Social enterprise Every craftswoman has some special cases when they need help. In such cases, we give them a financial reward or help somehow, so that they can solve their small problem. Maybe we cannot solve the whole problem, but we take part in it. We pay for lunch ourselves, in the morning we pay for tea. At first everybody brought their own food in cans and containers, and when we saw that someone was ashamed to take out their own food, it is not a proper lunch. And we decided that we will provide it ourselves, because everyone has different opportunities, so that one could just come and work. We are a social group, i.e. we work with women with disabilities or they may have children with special needs. Out of the whole staff, about 15%. There are craftswomen from the community of deaf-mute people. And it is important for us to work with them, to help them. They can earn money with their work, it is little money, but they earn it. There are single women with many children, they cannot work full time, and here they sew souvenirs and get money for it. There are girls who joined us from the 9th grade, from the school age. As you start working with people, you take some responsibility for them, because there is a mother of a sick child and she needs to buy medicine or food for her children. Of course, we have children of our own, whom we bring up, and they live in this environment and grow up in this environment. Children of all our relatives, brothers and sisters, are also coming, it is very interesting for them. It is good when there are people who can preserve traditional methods, traditions, clothes and food. I think that we are a part of this as well, because many people come to see, learn and work with felt. This is how we live. |