Although it does not feel anything like fall just yet, in honor of Women’s International Friendship Month, Ten Thousand Villages on Saturday will be hosting a fall preview of fashions, accessories and housewares made by Houston’s refugee artisans. The Community Cloth, a micro-enterprise initiative empowering refugee women in Houston, will be displaying these wares from 10am – 3pm at the Rice Village store (2424A Rice Boulevard)
Started in 2009, Community Cloth helps new arrivals achieve economic, educational and social goals through the provision of seed grants, training, peer support, and by expanding market opportunities for refugee women artisans from such countries as Burma, Iraq and Bhutan. Community Cloth supports women who want to create and sell handmade, indigenous arts and crafts such as woven bags, knitted scarves, household items and more. By producing and selling these wares, the women have an opportunity to express and share their culture and heritage while also learning new skills that will assist them in transitioning to life in the US, and obtain much-needed supplemental income. And all profits from sales go directly to the artisans.
To learn more about their founding, operations, and some of the crafts themselves, see the video below.