Sustainable livelihoods for women create generational change in Bangladesh

Read more of Rina Deuri’s story here or explore pictures of the family, then and now.

In 2002, MCC staff first met Rina Deuri, a skilled papermaking artisan and devoted mother of two. In the last 23 years, how has her family navigated their lives and grown in their careers?

The video above offers an immersive look at the impact of Rina’s determination and steady income working at Biborton Handmade Paper.

Amid a lush green landscape of rice paddies along river deltas, rural women like Rina, who seek to improve their livelihoods, find at Biborton a safe workplace and caring community — and the potential to create generational change in a community where high unemployment and climate challenges like flooding contribute to people experiencing poverty. They have the opportunity to gain skills, raise their status and build financial security for their families. 

Established in 1993 by MCC, Biborton is one of 10 handcraft centers run by Prokritee, a fair trade enterprise that grew out of MCC’s decades of job creation work in rural Bangladesh starting in the 1970s. Now an independent global enterprise, Prokritee sells handcrafted products, often made with natural and recycled materials, to retailers and organizations in 27 countries, including long-time partner Ten Thousand Villages in the U.S.