Sally Holkar
Co-Founded REHWA SOCIETY
Madhya Pradesh, India
1979. Co-Founded REHWA SOCIETY
REHWA Society is now almost 35 years old. It has revived the entire Handloom story in Maheshwar, MP and continues as a leader; guide in design, marketing and quality control.
2003. Founded WOMENWEAVE CHARITABLE TRUST.
Exquisite Product…Women’s Empowerment …Poverty Alleviation… Sustainability…. WomenWeave has supported the role of women in handloom weaving since its inception in 2002, working toward making handloom a dignified income-earning activity in rural India.
2014. Founded THE HANdLOOM SCHOOL
A dream project conceptualized for years -The Handloom School addresses handloom weaving which is dwindling at an alarming rate, due to lack of support. Generations of skill and knowledge could be lost; not to mention much needed
Employment possibilities for rural India, if these traditional skills are not passed along to a new generation of weavers. They need support, marketing channels, admirers, skill enhancement: they need links to today’s world; and strong guidance along the way.
Projects In Madhya Pradesh : DINDORI & BHALAGHAT
Both tiny villages with a dwindling weaver population. WomenWeave brought attention to the plight of the tribal weavers of dindori district, who were extremely able; but had lost their traditional markets.
The ripple effects of this and other new projects include: stable income for a very vulnerable community, skill enhancement for formerly unemployed women and the addition of new design to a very isolated area, where the traditional markets were disappearing.