Weaving Empowerment: Grassroot Movement in Nepal Himalayan Heritage Meetup; Feb 1st, 2017.
GMIN participated in a panel discussion about empowering rural Nepali women through carpet weaving at their Vocational Training Center –VTC - in Dang, Nepal at The Rubin Museum on February 1st, 2017. The panel was moderated by GMIN board member Ellie Windham and included GMIN co-founder: Sonam Ukyab, Manager of Odegard Carpets and Founder of Kooches Carpets: Tom DeMarco, and Beth Gottschling Huber from GoodWeave International.
The event started with a tour of Rubin Museum’s exhibition Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Rituals which was followed by a panel discussion focused mainly on how GMIN is empowering local women in south-western Nepal by teaching them a professional, income generating skill like carpet weaving.
GMIN co-founder Sonam Ukyab spoke about the motivations behind the establishment of the VTC in Dang District, and the necessity of operating such a training center: “The reason we did this was because historically, a majority of rural Nepali women do not get a chance to finish high school and the female literacy rate is less than 50% in Nepal so we use the VTC to teach the local women a professional skill which they could use to generate an income.” Tom Demarco of Odegard carpets spoke about his company’s 25 year history of carpet making in Nepal, how they have been employing Nepali women for decades and how the devastating earthquake quickly followed by the border blockade by India affected Odegard’s work in Nepal. Beth Gottschling Huber of Goodweave International spoke about how their organization rescues kids from factories where they are employed illegally and what they do with kids once they are rescued. The panel discussion was educational to the attendees and the audience participated with questions to conclude the program.
GMIN participated in a panel discussion about empowering rural Nepali women through carpet weaving at their Vocational Training Center –VTC - in Dang, Nepal at The Rubin Museum on February 1st, 2017. The panel was moderated by GMIN board member Ellie Windham and included GMIN co-founder: Sonam Ukyab, Manager of Odegard Carpets and Founder of Kooches Carpets: Tom DeMarco, and Beth Gottschling Huber from GoodWeave International.
The event started with a tour of Rubin Museum’s exhibition Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Rituals which was followed by a panel discussion focused mainly on how GMIN is empowering local women in south-western Nepal by teaching them a professional, income generating skill like carpet weaving.
GMIN co-founder Sonam Ukyab spoke about the motivations behind the establishment of the VTC in Dang District, and the necessity of operating such a training center: “The reason we did this was because historically, a majority of rural Nepali women do not get a chance to finish high school and the female literacy rate is less than 50% in Nepal so we use the VTC to teach the local women a professional skill which they could use to generate an income.” Tom Demarco of Odegard carpets spoke about his company’s 25 year history of carpet making in Nepal, how they have been employing Nepali women for decades and how the devastating earthquake quickly followed by the border blockade by India affected Odegard’s work in Nepal. Beth Gottschling Huber of Goodweave International spoke about how their organization rescues kids from factories where they are employed illegally and what they do with kids once they are rescued. The panel discussion was educational to the attendees and the audience participated with questions to conclude the program.