the work you do, the good that you do

30th January 2009 11:50:10 AM

What a school means

Just a few weeks ago we took in the sights and sounds of Nepal. What an amazing place! The people are so inviting and the landscape is awe-inspiring.

One of the reasons we were out there was to visit a producer group that we work with. Get Paper Industries makes beautiful handmade cards and paper products. We’ve worked with them for quite a few years now and it was great to see how they’re getting on.  We have been helping them build a school over the last year and it is amazing to find out just what a school means to the youngsters in this community.

For the children of the ‘stone breakers’, school is as much a symbol of stability and reliability in an otherwise unstable world as it is about education. GPI are helping change many children’s lives for the better. This is great example of some of the good that comes from GPI’s dedication to their community. It’s pretty inspiring to think that starting with a card, with the right mindset and dedication, you can do so much good.

GPI is a very busy place at the moment! – they’re creating some beautiful handmade bags for the Body Shop. It’s great to see the care and attention that goes into each piece they create and the huge amount of women and men benefitting from the project.

For us, this is what it is all about – Enjoying what we do, creating beautiful things, and helping something good. Liam - December 2008, Nepal.

 

card makers

29th February 2008 05:00:37 PM

A beautiful photograph by Kate Astbury of Sreepur card makers.

children of the stone breakers

19th February 2008 02:56:23 PM

We've been working with GPI in Nepal for a long time. They develop some of our beautiful handmade cards from recycled 'lokta' paper. They are a great project providing local employment and community support in a country that has had such a difficult time over recent years. Paper Dove set up a scheme 10 years ago to provide scholarships for schoolgirls in the local community. We were inspired by 'Milan' who runs GPI and wanted to do something permanent for their community. Girls in Nepal are often overlooked for education and suffer from poor literacy rates and limited opportunities. We liked that by picking the poorest girls in the village that due to their caste system, many of the villagers would then have to send their girls to school too! Here's a picture of a new project we are getting involved in. This is to build a school for the children of the local stonebreakers. These people work on the roadside breaking stones for a poor living. Currently what education is provided for their children is based in a rented 2 room house, too cramped for the children to sit and study comfortably. Working with GPI we are going to get underway with building a new school for them, providing proper conditions for them to study. Maybe they will grow up not having to break stones. Which would be good. Here's a picture of the kids in their current building. We'll let you know how we get on.

Happy's dance

19th November 2007 01:54:47 PM

Some of the children at the Sreepur Village orphanage in Bangladesh performed an impromtptu song and dance for us when we visited in October. The girl with the beautiful smile is called 'Happy'. Click here to view the film »

happy place

9th October 2007 12:17:19 PM

We've just been to Bangladesh, to make a film, and work with some of the groups that make cards for us. Here are some of the children at an inspirational place north of Dhaka that cares for nearly 600 orphaned or abandoned children. Some of them stay at the project when their mothers are unable to care for them, or cannot support their children. But the women are encouraged to come into the project to spend time with their children and also helped with work to generate income from making handmade cards. The people are beautiful and the children even more so. It's a happy place.