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HANDICRAFT
Ekmattra Handicrafts Factory
We produce top quality handmade products which are a fusion of Japanese and Bangladeshi culture. The stones we use in our products are inspired from Bangladeshi traditional costumes and Jute we use is known as the famous golden fiber of Bangladesh.
Our factory aims to be a place that provides the mothers of Bangladesh with a place where they can work with the peace of mind. They can work without any tension because the children have playing arrangement right beside them while they work. In this way, our mothers can be financially and spiritually independent. The factory was established in 2016.
Factory
Story
EKmattra Handicraft Factory is established at a corner of Ekmattra-Dutch-Bangla Bank Academy in Haluaghat, Mymensingh. This is a serene place with greenery and natural beauty.
・Haluaghat Map Photo
・Academy photo
Factory story
---Everything has got started from little rural town in Bangladesh—
The women living in rural part of Bangladesh are not involved in any formal job. The common scenario is men do the outside work, and women look after the household. It might sound harsh, but the status of women in rural area is very low. Many women are not mentally and financially independent from their husbands, as a result, sometimes they are unable to educate their children. Often they raise their kids in a terrible environment. To bring a new ray of hope in the lives of those women, Ekmattra Handicrafts has started.
To begin with, we first invited women who were interested to work with us. We got a huge response and 50 women showed up. Every woman sat for an interview with us. Women whose husband left them and remarried, women who suffered domestic violence, women who are widowed or have no work to feed their children etc. and many more with different stories came to us in search of work.
After the interview session, we conducted a survey and home visits to shorten the list, so that we could identify the most vulnerable and poorest among all. Our primary target was to find out a group of women who needed our support the most.
Among them, 8 mothers who were recognized for their strong motivation and passion for work in the workshop, finally became members.
Be proud who you are- as a woman and a mother
Today, 13 mothers work and receive enough income to send their children to school. And above all, they work with pride and dignity. ~I hope that all mothers in Bangladesh to live with pride and work while smiling. And I hope to see a kind world with many people who support such mothers~ Ekmattra Handicraft will continue to support mothers from now on so that the founder's feelings reach all people.
Our Policy
Let's love your work and show off your lifeBy knowing the joy of working and earning one's own income, we aim for financial and spiritual independence of poor women. Working opportunities for adults, for children to learnWe create an environment where children can be educated at ease without being employed as workers and prevent dropouts of school children.・ Employment is from the person who needs the work most We conduct careful interviews, surveys and home visits when recruiting staff, and provide employment opportunities from people in difficult situations that require more work. No compromise on qualityWe are trying to make attractive products so that customers will be able to select them because their quality and design are appreciated and not because the makers of these products are poor.We adopt a Japanese-style inspection system and perform quality control, and we only ship products that have passed the inspection staff who has received training. Create an imaginationI swear that I use my imagination without relying on existing ideas, and do daily work and creative activities as a member of the art studio. From area to the worldWe will continue to communicate through art from this place called Halaghat, and aim to create an attractive handicraft market that attracts many people from all over Bangladesh and eventually from all over the world.
Rural mother community
We aim not only to create a workplace where mothers can work well, but also to help mothers grow through the mother community of Handicraft Studio and have confidence in themselves.
Kids space + babysitter
Mothers can leave their children and work with peace of mind. Paying leave system for pregnancy and parenting periodWe will provide you with a generous amount of support for the hard time from pregnancy to postpartum. Salary guarantee systemWith the system of fixed pay + commission, you can get the reward only for the amount you do not depend on the sales. Skill educationIn addition to work, you can receive skill training on various genres such as traditional crafts and recycling art. Interaction of mindIn addition to monthly meetings, at Ekmattra Handicraft, we hold a family picnic twice in a year, prepare surprise gifts before anniversaries and holidays, and place importance on exchanges with the staff of the workshop.
Ulka
The name ‘ULKA’ has been inspired from the Bengali name Ulka, that literally means “Shooting Star” in English. These products are decorated with sparking starts. The way we wish good things looking at the shooting stars in the sky, in the same way these sparkling products will bring good wishes and prosperities to these children and mothers. The idea of decorating this product has been initiated with this belief. We hope that these products will bring happiness to your daily life.
Jute
We use gentle color on jute. Jute is the signature material from Bangladesh that represents the country before the entire world. While our Ulka item is popular among the women customers, jute has got more appreciation among the men customers. The products have rustic touch as the fibers are gently knitted. This has a connection to the soil of Bangladesh. No matter where you use this pen, it will always keep you close to the nature.
About Us
We wish to create a society and environment where all children can concentrate on their studies with the peace of mind and their employed mothers can live with smile, love, and pride.
Ekmattra Handicraft
Ekmattra Handicraft began its journey on 24 August 2016. Our mother organization Ekmattra Society accommodates underprivileged children. While we aim to help the children, we also wanted to contribute to change the lives of their mothers. We took a project to make them self-sufficient by providing them opportunity to work at our factory. This is how our factory came to life.
With this, women in Bangladesh will become financially solvent and mentally developed to inspire their children to study and become a better person.
Our History
2016 Established with eight mothers.
Collaboration with Euglena Company, 3000 bottles sold in Japan.
2017 Pass strict quality screening and start selling online in Japan through social online shop Philotrade.
Individual customers can also buy.
Also started selling in showrooms in Bangladesh such as the ZAQZAQ store.
2018 New members joined. There are 13 staff members in the workshop.
Started selling in Bangladeshi online shopping platform PRIYO Handicrafts. In addition, we started taking orders from Japanese and Bangladeshi companies at their events.
Now our products are being sold in Bangladesh and overseas as well.
Message
When I came to know about the harsh reality of underprivileged people in Bangladesh, it touched me to the core. I was heartbroken to see that the underprivileged people are not even given a chance to raise their rights.
With determination to stand beside them, I started our Ekmattra Handicrafts. This is a workshop that provides a safe working environment for the women of this country that will help them to stand on their own feet.
What makes me the happiest in the world is to see the grief stricken eyes full of hopelessness and tears have now turned into confident canvas. These women have found a purpose which they can look up to with pride.
Opportunities can change human lives. After starting our journey with all these mothers, I now can feel it.
I would like to continue doing such things in Bangladesh so that women who make products, their children and their families, and people who have acquired our products can all be smiling. Thank you very much for your help from Ekmattra Handicrafts.
Mae Watanabe
Director
Ekmattra Handicrafts
Even though these local women had never received any vocational training before coming to this academy, it is remarkable how effortlessly they master the necessary skills to produce this complex work.
It is not at all an easy task to break the shackles of this society and stand out with pride and self-dignity. Still, almost all women in the world has her own story to tell.
Every woman working with Ekmattra Handicraft Factory is like an artist.
I believe through this work, the village women find the true meaning of life, which will help them to live with confidence, self-dependency, and solvency. In this way, they will be able to gift their future generation a more beautiful world.
Sulogna Rema
Manager, Ekmattra Handicraft Factory