2015: Felting Flower

The women — coope­ra­ti­ve from the vil­la­ge make a con­tri­bu­ti­on to the adult edu­ca­ti­on pro­ject by using their craft­s­manship. In August 2015, I visi­ted the vil­la­ge and taught the women of the local coope­ra­ti­ve how to make flowers and cushions using felt. I did this becau­se I am con­vin­ced that in order to encou­ra­ge sustain­ab­le deve­lop­ment, you have to edu­ca­te adults and also pro­vi­de sup­port for their eco­no­my on a small scale.

The flowers and cushions are made from local sheep’s wool. The women wash and card the wool in their own vil­la­ges. Flowers bear a spe­cial mea­ning for Ladakhi peop­le. You can see them ever­y­whe­re in their gar­dens. They love the dash of colours in the midst of the arid, moun­tain­ous land­s­cape. For trek­kers, felt flowers and cushions are authen­tic sou­ve­nirs from the village.