Made with Care

“You’d think the biggest challenge would be taking the whole family to India. I quit my job; we took the two kids out of school and enrolled them in an Indian one. We spent 36 hours on a train up to Rajasthan, 40 hours on the way back.”

Matilde Ferone is an activist, born and trained, from Hackney. She loves nothing more than travelling, collaborating and giving back to the world. She has packed up her family - her husband and two beautiful daughters Blue 8 and Maya 5 - more than once to step away from the high life of London, to really live: cultural lessons, spiritual epiphanies and grassroots connections the central focus.

“The biggest challenge instead has been finding the best way to market my project and its products. I’m a one woman show, so working out how to best manage my time, as well as maintaining self-belief in my mission definitely trumps living in India, or anywhere for that matter."

Matilde is the founder of Matik Boutique – a London based boutique and project working closely with women textile producers in India and Ghana to reframe fair trade in terms of fashion.

“I have always been interested in the role of women in development. Research and practice show that by investing in women, we can break the poverty cycle. Women tend to be more effective at saving money, they are more likely to invest in their children and they are generally more responsible,” Matilde explained.

When Matilde and her family were in India earlier this year, sourcing and connecting with women’s collectives for her project, she met Lakshmi Bai, a Quilt Maker from Rajasthan who said: “ This job has given me the opportunity to give my daughter a better future. Whatever I could not enjoy as a child, I ensure that my daughter gets. She will get the best education possible. I used to worry a lot about how I would do it but now I have courage and money. I will work more and earn more money and make her a doctor." 

“That’s why I am doing what I am doing,” Matilde added. “To empower these women to have a say in the lives they and their children live.”

Matik is a fusion of feminine thinking and drive. It’s a sisterhood of style-conscious, ethically aware women working together across continents to create a wellspring of positive change.

The scarves, throws, quilts and children’s clothes are all made with care. “And by ‘made with care’, I mean one of a kind, hand-made items, created by using traditional skills. I also mean paying a fair price to hard-working women, helping them to achieve economic security and independence.”

When travelling through Rajasthan in India with her family - after living in Patnem, a very small fisherman village in the south of Goa for three months -Matilde came across the organisation Anoothi, which assists impoverished village women in India attain economic self-sufficiency. “I loved straight away the way they work with women and could see great potential for my idea, which also opened way for connections.” The relationship to Ghana is through Matilde’s mother who is the founder of Una Chance, a charity working to raise funds for NGOs on the ground in Ghana who works to free children from slavery and provide them with education and marketable skills. “When my mum returned from one of her visits, she told me about a group of young women who had just graduated from school and were learning to be a seamstresses. At the time, Matik was mostly an idea, but it obviously fit well with what I was hoping to do, so I did my research and a few months later, I was in Ghana.”

I’ve since struck up a relationship with an American company, Global Mamma, working on similar principles to Matik and I am creating more partnerships locally in India and Ghana.”

** But let’s take a moment to rewind. Matilde’s story actually originates in Rome, Italy, where she is from. 

“I studied Economics at university because it seemed safe. Then, during my third year, I won a sponsorship to study abroad for a year. I chose to go to Toulouse in the South of France. The multicultural environment and the freedom here was very different to conventional Rome. It was a huge was an eye opener for me. I realised that the path I’d had laid out for myself wasn’t going to be enough. Simply having a job and earning money wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted a life that had meaning.”

When she returned to Italy, she began studying Development Studies. “I signed up for a semester learning about micro-finance in the developing world and studied direct trade as a tool for social change. After graduating, I went to Pakistan where I worked for four months on a microcredit project.”

She proceeded to set up a social enterprise called AMP (artmusicpolitics) with her husband, which created an informal platform through music and arts for NGOs and grassroots organisations to talk about their work. “We did some really inspiring events with Friends of the Earth, War on Want, People and Planet and many others.” She then spent five years as the Events Manager and later the Development Coordinator for a campaign on palm oil at Rainforest Foundation UK, a human rights and environmental organisation working for Indigenous People’s rights in Africa and South America.  

“Then I had this idea, a culmination of my interests and professional background really. I wanted to create a project where I could help people to use the skills they already have to make products that could then be sold in the European market to reap them financial reward while educating the European community about fair trade fashion. I wanted to change the way people look at fashion.”

“When people think of fair trade, they think of food and coffee. Too little people realise fair trade applies to fashion too. I want people to become more aware of the products they buy, whether it is clothing or home ware, and start to question where they come from and who makes them, because someone did make it from somewhere, and it’s important that people consider whether they want to support the conditions under which it was made.”

“As a consumer, we have great power.”

While Matik is still a work-in-progress, Matilde says the most rewarding part is meeting the women. “Seeing them at work and learning their stories reinforces that what I am trying to do is making a massive difference, and spurs me to keep going.”

