MESH: The Beginnings of Alternative Trade
MESH is the acronym for Maximizing Employment to Serve the Handicapped. Through MESH, some handicapped in India are now able to earn their own living and thereby gain independence and dignity. The first handloom projects started in Bethany Village, near Delhi, India in 1964, thanks to the efforts and commitment of many volunteers. By 1981, the projects had expanded to include two additional communities, Anandgram and Amarjothi. MESH was created to coordinate village projects and act as a liaison between the rehabilitated leprosy patients and the distribution market.
Canadian Lutheran World Relief provided working capital for MESH in 1989-90, and since that time has maintained support of the projects. The Lutheran Church in America provided funding to launch the operation, to finance the purchase of the MESH shop/office, and subsidized running expenses until 1986.
Joan Nabert, a missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, who served in India for 36 years, was the guiding spirit of MESH. She continued selling MESH goods in Canada until her retirement.
Today MESH works directly with four colonies in the region of Delhi: Bethany Village and Amarjothi in Haryana, Anandgram, across the Jumma River, in Shahdara, and Barat Mata Kusht Ashram in Faridabad.
MESH offers quality handloom items that include tablecloths (with or without napkins), placemats, tea towels, oven mitts, bedspreads, bed sheets, pillowcases, wood carvings and other household articles.
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Four Corners
