Water hyacinth has become a means of economic empowerment for women and the differently abled in the coastal belt of Thrissur district.
Around 380 people eke out a living by making handicrafts such as designed mats, table tops, invitation cards, diary covers, flowers and bags at the Kottappuram Integrated Development Society (KIDS), a non-profit arm of the Kottappuram diocese.
Most of these women are from the coastal belt of Kodungalloor and North Paravur taluks, the worst weed flood-hit areas. “We tried out this innovative way of utilising water weeds to make women in the area economically independent, ” said Fr. Paul Thomas Kalathil, director of KIDS. Hyacinth is good for making craft items as its stem is long.
The initiative was started around 20 years ago. Along with women, around 30–odd differently abled people work in KIDS.
Different stages
Now there are many self-help groups of women and the differently abled working in KIDS. They take care of different stages of the processing.
While some collect the weed from the waterbodies, some dry and process it. Some others dye them in different colours.
Differently abled people are trained in making handicraft items like flowers, stars, bags and mats using the natural fibre.
The employees are provided expert training by reputed institutes such as the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.
Training programme
Some of the women even visited NID for training,” explained Fr. Kalathil.
Along with water weeds, leaves of screw pine and areca palm are also used at the society for making handicrafts.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions are the major marketing platforms for the 40-odd handicraft products made here.
They have a unit at Iringal handicraft village.