They are Crocheting Dolls In Manipur Relief Camps To Earn A Living

At a relief camp in Thoubal district of Manipur, which shelters 210 people, some women are engrossed in learning a new art. In the violence-hit northeastern state, one of the many challenges for internally displaced people living in relief camps is the means to earn a livelihood. And this new vocation of crocheting 'amigurumi' dolls by the women living in these camps to make a living has come as a ray of hope.

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed toys.

A Singapore-based firm '1 Million Heroes' has taken up the responsibility to train women in relief camps across Manipur on how to crochet these dolls. The training is being imparted in five relief camps for now.

Laishram Geeta Leima, 36, mother of three, is one of the trainees pinning her hope on crocheting for the short-term livelihood of her family. She had to flee for safety when her village in Sugnu Awang Leikai in Kakching district was attacked on May 27 this year. She sees hope in the art of crochet as it is easy to master and is quite productive.

"As we're here at this relief camp, we've no means of livelihood. The problem is compounded with having to look after my kids. During these dark times, the "1 Million Heroes" team came to train us to crochet amigurumi dolls as a livelihood alternative for us. I've almost mastered it. We're very happy we've acquired these new skills. We're told they are chalking out ways to get us revenue out of these dolls," said Geeta Leima.

The training teams of the Singapore-based firm have been visiting relief camps in Manipur, training interested people and providing them with templates and raw materials since August. Their target is to train these people to specialize in each of the five characters conceived as the first line of the global amigurumi doll brand: Buddy- the pet Dog, Mitten- the Cat, Raja - the Tiger, Oliver -the Bear and Bola - the Buddy.

Utpala Longjam, one of the trainers, while describing the program as a success, said, "Crochet is not very difficult if you know the basics. Most of them knew the basics. All we had to do was teach them the pattern and the right way to go about it. They're picking it up pretty well. Once they become comfortable with the needle, the crochet and the patterns, we will be providing them with the cotton yarns for the actual product."

At such times when bitter memories of loss and violence have taken up space in the lives of the displaced people living in Manipur relief camps, doll-making is also a deviation helping in improving their mental health.

Agom Sangeeta Leima, 48, a resident of Sugnu town in Manipur, whose village was attacked on May 28, said the doll-making program has boosted her confidence by showing her a way to overcome financial challenges. "I'm participating in this training program hoping to earn some income. They came to help us out and train us. We readily accepted."

Monish Karam, the founder of '1 Million Heroes', while talking about how this project started, said, "I was living in Singapore when the violence started in May. We wanted to do something for the people back home to help rebuild their lives. We were brainstorming what to do. We wanted to do something very sustainable. So, the best idea we could come up with is to do something where we can use our own skills. Our women are quite good in handicrafts and handlooms. And that is something we wanted to take leverage of. We realised that we could create something creative. Then the idea of dolls came and eventually narrowed down to crochet dolls. And these dolls are not mere dolls. We believe they are the symbol of hope and vessels of storytelling."

The major part of the production and sales of the project has been taken up by 'I Million Heroes'. This includes design, market research, supply of raw materials, tools and implements, branding, marketing and even sales. The trainees in Manipur relief camps only have to make the dolls and most proceeds of the sales will go to them.

Manipur State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MSRLM) of the Manipur Government has also organised different livelihoods activities and training programmes, such as making incense sticks, detergent-making, liquid dish wash making, cocoon reeling, making scrunchies and paper bags for the internally displaced persons sheltered in relief camps. Nearly 184 people in the Imphal East district alone were benefited by way of wages through these programmes.

PK Jha, Commissioner of Trade, Commerce and Industries with the Manipur government, assured that the Manipur Handloom and Handicraft Corporation will buy all the products made in the relief camps and pay them immediately. He also said that the sale proceeds will go to the people who are the actual creators of the products.

The ongoing violence in Manipur has so far killed 175 people, injured at least 1,108 persons, 4,786 houses set on fire and over 50,000 persons displaced internally.