Brick by Brick Campaign a Success, Providing Survivor-Jewelers the Space to Excel

Thanks to the generosity and support of our community, we contributed $25,000 (over half the total cost)  towards this new schoolhouse, vocational training and employment center for the hundreds of survivors who come through our partner  Rescue Foundation's Boisar Shelter near Mumbai India.

This shelter is the home of Made By Survivors' Mumbai Jewelry Center, which opened in 2010, and survivors from our Jewelry Program now use the new building for their studies and for their jewelry making.

Thanks so much  to everyone who donated, and to author Kathleen McGowan and friends for helping us make the final mile. 

Jewelry making is a highly respected and marketable skill in India -

traditionally it has been done only by men, and in families of certain castes.  So for young women - survivors of slavery - to master it is almost unheard of.   The Mumbai Jewelry Center is the second facility opened by Made by Survivors to train survivors as artisan-goldsmiths.  The first center in Calcutta is now in full production mode, and you can see or buy designs made at both centers at our web store. 

  A third center is opening this fall in the Darjeeling area near the border of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, in partnership with Lush Cosmetics and Womens Interlink Foundation.   Because of it's proximity to these three borders and because of the history of tea gardens in the region (which have traditionally been involved in labor exploitation and slavery) this area is a major transit route for trafficking.  There are few opportunities for women, other than backbreaking labor in the tea gardens, if this is even available.                                                                                                             

Most of the survivors in our jewelry programs have been rescued from brothel slavery in Mumbai and Calcutta.  They have been cared for in a partner shelter, and received medical care, counseling, legal aid and education.  Once trained in the jewelry program, the survivors are able to use their skill to earn a good living, either in our jewelry programs or elsewhere.  Having sustainable livelihoods will slavery-proof them into the future, ultimately enabling them to leave the shelter home and support themselves independently for the first time in their lives. 

Our partner for the Mumbai Center - Rescue Foundation - is the largest rescue agency in India, and conducts raids which pull hundreds of girls out of brothel slavery every year.   After rescue, many girls are cared for in RF's three shelter homes - others are sent to partners such as Maiti Nepal, and Sanlaap.

When we first met with the Rescue Foundation's Director Triveni Acharya to propose setting up a jewelry program there, we showed her a slideshow of the Calcutta jewelry program.  We were amazed and delighted when she recognized three of the 12 survivor-jewelers in the very first slide!  They were girls who Triveni had rescued several years ago and sent to shelters in their home state of West Bengal.  Now they are members of our jewelry team, and she could see from the huge smiles on their faces that the girls are truly thriving.  We gave her some samples that I had picked up earlier in the week, made by the three girls she had rescued.  After seeing the photos and samples, Triveni and her team were especially enthusiastic to bring this life-changing opportunity to the hundred plus girls currently living at the Mumbai shelter home.                                                                          

Our International Jewelry Program Director Dianna Badalament traveled to India for 5 months this past winter to offer training at both centers.  She braved 125 degree heat, digestive illnesses, lice, and other challenges, but was nonetheless able to train 40 girls in high level fabrication skills.   Dianna was impressed by the commitment and artistic abilities of the survivors.

The greatest challenge facing the Mumbai program was a lack of space; our jewelry program operated out of the dining hall, right alongside the school and other vocational training. During the day, it was noisy and hectic. We launched the Brick by Brick campaign this past fall to help construct a building to house the jewelry program, other income generation and vocational training activities, and a schoolhouse.

We were able to raise $25,000 through a fundraising campaign in winter 2010-11, and the building is now completed.

In the words of jewelry program participant Kali, "Through my jewelry, I finally have a voice" (Kali is deaf and mute, and also one of our most accomplished artisans). 

You can support the continued growth of these survivors by donating to MBS Empowerment Programs or by purchasing some of beautiful jewelry made by the survivors.

Freedom Starburst Pendant    Free Bird Necklace   Deepa Earrings     Flame that Can Never Be Extinguished Necklace