Craftivism at Shanti Sewing Centre
Last month, OSM spent 5 wonderful days in the rural slum community of Shanti Camp in Delhi. While there, we connected with the students, staff and families of the Bal Shiksha Kendra Centre and ran 2 days of sewing workshops where OSM and L.I.B. International volunteers trained 36 women how to make stuffed animals from socks. Sock Monkey, Sock Elephant and Sock Rabbit were the species of choice! The women have been training as seamstresses for the past two years, which was evident in their impeccable sewing skill. They caught on quickly to the craft and overall, the project was a great success.
It is the hope of our 3 organizations ( Operation Sock Monkey, L.I.B. International, Concern for Humanity) that a fair trade, sustainable business may be established through the creation and sale of these sock animals with a similar model to the sock monkey project established at Woza Moya in 2009. It was an exciting and extremely successful collaboration for this partnership and is sure to be the first of many adventures for this team of peace warriors.