With her eyes on next steps, Matilde says she wants to collaborate with European designers and look at possibilities of bringing designers to meet the women in both India and Ghana to promote cross learning. “I’ve also got my internet shop, and I’m doing occasional markets, but I have to work out whether in the long term I want Matik to be a shop or a fashion label, but that will become clearer with time."

Come November, Matilde and her family are back on the road. “We are returning to India to live for six months where I will further develop relationships. After that, we are thinking of going to Indonesia or the Philippines for the next adventure, and of course if we do, I’ll be looking for projects to team up with there.”

To buy any of Matik's gorgeous products, visit the store here.

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Leah is a passionate storyteller, a multi-skilled communications specialist and a devoted human rights activist. She writes to ignite meaningful connection, to arouse curiosity, to push boundaries, to live large, to speak up, to create change.

She is deeply fuelled by a desire to create ideas and build visions to make this world a better place. A place where we can each equally follow our dreams - regardless of the place we were born, our religious affiliations, our sexual identity, our access to education. Everything in fact to do with the status quo. After studying the causes of conflict and division in society, Leah now uses storytelling to unite people, to create community and to open opportunities for collective action.

Her website, Paper Planes Connect, is a place to celebrate our difference and to unite in our sameness.

Email: leah@paperplanesconnect.com 

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Ourmala: Yoga for social justice

“Following my heart is how I live my life. Sometimes it’s really easy, and other times it is challenging and terrifying, but by placing my trust in life itself, the most incredible opportunities and experiences have opened-up.”

“And when I can’t hear my heart, I know the most important thing is to get into a position where I can, and then I listen and the answer becomes clear.”

This is Emily Brett, yoga teacher and founder of Ourmala; a small charity in London that helps refugee and asylum-seeking women find strength through yoga. The main group they work with are registered with the UK Home Office to seek refuge in the UK.

I met with Emily at Ourmala’s headquarters, a converted shipping container overlooking the trees, field and pig pen at Hackney City Farm in East London.

Emily has changed the lives of more than 170 refugee and asylum-seeking women living in London since starting-up in 2011. Ourmala now has a waiting list of women wanting to practice yoga and organisations that work with refugees wanting yoga classes at their centres. I wanted to understand her story, motivation and actions behind her grand vision.

Photography by Carl Bigmore

You have created something really special; a space for women who have been forcibly displaced to enjoy yoga. Can you tell me more about the situation for these women?

“Sure, I’d love to… Many don’t realise, but the refugee and asylum-seeking community is one of the most marginalised, under-represented, impoverished, vulnerable and stigmatised in the UK. Eighty per cent of the world’s refugees are hosted by developing countries. In the UK, refugees, pending asylum cases and stateless people make-up only 0.27% of the total population (Source: UNHCR 2012 Global Trends Report.)

The women are here to seek refuge and, for most, the situation is dire. I mean, incredibly tough. Many are dealing with mental, emotional and physical issues from the trauma they faced in their home countries. Torture, sexual violence, human trafficking and female genital mutilation are common experiences.

When they arrive in London, they often know no one and are faced with huge language barriers, poverty, malnutrition, over-crowded or unstable accommodation. For a single person, the National Asylum Seeking Support is £36.62 a week which obviously does not go very far in London.

I’ve asked women what they do during the day, and a not uncommon answer has been: ‘Sit on a bench in the park… or pray in my room….’

Many are separated from their loved ones, which can include not knowing whether they are alive.”

Such strong women who have been through so much. Can you tell me about Ourmala and how it helps these women?

“Ourmala represents compassion, interconnection and social justice and is a continuation of yoga practice off the mat. It’s humanitarian action: we believe these women have experienced enough suffering and that they should be welcomed. In a small way, we aim to achieve a bit of social justice for them and help them find strength through yoga, which then boosts their resilience and helps them cope better with the rest of life.

We provide a safe space for them to breathe and practice yoga, which helps to restore strength. Yoga can be very powerful for self-esteem and confidence, and healing the mind and body.

The women tell us that yoga helps them sleep, after many sleepness nights; helps to relieve their pain and anxiety, panic attacks and depression, and gives them hope. It’s also an opportunity to meet and connect with women in similar situations – as well as our volunteers, who are from very different backgrounds. Knowing that other people know
they exist and care means a lot to the women.

Yoga gives you space to come back to yourself. Many have disassociated because of their trauma and, over the long term, yoga starts to make the body a safe and inhabitable place again, if we can look at the body as a home. It’s very grounding. Many of these women have been, or are, suicidal because of their circumstances. When the women confide in me, I just listen. You couldn’t make-up the horror of many of the stories and their strength and dignity never fail to move me.”

