The second wave has reached the upper reaches of the Himalayas. The foothills of the Kumaon which were relatively untouched earlier are now having to bear the brunt of a rapid rise in number of cases. Poor infrastructure and resources to tackle this situation makes the situation all the more challenging.
With meagre savings, limited information and access to healthcare, it breaks our heart to see women artisans of the region struggle now to bring money and food onto their family’s plate.

While we miss having our artisans work together; it has become imperative to ensure safety and their well being amidst the rising cases. As we stare at the rampage of the pandemic and the uncertainties of the situation in the future, we are trying our best to make sure all the women groups we are associated with are taken care of.

However, with delays and disruptions to our production, our orders have had to be stalled for an indefinite period. It is important that we see to it that artisans survive through these unimaginably hard times.

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the livelihoods the artisans working with us, it is now more than ever that we need your support. Many of the women working with us are sole breadwinners of their families and your contributions will directly help them to cope up with this crisis. Any contribution, however big or small, will enable us to provide a continuous livelihood support during this difficult time when work has been severely hampered.

How do we help?
We support over 50 women artisans of the region through our work. With your help we hope to:

• Offset the wage-loss that the artisans are incurring for at least 3 months through the total amount raised from this campaign
• Help the artisans manage these funds so that they may endure for as long as possible
• Distribution of masks, sanitisers, gloves and footwear for safety of artisans 

We need the funds to support the wages. While they are still able to work, we have little income from orders so if you can help with orders or a donation it would be greatly appreciated.

We are taking orders for beautiful hand spun, natural dyed yarn and hand knit garments and accessories. For enquiries please Email us at contact@peoli.in
We need your support to keep going. Please contribute and spread the word!

Who are we:

Almora Craft Design Studio LLP is a social enterprise, engaged in creating livelihoods for women artisans of Almora, a town in the southern edge of the Kumaon foothills of the Himalayas.

We focus on training of women artisans of Almora (Uttarakhand) in various indigenous textile crafts of spinning, dyeing, knitting and embroidery and we are engaged in the research, archival and development of local craft traditions using eco friendly methods like solar heating, rain water harvesting and increased dependence on manual skills over machine. Women are provided with a means of earning their livelihood using skills they are familiar with and an opportunity to work at home while managing their family.
Currently, we engage about 50 women artisans who are looking for opportunities to support their families economically by a means that lets them work from their homes.

Through our brand PEOLI and our marketing efforts, we are able to provide a global platform to eco friendly, high quality, premium value, zero waste products made with a low carbon footprint using natural fibres, organic dyes, clean energy and hand processes.

What we do:

With rapidly depleting natural resources and due to lack of basic amenities, locals in Uttarakhand are looking for alternative sources of income to sustain themselves. The employment opportunities that we are able to provide using the local skill vocabulary also respond to the macro issue of population migration due to which the hill villages in many areas of Uttarakhand (India) are deserted.

In such a scenario, crafts give ample opportunity for women to sustain their families by practicing skills, which are nascent to them. We work with a combination of salaried women and decentralized artisans on a contractual basis. Currently, these women are homemakers with basic school education and in some cases not even that. Most of them are sole or primary earning members of the family; working with us provides them the satisfaction and respect in a skill they are familiar with. In accordance with their skill level and managerial abilities, they have begun to earn Rs. 5-12,000/month.