
Pyramid Tabletop Storage Cabinet from India
One of the artisans who worked on your new piece is Asha Devi, an artisan in woodworking for the last 10 years. Asha is 46 years old and her main job is to fasten joints and hand-finish the pieces so that they shine bright and new. Asha was married at a very early age, and because of this she was unable to finish her schooling. At this point, she started working as an artisan to provide for her family. She reports that “this order [by] GlobeIn has given me a chance to buy new thing[s] for my home,” like a refrigerator and freezer, and more importantly, according to her “I can [now] have ice cream whenever I want.”
GlobeIn continues to work towards supporting women and communities across the world through the power of social buying as a means to making a difference in the global economy. To learn more about International Women’s Day or participate in a local festival near you, check out the website for IWD 2022.
