Presentation
THE BEGINNING
In 1966, Mannangaty, 18 years old, cured leprosy man, amputated of one leg, is placed by Volontariat at Vellore’s Hospital for a re-education to receive an artificial leg. Back to Pondicherry, an easy solution exists for him: to return to the leprosy of Dubraypeth, called “Lazaret”, where, like him, 150 men and women are “gone white” (illness stopped), but are disabled and rejected by their families and the society. The Indian Government would take full charge of him, with just one concern: begging to buy his daily alcohol and forget his condition. Mannangaty refuses this issue, chooses to work, accepts the Volontariat’s offer and learns the job of weaver.
From 1966, at the seaside close to the “Lazaret”, a small workshop starts up in a hut made of “casurina” and bamboo woods,
with a thatched roof with coconut tree leaves. Sivapragassame, a former weaver who got this sickness, is the “mestry” for Mannangaty and a group of handicapped men who try the adventure to leave their pitiful, but easy, life for a dignity recovered through their weaving work.
This workshop, which was called later Atelier Shanti, is considered as the eldest rehabilitation centre of South India for handicapped cured leprosy people. The wooden weaving looms with pedals are manufactured and maintained locally, the rough cotton yarn, first quality, is bought from the market, then the dyeing, warping and sizing of the yarn are made at the nearby suburb of Muthialpet.
With the pieces of cotton cloth, “lungis”, loincloths for men, dish towels, etc, are made and sold locally. But due to the competition of handloom products, made by non-handicapped people, Volontariat decides to sell the products in Europe, fabrics for curtains and table clothes.
Several hundred pieces of cotton, with shining colors, are produced every year (up to 17000 meters) and other sections manufacture made-ups (tablecloths, bags, embroidered items, etc).
The majority of the production is exported and sold by the Volontariat European supporting committees, as well as few organisms specialized on fair trade.
This is the organization which still prevails in 2010.
TODAY in 2010
The workshop is divided in 3 sections: weaving, sewing, embroidery and nine people for the staff, maintenance and security.
Weaving section: 25 persons, most of them handicapped, are
divided into the different stages of the weaving process: those who prepare the big and small bobbins, workers preparing the chain (“Atchie”), those in charge of the sizing and warping, those specialized on “Pavou” (organizing the yarn of the chain), those who apply starch and lastly weavers who make rolls (fabrics) about 19 m of length and 1m50 of width. The dyeing only is still made at Muthialpet.
Sewing section: 10 women, including 1 cutter, use power sewing machines, to manufacture the items, ordered by the customers through a catalogue (bags, aprons, table clot, etc), which is revised every year. Embroidery section: 20 women are employed in this section in two rooms, one above the weaving place, the other one above the packing place and the store room.
Most of the production is ordered by the committees in France and Belgium which place orders. The finished products are packed and shipped to their final destination, through the application of the normal commercial rules. The workers of Atelier Shanti are very proud to export the fruit of their work whereas they are still physically and socially handicapped.
A large panel of the production is proposed for a local sale in the small show-room Navin, located at Sakti Vihar, the customers mainly are the visitors of Volontariat.
“Buy one meter of cotton cloth and a full family will live”, Mahatma Gandhi repeated, this is true even today. We need many people buying 1 meter of fabric or 1 bag or tablecloth, in the different committees of France and Belgium, to give to the women and men of Atelier Shanti the opportunity to live with dignity, thanks to their work and not to our charity.
