Tribal Women's Blanket Project, Bangladesh
Woman taking part in a CCDB weaving project. Photo: Peter Williams/WCC |
Christian Commision for Development (CCDB) is a leading and highly respected rural development organization in Bangladesh. CCDB has concentrated its efforts in the organizing and consolidation of people's organizations at the grassroots level: e.g. villages, wards, and unions. Since its inception, CCDB has provided necessary support to 36 community development areas, which are operated by male and female volunteers. CCDB assistance, in the form of grants and credit, was a great source of help for these budding local organizations. The CCDB covers several areas of concern with programs such as: development education, skills training, literacy and mathematical skills, credit, agricultural extension, livestock care, women's advancement, and community health.
CCDB responds to the needs and concerns of tribal (Pahari) people through its ethnic community development program (ECDP). Most of the beneficiaries are marginal farmers who live by jhum cultivation (slash and burn cultivation), which can unfortunately only provide them jobs for three-to-six months a year. The amount of yield villagers get from jhum can secure their food on an average for six-to-seven months, and the rest of the year they live on wild food or starve. CCDB has several initiatives such as management training, occupational/ skill development training, assistance for creating nurseries, livestock rearing, grocery shops, and horticultural support to keep people engaged in economic activities for the entire year. The ECDP program also creates job opportunities during the lean season through earth cutting, road repairing, and building communication linkages. However, most of these activities largely involve only the male members of families. The little time pahari women get inbetween household chores and cultivation, they weave their own garments, blankets etc. Instead of buying blankets from the open market for the CCDB disaster preparedness program, CCDB decided to buy from the villagers – thus helping the pahari women to have a job opportunity during lean periods and earn their livelihood. In a disaster-prone country such as Bangladesh, integrating disaster preparedness programs into development projects strengthens both– the women benefit by the income from the blankets they weave, and CCDB gains a surplus of blankets to have at hand in times of need.
This blanket project engages the tribal women in the Bandarban District in Bangladesh to utilize their skills in a micro-enterprise. CCDB, through a one-year grant from CWS, buys blankets from these women, thus providing the capital that allows minority women to produce blankets, which CCDB then uses for its disaster preparedness program. Under this project, CCDB will work with a total of 800 poor tribal women from Bawm, Marma, Mrow (Murong), Khiang, Tripua, Tonchanga, Chakma, Lusai, and Khumi communities in the Bandarban District. The number of indirect beneficiaries is about 4,140 people from these communities.
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Updated 10/07/04
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