Für Frauen in Flores e.V.

About us

15 years ago, we founded a women’s weaving group in East Indonesia on the island of Flores with the intention of enabling girls to attend school with the additional money the women earn. At the same time, it was important to us that natural dyes were used again so that the soil and scarce water [supply] do not continue to be polluted by chemical residues.
The women received orders from us to create blankets, sarongs, pillows and bedspreads in the ikat style (tie dyed), which we then sold at special markets in museums. The funds we earned in this way allowed us to place new orders.
The intention was not to turn these women into charity cases. From the beginning, we wanted to ensure a level playing field, in other words, they deliver their products and we pay them [fairly] – no dumping prices.
Our association initially assumed the transportation costs so that the women could be paid well. In the meantime they do not need us any longer.
Our women produce irresistibly beautiful sarongs, decorating hand-spun cotton with traditional patterns, using exclusively natural dyes, and as such the group is part of a far-reaching cultural group in Indonesia.
Our new project, for which we are asking for financial assistance, sells cashew nuts that grow on Flores in large quantities and are of excellent quality. Together with an NGO, we are working to found a group of farmers, if possible at the beginning of the nut harvest in October.
The NGO Swisscontact will begin training the farmers soon – free of charge.
But we need € 8,000.- for the basic equipment, which includes knives, tables, bowls, a drying oven, a vacuum packing machine, and many other items.
Translation:betterplace