Mr Dawa founded an organization called Tibetan Unemployed Association for the unemployed youths from Tibet settled in Dharamsala. The main objective was and still is to make it a wing for the Tibetan unemployed people to access job opportunities in Dharamsala.
At present, the list of unemployed people in Dharamsala is registered to have crossed more than 200.
Job opportunities in Dharamsala:
1) Road Construction 2) Building construction 3) White Washing 4) Cobbler 5) Housekeeping
Mr. Dawa requests office of Tibetan Govt. in Dharamsala and organizations to provide jobs especially to the unemployed. On many occasions, he has succeeded in providing jobs to these people in the sectors mentioned above. Of them, I met with 2 artisans working in the bead production unit– one of them skilled and a quality inspector and another is on the job training.
Tara Beads:
It was founded in the year 2005 by Mr. Dawa Tsering with the help from a Danish Couple. The bead production unit was initially a project proposed by the Danish couple to provide skill training to the unemployed- both male and female settled in Dharamsala. In the beginning, about 30-40 unemployed from the Tibetan Unemployed association were trained for the bead making but only 12 were selected based ultimately on their skill and performance. However, the trading part of the bead production gradually happened. They were provided a soft loan in the beginning as a capital.
Mrs. Jampa Chodon (Mr. Dawa’s spouse) is currently the Manager of the unit. Under her, there are 16 artisans including 2 men and 14 women. Mr Dawa remains the Founder Director of Tara beads.
Raw Materials:
1)The murona glass is imported form Italy and the supplier was introduced to them by the Danish Couple.
2) They also buy from Faridabad-India to sell in the local market.
3) They also buy the cotton thread form India
4) And buys the metal from Delhi
Waste Material:
1) They have kept all the glass particles in Stock. I have also told them about TARA in Delhi who might help in reusing the waste material.
Minimum and Maximum age of artisans: 1) Minimum 20 and maximum 40 years of age
(In pic. Lilian, Mrs. Jampa and Mrs. Tsamchoe, the Quality inspector)
Trainings provided:
1) Training is provided for 6 months and if they are able to learn the skill in the given period, they get selected.
2) The artisans are provided with opportunity and encouraged to make new designs.
Bead production workshop
Salary:
1) It’s monthly paid including Sundays. They did not pay on piece rate as the artisans compromise on the quality by producing more.
2) The artisans get INR 170- INR 220 per day based on their terms of service. 3) Women earn more than the men in the unit.
Challenges:
1) Artisans join other organization after receiving training from the organization. It’s happened once.
2) Marketing of the products
Buyers:
1) 80% export to Denmark
2) 20% to Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives.
3) IM Sweden
Benefits to the artisans: 1) Free Lunch 2) 2 tea breaks 3) 2 toilets 4) Paid maternity leave for one month 5) Language classes for them by Volunteers 6) Medical benefits of INR 50 7) Rent 8) Losar Bonus
Turnover: 1) INR 30-40 lakh
Meetings:
1) Meetings once in a month and when needed.
2) Discuss about product development
3) Meeting about savings and investment in Insurance Company. 4) Suggestions by the artisans
Tsering Youdon
IM Fair Trade Coordinator
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