Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite Central Committee - Bangladesh
The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has been creating jobs in Bangladesh since 1975, starting and operating small cottage industries in rural areas around the country. The main objective of the organisation is to create income-generating opportunities for rural, poor and female-headed households. MCC provides financial, technical and marketing assistance and encourages producers to become self-sustaining businesses producing for the local and foreign market.
Mennonite Central Committee has a strong environmental focus. All products are made of natural environmental-friendly raw materials. Waste jute from local carpet mills are used to make handmade paper; water hyacinth is used to make rope and string for products ranging from earrings to furniture; vegetable and natural dyes are used for block printing, tie dying, paper and twine colouring; coconut fibre, a by-product from their desiccated coconut processing enterprise, is used to make mats, brushes and wall hangings; and leaves from palm trees and keya plants are used for baskets, jewellery and decorative items.
Today MCC supports over 1,000 women in Bangladesh. As women in Bangladesh often cannot find work, are perceived as a financial burden to their families, and thus married away early, the money the girls earn through MCC enables them both to delay their marriage, and gives them a greater say in family decisions.
Hajera Begum is 28 years old and the sole support of her family. Her husband is 80 years old and can no longer work making cane baskets and mats. Before joining Bonoful Paper project, a MCC sponsored project, Hajera “had the knack” of doing Nakshi Kantha quilting. She did this in her home but only had a small income. “We had to sell our home and use all of the money to eat… Now I am working and we have a home and all of my children can go to school. We have a small garden for vegetables and some chickens and ducks.” Hajera says that because of working, she has a very different life. Her position in the family has changed, even her parents show her a new appreciation.
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