Now that’s reason enough to ensure these women have continual access to yoga!

“We also have a political voice and are starting to support campaigns challenging government policy that negatively affects these women. The whole point of Ourmala is to practice yoga off the mat, and serve these women in the best way we can. So we’re now working a the tactical and strategic levels.”

So how does Ourmala work?

“Once a week at Hackney City Farm, we run free yoga classes based on Ashtanga (physical demanding) and Mindfulness (meditation techniques), provide a hot healthy lunch, social time and English classes. We also run two other weekly yoga classes in South and West London. We refund the cost of travel for the women, without which most would not be able to attend. (If you’re seeking asylum, it’s illegal to work, however experienced or qualified you are; and you can be seeking asylum for years. I’ve known two women who were waiting for 16 years due to their cases being lost by the Home Office.)

We believe that consistency is key for these women, following the instability they have experienced in their lives so when we start a new class, we need to ensure we can keep it up. 

One of the ways we pay for the women’s travel is through  The Mala Initiative programme, where we invite yoga teachers to help raise funds to ensure these women can practice yoga. It is based on the idea that we are all interconnected. Our world, our lives, our choices. Every action has a consequence and by taking part in The Mala Initiative, teachers can reap really brilliant consequences from the actions they sew – for the women, for their students and for themselves. It’s a really simple concept.

Teachers run a class in their own community for their own groups and donate the proceeds to Ourmala, which then uses 100% on putting on the classes for free. The point is to hold their classes regularly (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually – whatever the teacher can offer). £5 is all that is needed to allow for one woman to participate. Every little bit counts. This community is growing and it is a live demonstration of generosity and the genuine spirit of yoga. It’s a live teaching, if we can call it that…

Ourmala is also seeking funding through grants, fundraising events, donations, partnerships, etc.

How did it all start? 

“Yoga has always been a big part of my life in one way or another, and my practice 

continues to grow. My practice is the centre of my life now and informs everything. What we learn about ourselves through yoga never ceases to amaze me.

I’ve spent extended time in India studying yoga and have been inspired by work there. Yoga to support trafficked children, for example, at Odanadi outside Mysore.

It was the middle of the recession, I’d just come back from my second trip to India, and there were very few jobs. I was lucky enough to be given a filing role so I was financially stable while I worked out what I wanted to do. It felt vital to reflect my deepest experiences in yoga with my work. I volunteered with the British Red Cross’ (BRC) Refugee Services in Islington, started teaching the Vulnerable Refugee Women’s Support Group on a voluntary basis and at the same time took on a second job at Hackney City Farm. The women loved yoga, wanted more but it was impossible to run weekly classes and this is where Ourmala was born.

I put my idea to the Farm. I remember being terrified at the time because I wanted it so much. But they welcomed it with open arms. We were given a space to run classes for women and as part of a year-long pilot programme, which started in 2011. We won funding from the Big Lottery, the British Wheel of Yoga, Inchre Trust and Vodaphone World of Difference UK and it’s grown from there.

We now take women by referral from over 20 referring organisations, including BRC and Freedom from Torture.

This was all achieved on a shoestring budget almost all by our team of 30 plus dedicated volunteers.”

Absolutely amazing Emily. I’d love to know what Ourmala’s plans are for the future?

“We'd love to work with more refugee and asylum-seeking women, and start to work with men, displaced children and young people. We currently have a waiting list of nine organisations that work with refugees/asylum-seekers in London that would like us to provide yoga at their own centres for existing groups of refugees, and a long waiting list for our Hackney class. So, we know there's demand and we have evidence for the efficacy of yoga – so it all comes down to financing. 

We're in the process of applying to the UK Charity Commission to become a registered charity, which will give us more fundraising opportunities. Looking further ahead, once we're financially stable, we intend to become a social enterprise -- running our own business activities to fund our social mission.”

How can others help?

“If you’re a yoga teacher, join The Mala Initiative. Follow Ourmala on Twitter and like the Facebook page. The latter both really help with fundraising so even if you’re not a big Twitter or Facebook fan, this small action will make a positive difference!”

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Leah is a passionate storyteller, a multi-skilled communications specialist and a devoted human rights activist. She writes to ignite meaningful connection, to arouse curiosity, to push boundaries, to live large, to speak up, to create change.

She is deeply fuelled by a desire to create ideas and build visions to make this world a better place. A place where we can each equally follow our dreams - regardless of the place we were born, our religious affiliations, our sexual identity, our access to education. Everything in fact to do with the status quo. After studying the causes of conflict and division in society, Leah now uses storytelling to unite people, to create community and to open opportunities for collective action.

Her website, Paper Planes Connect, is a place to celebrate our difference and to unite in our sameness.