It is difficult to put into words the impact this project has had on me in the matter of a few days. To know I have five more weeks ahead fills me with anticipation and a curiosity not only for the lessons to be learnt and the stories that will be shared, but for the person that will emerge the other side of six beautiful weeks in Kerala.

CraftHER is without a doubt a very special and unique project, connecting scholars with female artisans to discover the real meaning of female empowerment and the challenges faced by craftswomen and organisations today. We will work on mini consulting projects in collaboration with the organisations in an effort to contribute to their business development. But most importantly we will listen, we will grow and we will learn from women with a wealth of knowledge and in a culture entirely different from our own.

In this first week alone, I feel like I've plunged myself into a wild world of inspiring ideas, powerful stories, and remarkable people. A fantastic example of all these put together was Ramesh from Save The Loom whom we met on Thursday.

He delivered to us an incredibly insightful and eye opening talk on not only the story behind his organisation but also the history and culture of the region, all from the inside of his beautiful store in which was found a collection of clothes and items from a range of collectives all fighting for the use of their craft in a sustainable and ethical way that keeps them connected to their roots. His passion for the conservation of craft and sustainable ways of living has stayed with me. What struck me most was the question of how can we save these crafts and most importantly why should we? Whilst the complete answer toils still in my head my first thoughts were for the history and generational passing of the torch that craft has preserved. A way of life that is slowly being lost to the highly artificial and consumeristic world we are living in. But if machines can do it better and faster what is the point of preserving the art of craft?  This leads me to a quote by Mahatma Gandhi articulated by Ramesh during his talk: “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, not everyone’s greed”. The culture of fast fashion and constant desire for the next great thing has diminished our appreciation for the things that once were made and crafted by humans. More than this, our current way of life is driving us to certain destruction as we use and abuse what the world gives us and leave behind the sustainable and resourceful manner of our ancestors.

An excellent example of the resourcefulness of the people here in Kerala is the use of the coconut tree. As our backwater guide Miram explained on Saturday (a  free day), on which we had decided to do a tour of Kochi and an excursion into the backwaters, the coconut tree is fully used from beginning to end: the juices for water or food, the fibres of the shell for rope and fabric, the leaves for mats or roofs. Seeing how every part of a single tree can serve a purpose highlighted for me the value of using natural resources thoughtfully and minimizing waste.

Our field trips were fantastically complemented by programme induction and personal development sessions. The sessions on leadership and our IKIGAIs helped us disvover what matters to us and encouraged us to reflect on ourselves in a very focused and uplifting manner. Friday’s sessions centered more around the personal projects and consultancy as well as business functions and purposes. I found these sessions highly informative and I enjoyed the way we were encouraged to discuss between each other and with Asha, Preetha and Durga (our programme managers) to discover different perspectives and engage in meaningful ways on intriguing topics. In the end this is what CraftHER has meant to me in this first week. Conversation. The sharing of ideas or points of view you may have never considered before. People opening up on the things that made them who they are. And maybe it is because of my background in Psychology or just my curiosity in other people but I have found this part of the project beautiful. Something as simple as sitting around a dinner table with five other girls (Alba, Abi, Paris, Erin and Maria) I have never met before, or at least not known very well, and talking about not only our personal lives and our dreams for the future but also the complicated issues that face our world today and how we might hope to solve them. And maybe that’s what it’s all about, giving us the courage to actually set out and make those changes. I suppose I will find out. Either way I am certain this journey will see me very much changed at the end and I am excited to meet that person and discover the friends she has made along the way, the lessons she has learnt and the stories she will carry with her.