In 2016 The Maiwa Foundation was able to make a big difference in the lives of rural schoolgirls. Many of you know about the leatherworkers and weavers who together form the Artisans Alliance of Jawaja (AAJ).

Getting started with a little help.

Many of the female children of AAJ artisans have to walk several miles to school. The distance, combined with the time taken and the obligation to do other work in the home can make it difficult for girls to attend school (or to have enough time to complete homework). In these rural Indian families boys usually get bikes and girls do not.

The first ride.

The pink bike project was conceived as a way to assist the village schoolgirls to get to and fron school. These bike are female "style," pink and very sturdy. In collaboration with the Artisans Alliance of Jawaja, the Maiwa Foundation oversees the purchase of the bikes and the distribution in the village. In January of 2016 we made our first delivery of bikes. Now, at the start of 2017 we are doing another round of promotions for the project.

Lined up and ready to go.

Interested? We have set up a special donation button on our website to support the Pink Bike Project.  A $100 donation purchases one of these sturdy pink bikes for a village schoolgirl.

A good day - the arrival of the bikes and some reactions.

The Backstory to this Project.

Jane Stafford of Jane Stafford Textiles, (JST) a weaver from Salt Spring Island, visited the AAJ weavers in 2014. After that meeting Jane was inspired to assist the group. In her own words: 

"Way back in 2014, Handwoven Magazine gave me a little award for $500.00 and JST (Jane Stafford Textiles) matched that with another $500.00. We donated $1000.00 to the Maiwa Foundation requesting that the money be used for girls education in the village of Jawaja.  During the next tour a lovely lady matched that donation so there was now $2000.00 to go to the girls. In the end it was decided by the Jawaja village that the money go to buy bicycles so the girls could travel the long distances to get to school and they wouldn't have to start and end there day walking in the dark. The bicycles are pink and girls style and extremely sturdy so the boys of the village aren't interested in them :^)"