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Prokritee, Bangladesh

The Mennonite Central Committee started working in Bangladesh in 1920 and initiated income-generating programs for rural women in 1975. In 2001, the organization became an independent nonprofit and changed its name to Prokirtee, a Bangla phrase which means “nature”, referring to the all-natural materials used to make their products. They work with 8 individual enterprises with the goal of generating income for poor, rural women. Prokritee offers training in organization and business skills, export marketing and leadership and only works with the poorest Bangladeshis.

Prokritee (meaning “nature” in Bengali) is an agency that provides managerial, product design and development, and marketing assistance to handicraft organizations in Bangladesh. Prokritee manages several handicraft enterprises and helps other groups sell their products in local and foreign markets. Central offices and a local outlet store, “Source,” are located in Dhaka, while the enterprises are located around the country. Prokritee and its enterprises provide jobs for poor rural women: widows, divorcees or heads–of–households, primarily rural, landless and with little or no income. By providing jobs for women, Prokritee improves women’s standard of living and helps them send their children to school. The organization provides skills development training to artisans. The design department of Prokritee is committed to developing marketable designs based on Bangladesh’s cultural heritage. Prokritee creates and promotes income–generating projects that benefit the artisans, adhere to good safety and environmental standards, and have the potential to become self–reliant.

The Biborton Handmade Paper Project makes paper out of water hyacinth pulp. This invasive plant is not native to the country and now destructively clogs waterways and ponds. Making paper from the water hyacinth is a creative response to a difficult environmental problem. The paper also has embedded dried leaves and flowers and comes in a variety of colors. Many impoverished families in this area are eager for employment. Most of the 70 women now employed gather at the production centre to make paper or create paper products, but a few women still make paper at home. Purchase of this item supports the women Artisans.