Hajiganj originated in one of the poorest areas of Saidpur, Bangladesh. The townspeople of Saidpur had little or no education, training or resources with which to improve their standard of living.
Origins:
Prokritee, an umbrella job creation project, saw an urgent need for sustainable work and income in the area. Thus, Prokritee began the process of incorporating Hajiganj into their network of artisan groups. Women in this rural area had a remarkable skill for beautiful and intricate crochet. It was with this seemingly insignificant skill with which Hajiganj was born.
Growth & Flexibility:
Hajiganj has grown from a group of 10 women working from home, to over 100 women in a 3-room facility that offers steady income, ongoing training and new design concepts. The work is distributed at the training facility and the women are free to take the work home to complete alongside their household responsibilities, whether that be their daily chores or simply caring for their families. This flexibility is quite important to the women of this project and another reason why Hajiganj has attracted so many artisans.
Our Partnership:
At Azadi Project we were instantly taken by the beauty and detail of the hand crocheted work done by the women at Hajiganj. Our original crochet jewellery concepts, combined with the detail-oriented craftsmanship of these talented artisans created our stunning crochet collection. It’s hard to believe such elaborate work is all made by hand!