New IPP Shirts Printed and on Their Way!
We have been honored to spend the past three days on the ground in Kolkata with Freeset Global and Sari Bari, two fantastic organizations that are doing very effective work to stop the cycle of human trafficking and forced prostitution in India by providing above fair trade sustainable employment for women in the red light areas. International Princess Project is thrilled to announce that we are now partnering with Freeset Tees to produce the new IPP shirts! Just check out these beauties:
We were actually able to watch the IPP shirts being printed in Kolkata this week. That's good news for all of you who will want to purchase these great shirts: They will be shipping to the U.S. and available for purchase online in a matter of days. We have a limited number of shirts for this initial printing, so don't delay if you want to ensure your pick of size and color! In the meantime, take a look at the new shirts in production by Freeset Tees in Kolkata:
Posted on Mar 24, 2010
A Visit to An IPP Sewing Center
A photographic look into a training day at an IPP sewing center:
Posted on Mar 20, 2010
Fear and Hope
"There's nothing to be afraid of," IPP sewing trainer Kelsea said gently as she moved closer to take Lakshmi's* hand. Lakshmi pulled the fabric of her sari around her, trying to cover the acid burns that ran down the length of her arm.
We were sitting in the upstairs room of an Indian home, inviting Lakshmi to come live at Ashraya and learn to sew with International Princess Project. But she was afraid. Unfortunately, Lakshmi's life is not an isolated case. Thousands of other Indian women are also trapped in terrible situations; Used. Abused. Hopeless. Terrified.
We sat with Lakshmi, gently addressing each of her fears and telling her that Ashraya was a safe place– a place of love and hope. Two current residents at Ashraya also sat near her. With tears running down their faces, they told her about their life at Ashraya and implored Lakshmi to join them.
"There are many women in India who have the same problems as you," Kelsea said, looking Lakshmi in the eyes. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."
As Kelsea sat there holding Lakshmi's hands, we all breathed in the same thick Indian air and Lakshmi wrestled between fear and hope.
*Name has been changed.
Posted on Mar 19, 2010
On the Ground in India
Written by IPP volunteer Cherissa
It's been interesting to try to explain to my two toddlers, age four and two, where I am and what I am doing on this trip to India with International Princess Project. Four-year-old Max best understands this best when I tell him that I'm flying on an airplane to go to the other side of Planet Earth. So, greetings from the other side of Planet Earth!
For the past three days, Laura and I have been in Mumbai (Bombay), a city with a population of about 14 million people. The sheer number of people in India has been a bit staggering. The population of the entire country is 1.3 billion. That number didn't mean much to me until someone offered this perspective: The US has a population of about 300 million. So add A BILLION people to that (remember, one billion is one thousand times one million!) and put them all in the land mass that is, from what I understand, an area roughly the size of Texas. I can't even begin to describe just how many people there are everywhere.
During our days in the city, we've been busy with IPP business: a trip to the fabric district to pick out samples for future Punjammie styles, several meetings with other organizations doing important related work in Mumbai, a visit to two aftercare homes for Indian girls who have been rescued from forced prostitution, and debriefing and taking notes on the meetings and interactions we've had here on the ground in India.
When I return home, I'm planning to spend some significant time writing and blogging for IPP about all the details of our time in India. While we are here, there's simply not time to emotionally process, much less write about, all the things I'm seeing and experiencing. But while we are on the trip and when I can get a decent Internet connection, I'm hoping to keep you all updated about at least some of the basic facts of what we're doing. In the weeks to come, be watching for more in-depth posts about all that God is doing in this amazing country.
Very soon we'll be moving on to our next leg of the trip: several days spent in a quite rural area of India visiting one of the IPP sewing centers. More to come, friends!
Posted on Mar 15, 2010
February 2010 Newsletter
Read the latest newsletter here:
http://www.intlprincess.org/index.php/ipp/newsletter/1002_newsletter/
Posted on Feb 10, 2010
New PUNJAMMIES™ Available Online!
Check out our NEW bold, bright PUNJAMMIES™ online!
Posted on Jul 14, 2009
IPP Visits an Aftercare Clinic In the Red LIght District
We arrived in Mumbai yesterday and had the tremendous opportunity today to visit the Red Light District from which many of the women at our sewing centers are rescued. It was election day in Mumbai and a national holiday, so traffic was light, and we were able to drive through different parts of the city. When we arrived in the Red Light District, it was late morning, and many women were already working the lines. We met with several social workers and a doctor at a clinic run by the aftercare center with which our first sewing center is affiliated. Several of the social workers at the clinic are former prostitutes who have restored their lives and returned to help other women do the same. Out of the twelve of them we met, eleven had been working at the clinic for over a decade. The twelfth had been there only three months. Each woman spoke a different indigenous Indian language, and they all spoke Hindi, so their capacity for reaching out to women from all backgrounds is immense.
It was a privilege to meet with these individuals who are working on the forefront of the fight against human trafficking. They are the ones who go out into the District on a daily basis to meet the women working the lines. They established their clinic as a safe place for the women to come for help -- both medical and emotional -- and eventually provide the escape for women who desire to flee their lives of prostitution. The clinic has been in the District for over a decade and has become a safe-haven for many women and their children, as well as men suffering from drug addiction.
Posted on Apr 30, 2009
We’re off!
We will be traveling in India for the next several weeks and look forward to keeping you posted about our adventures here on the IPP blog. We are thankful for the opportunity to visit the ladies working in IPP sewing centers, provide some updated training for them and bring some resources to the after-care providers. We leave within hours so stay tuned for updates from the other side of the globe!
Posted on Apr 27, 2009
