Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): Tribal women from remote Anaikatti in TN's Coimbatore district are making export quality eco-friendly terracotta tea cups by assuming multifarious responsibilities from clay mixing to final packaging of these products.
Many manufacturing companies and industries require different advertising strategies to sell their products and export them but these TN women are banking solely on the quality of their products. Their exporting business on pottery has grown tremendously. Their hard labour and their hand-painted terracotta products are finding their way to foreign countries through a charity organization, which is operating from a place where there is no internet.
A Tribal women team working in a charity organization called 'Daya Seva sadan' near Anaikatti, Coimbatore. They are manufacturing and selling terracotta tea cups, plates, hand-woven rugs, herbal honeys and jams. These women themselves took up the entire responsibility of making the terracotta tea cups from clay mixing to final packaging.
These tribal women live in Panapalli and Kondanur villages. Soundararajan has been running this organization for Tribals since 2012. Soundararajan said, “We are making various handicrafts to improve the livelihood of tribal people. This center is functioning as a livelihood opportunity for more than 30 tribal women."
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He continued to say, 'We take yarn from banana fiber to make yoga mats and bags and clothes. We are making various items in terracotta clay. We are making alcohol free sanitizer and ayurveda products. We manufacture different types of soaps. We make and sell gooseberry jam and jack-fruit jam for children. Currently, our clay tea cups are being exported to Qatar. These women crafted ten thousand eco-friendly terracotta tea cups for export."
A tribal woman working there said about this, 'Making a tea cup is a challenging task. It is exported to foreign countries because it is done with passion and full attention. It is gratifying to see our handmade products going abroad. It is a matter of pride that our products go abroad. We have less education but still we are able to make these products for export. It also gives us confidence' had she said.
