We still have so much to celebrate for Women’s History Month! This week, we are excited to feature a changemaker who has been traveling along this journey with us since we first began Fair Trade Winds in 2007.
Ruchi Agrawal founded Matr Boomie along with her husband, Manish Gupta. In India, their native country, they saw workers being exploited, being paid unfairly, and working in poor conditions. Materials were being wasted. Together, they set out to change this cycle of poverty, source products responsibly, and create a brighter future in India for generations to come.
What inspired the start of Matr Boomie?
While working with export houses in India as a designer, I experienced firsthand the unjust treatment toward the factory workers in the fashion industry. Workers endure appalling working conditions for extremely low compensation, creating a cycle of poverty that is nearly impossible to escape from. I wanted to find ways for them to break this cycle and change the way the fashion industry operates. Around the same time, I met Manish (co-founder of Matr Boomie) who was working towards developing a Fair Trade alternative for artisans in India. We joined forces and Matr Boomie was born. We are focusing on just Indian communities as of now.
Kala Dera
How is Matr Boomie organized and how many artisan groups do you currently partner with?
We partner with grassroot NGOs and Cooperatives in villages and urban slums in India. Some of the communities have a central workshop where the artisans will get together to work or collect raw materials or submit the end products. In other cases the artisans will take the work pieces home and work as their schedules allow. Majority of women artisans primarily work from home. It really depends on group to group and the community structure in a region. We partner with about 1,000 artisans across 40 different communities.
Kala Raksha
We know that every business had to pivot during the pandemic. How has COVID impacted the way the artisans work and/or how you work with them?
COVID was hard for everyone, especially for the artisans since they have limited savings and rely on daily jobs and regular pay cycles. We were aware of the hardships and tried to support them as much as possible.
- Because of shutdowns, production was greatly impacted. We granted artisans loans ahead of the production cycles to help them with some cash flow.
- The overall demand for artisanal gifts took a plunge during that time; we thought of creative ways to continue the work orders for them. We asked the artisans to recycle the old fabrics at home and make masks and distribute them in their communities and ship them to us whenever possible.
- The transportation and supply chain was greatly affected. We pre-planned and forecasted in a way to give artisans way more lead times.
- At many times during the lockdown, the food shortage became a huge issue for the artisans stranded in the city and could not go back to their villages. We did multiple food drives to help such artisans and their communities.
Literacy workshop
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is “Innovation and technology for gender equality.” How has Matr Boomie used technology to benefit the business, the artisans’ lives and/or the way they work?
We have been working for the past several years to set up computer training centers at our artisan communities. We have installed 3 such centers at 3 of our women artisan communities. These centers are equipped with computers and there are free classes for women to learn basic computer operation. Though women are initially skeptical of computers, once they start to learn the basics we see a strong boost in confidence and a basic understanding of how the digital world works.
What is your personal favorite product and why?
I love all of our handmade paper gift bags. They are so rich in texture, art, and design. The product is so modern while still having traditional Indian motifs, reflecting a beautiful merger of new and old, modern and traditional, rooted and growing!
When women work, the impact of the investment is greatly multiplied. What benefits or positive changes have you seen in the communities where the artisans work and live?
This is so true. When a woman becomes a part of the workforce and starts earning (especially in a patriarchal society), she gets a voice, she gets a say in her own life, she can have an influence on how her earnings can be used, how her life can be impacted, how her girl’s life can be impacted. She can dream again. Most importantly their daughters learn that they can dare, they can dream and they can make it happen just like their moms.
We love your commitment to empowering others. What advice would you give to women and girls who are interested in getting involved in causes they are passionate about?
We as women can easily get lost in being a ‘Giver’ and get side-tracked from our passions. My only advice will be to take time to put your passion first and give it your all. Believe in your dreams and go for it even when the world tells you otherwise. You are a force! We are powerful, determined, compassionate and fair. I strongly believe a woman armed with her passion and determination can change this world for good.
What woman in your life has had the biggest impact on you personally?
I often find myself drawing inspiration from Mother Teresa. She was such a kind and compassionate human being. Her strength was her empathy and the courage to stand on the right side. Her energies were channeled around positivity and creating solutions and that is so inspiring for me.
