São Paulo – Bordando o Futuro (Embroidering the Future), established in 2004 as a project for social inclusion through handmade embroidery, has just turned into a cooperative and is beginning to seek opportunities abroad. The items produced by approximately 60 embroiderers in Itaperuna, in the northwest of the state of Rio de Janeiro, are already in Paris, France.
"Our expectations and dreams have acquired a new dimension now. We are proud and excited about the opportunity," says coordinator Maria Alice França de Oliveira, a teacher who decided to go to law school after retiring, and after a few years working as a lawyer, found fulfilment in the art of teaching embroidery.
"A major change takes place in the lives of the people who seek the project. Their self-esteem improves, they make new friends, set new goals, and an extra income is secured to many families," says Maria Alice. "If our work obtains success abroad, the lives of many people are going to improve even further," she claims.
The embroidery lessons are free of charge and take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Approximately 300 women have attended the meetings at the 80 square metre space rented by the Itaperuna City Hall.
The embroiderers working in the project use cloth scraps and leftover material from local companies to produce purses, cushions and accessories for the fashion industry. According to Maria Alice, their most recent work includes orders from textile mills in the northwest of the state of Rio, sales and participation in events across Brazil.
Last year, Maria Alice says, they received a special order for 386 large bags for Petrobras oil company’s Tamar Project. They also attended the last edition of the Providência Fair, in Rio, by means of the State Secretariat for Culture, and embroidered details that were used in the 2010 Carnival parade of the Mirim Mangueira samba school.
Awards
Bordando o Futuro won the Rio Cultura Nota 10 (Rio Grade A Culture) award, in 2007, and was elected last year’s Ponto de Cultura, a government award granted to social initiatives. The group is going to receive 180,000 Brazilian reals (US$ 103,000) to be invested in the project over the course of three years. "We are going to purchase new computers, machines and equipment. Three years from now, we will have a mini-mill within the new cooperative’s facilities," celebrates Maria Alice. The group produces approximately 200 items per month. Each embroiderer earns from 400 to 500 reals (US$ 229 to US$ 286) per month.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 22) 3822.7569
E-mail: projetobordado@yahoo.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
