Article: Meet Ohrna: A Brand Providing Education & Economic Opportunity for Indian Women Artisans

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Mar 9, 2022

Meet Ohrna: A Brand Providing Education & Economic Opportunity for Indian Women Artisans

As we mentioned last week, we’ll be celebrating women makers, artisans, and entrepreneurs all March long, on the blog and via email! For this week’s spotlight, we’re traveling to India to get to know Ohrna. 🇮🇳 This incredible organization seeks out rural women who cannot obtain work without leaving their homes or village. They provide them with training and education to empower them through education and economic opportunities. They turn these impoverished villagers into powerful Indian women artisans who command respect with their confidence and skills! Now that is something worth celebrating.

So, let’s dive a little deeper into their story, shall we?

Empowering Indian Women Artisans Through Education & Economic Opportunity

Ohrna has dubbed their approach to empowering Indian women artisans “Learning to Earning.” After women are selected to become an artisan with Ohrna, they get started on this journey of empowerment.

Ohrna is unlike many other artisan cooperatives as they travel to the villages to provide these talented women with everything they need. The women don’t have to leave home or travel to meet them where they are at in life.

The Ohrna Learning to Earning Model Empowering Indian Women Artisans

So, what does the Learning to Earning model entail? It’s a multi-step process.

Step 1: Prototype

The Ohrna team creates prototypes with their sustainable traditional crafting methodology in mind. This way, they can share the products with the Indian women artisans to show them what they’re making in the following steps.

Step 2: Jute & Cotton Product Kits Assembled

The local lead artisan team assembles kits in their home base of Pune, India, with jute, cotton, thread, product specifications, and instructions translated to the artisan's local language.

Step 3: Ohrna Travels to Local Villages & Provides Training for Indian Women Artisans

The team travels to the villages where these women live (and now work) to train them to make these magical, sustainable products. It’s about three hours from Ohrna’s headquarters in Pune.

Step 4: The Women Work from Their Homes in Their Respective Villages

When they arrive, they gather the women and teach them everything they need to know about their craft from start to finish. Every few months, they’ll do this process to add more women to the team! They’re empowered to take their kits home and make these products by the end of the workshop. They’re able to work when they want to, how they want to, providing unique flexibility that makes this sustainable for their lifestyle over time.

Step 5: Quality Checks & Global Impact

After the women complete the products, they’re checked for quality by a local lead artisan in their village. Then, upon the next trip from Pune, the batch is picked up, brought back to the warehouse, checked by a quality assurance team in Pune, and shipped globally!

Talk about inspirational! They are making a difference in women's lives all over India, allowing them to manifest a life many in their shoes only dream of.

Ohrna Also Embraces Sustainability for Brighter Futures

But, Ohrna is also creating a better world as a whole, which you’ll uncover in their creative process!

The Ohrna creative process focuses on simple designs that are easy to train and make but produce immense beauty. They utilize traditional arts and crafts with methods like Kantha embroidery but add a modern and contemporary style. They call their unique vibe “'contemporary with a touch of tradition,” which we love! But beyond that, we love how intentional they are with the products they produce.

Sustainable Products

All the products they make, from the jute bags to the home décor, are crafted using all-natural fibers from both jute and cotton. Jute is an eco-friendly fiber called “golden fiber” due to its value and color.

Sustainable Processes

Naturally, as they make these products, there will be scraps. But instead of throwing the scraps out, they use them to create smaller products like dolls and scrunchies! How fun is that?

Sustainable Packaging

Lastly, their inspired packaging is one-of-a-kind. They utilize recycled saris and breathe new life into them, creating special pouches to ship their products in!

With a goal of being “sustainable to the core” nothing goes to waste, and they use only all-natural products. This differentiates them even beyond their mission to do good for the women they employ. They’re truly making history and rewriting the future for the next generation!

Shop Ohrna & Support Indian Women Artisans with Simply Inspired

To celebrate Ohrna and their unique story, we’re featuring a few of our favorite products from them crafted by these talented Indian women artisans in our Spotlight on Women Makers Collection.

We're featuring these beauties for home and fashion at 20% off through March 30th:

1. For the on-the-go friend:

Artisan Jute Zipper Pouches - "Aasha" - Zig Zag and Stripe

2. For the plant parent or work-from-home friend:

Artisan Jute and Cotton Bowls (set of 3) - Gray + Brown Tones

3. For the fashionista friend:

Artisan Jute and Cotton Make-up Bag - Gray + Red Tones

When your purchase provides women with empowerment via economic opportunity and educational access, it’s truly something special. So let’s all aim to #LiveSimplyInspired and be intentional with every purchase we make. Not just during a celebratory month like March!

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Written by Darlene Hancox