And, just like that, I’m writing the final weekly blog for my LiA!

This week was devoted to working on the outputs for our self-defined personal projects. The brief of the personal projects was given to us a few weeks’ prior to the beginning of the CraftHER programme. It stipulated that our project could constitute any form: a video, a research report, business proposal, website etc. It also stated that the project could be research based or action based, a theoretical concept or a tangible product, this was all up to our discretion. The only fixed criteria was that it had to be somehow linked to or inspired by the CraftHER programme and that it should be a cumulative project, which was worked on, developed and adapted throughout the six weeks. 

My final personal project was indeed a product of a lengthy process of alteration, adaptation and development. When we were first given the brief, we were given prompts which urged us to think about a problem, opportunity or topic related to themes of CraftHER, which we thought we would be drawn to or would like to contribute to the resolution of. In this initial consideration, I came up with the idea of creating a forum where craftswomen from the various organisations could speak to and thereby inspire young women in their communities. I devised this concept with the intention of ensuring inter-generational feminism so that all the work of organisations like Swara, Archana Women’s Centre, SEWA, which are boosting female employment, agency and independence, would not be limited to only one generation. 

However, when we visited Save the Loom organisation in the first week of the LiA and learned about the stigmas around handicrafts and the trend of young people studying abroad, I realised the inapplicability of my initial idea. From this point, it was back to the drawing board to devise a new project which would more successfully tackle what seemed to be the dual mission of my first idea: to boost recognition, respect and praise for craftswomen who were breaking stereotypes by working for their own income; to encourage young women to follow their example and strive for financial independence. 

At the very moment when I was pondering this, we began our time at the Forest Post organisation, and I found inspiration for a new project: ‘Women Can’. Meeting the women at Forest Post and hearing their incredible and varied life stories inspired me to create a video showcasing the individuality and capability of women. I decided that it would comprise clips of many different women, all of whom were breaking stereotypes and disproving naysayers, but the different women and their varied stories would be connected into a cohesive message under the slogan ‘Women Can’. 

Throughout the rest of the week, alongside the photo and video interview content that all six of us were collecting to create the marketing outputs for the mini-consulting brief, I took short candid, B-roll style clips of the women, either talking or working or even just smiling at any moment when I had learned about the life of a woman and felt that it could be applicable to the video. 

I continued this process throughout the next week as well, whilst we were based at SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association). And, at the end of that week, I had a meeting with Asha regarding the personal project. She said that she loved the rationale for my project and thought the video could be a great medium through which to launch the ‘Women Her” campaign idea. She said that the video, if posted to Instagram, had the potential to have great reach and this aligned well with my intention to inspire the younger generation of women with feminist messaging.

It was also during this discussion that Asha recommended that I consider creating posters alongside the video. These posters, she said, could be printed off and the physical copies sent to the various organisations I had been working with in order to show the women that the work they were doing was of great value and could have the impact of persuading them to keep doing what they were doing! I really liked the way that the posters focalised one half of the dual mission of my project which was to give the women recognition. With this new development, though, I had to make sure that I was capturing high-quality photo content alongside the video content. 

Over the next two weeks, whilst we were based at AWC and Swara, I continued shooting content and also keeping notes alongside for the captions that would accompany the video clips which would detail the women’s stories and how they linked to the concept of ‘Women Can’. 

During the past week, I edited all the video footage together, wrote captions for the clips, added introductory and concluding messages and also created four separate posters showcasing four women who embodied the idea of ‘Women Can’. I also commissioned a female carpenter that we had met at AWC, Omana, to create four frames to house one physical copy each of the four posters. At the end of the week, each of us scholars presented our projects to each other and to our programme co-ordinators. We then received feedback as to how, if we wished to, we could move forward with the project beyond CraftHER 2026. 

The personal project was a great opportunity to identify a method through which we could make a positive social impact and be supported to make serious steps towards bringing it into fruition. Throughout the trip I have been reflecting on social impact work, seeing it in action and thinking about whether it is the career for me (which I thought it might be prior to the trip). And, linking back to my Week 4 reflection regarding our week at AWC, experiencing the passion I felt while creating the video and also seeing the influence that it had on those watching is (quite a few tears were shed) I do feel a strong sense that I would like to have a career in social impact work, particularly in that pertaining to feminist causes. 

I am so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to be part of CraftHER 2026 for my LiA. I truly feel like I have grown so much as a person and I’ve also gained some extremely meaningful connections. Our programme co-ordinators, Asha, Preetha and Durga, have all been absolute rocks for us six scholars during this six weeks. No favour was ever too much, no question was ever a bother and no worry was dismissed as trivial. I have never witnessed such selflessness, patience or grace and words cannot describe my gratitude to each of them for helping all of us overcome various challenges and setbacks and overall for making this the experience of a lifetime. I also cannot end my Week Six post without mentioning my girls. Lorelai, Abi, Maria, Alba, Paris: I couldn’t have done it without you all by my side. I will forever cherish the memories that we made together on this trip. For the ups, the downs and every in between, we were all in it together (wink wink) and I just feel so lucky and humbled to have had the chance to meet, work alongside and live with five wonder women for six weeks in one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

So, it’s goodbye for now, to CraftHER 2026 but truly, the women I have met on this trip will always live on in my heart and in my mind inspiring me to be brave, curious, determined, humble, compassionate and strong. 

They have shown me that in every way, women can.