Inside Aarong Production

These two women are working on needle punch embroidery in Aarong. Aarong is one of BRAC's enterprises that promotes fair trade for underprivileged artisans and disadvantaged women. Although in my opinion their merchandise is well overpriced, it is most definitely for a good cause and Aarong is a lot better than the normal garment factories. In the morning, right around sunrise, the streets of Bangladesh flood with women. Old and young leave their homes to catch the local buss, walk, or ride rickshaws to go to the garment factories. The streets are normally so crowded and busy, and most of the day laborers are male dominated occupations, that it is an overwhelming sight. Especially since the color of clothes here are so bright, that even in their worn state, they still could rival the hues of any LA color run. It's as if Bangladesh has transformed into an Amazonian sunrise, an extension of the pink, yellow, and orange rays bursting all over the city, and then like holi powder, all the women disappear, and the magic is gone. What this does speak to is the overwhelming influence women have in this society, and how they really are the foundation for development. A country can only advance as far as it's women, and thanks to Professor Camp, one of my favorite lectures was the influence women have on developing a home. Women are more likely to reinvest their earnings into the household. If the situation allows, they are also more likely to send their girls to school  If you educate a girl, they advocate for themselves, marry and have children later in life, and invest in their community. All of a sudden you've dealt with the problem of economic growth, overpopulation, literacy rates, child marriages, gender equality, ect. in one step. This is why BRAC has such a strong focus on women empowerment. Not because they are raging feminists, but because the well-being of any country truly does lie in the hands of it's women