Janana Women's Prison Project
Janana Women’s Prison is home to over 100 women and children in the heart of Kathmandu, Nepal. Many of the women prisoners are illiterate and come from poor rural areas of Nepal. Their children stay in the prison with their mothers until the age of five, when it is hoped that they will be accepted into one of the many children’s homes that provide shelter to children of prisoners.

Due to an ineffective judicial system there are women who have been in Janana for many years while still awaiting trial for crimes they may or may not have committed. Prisoners in general are shunned by their families and communities, but nowhere more so than in a patriarchal, caste based society like Nepal. These women will carry the stigma of being incarcerated for the rest of their lives. They will find it very hard to return to their homes and society in general, but if they are given a trade skill and can be productive, society will be more welcoming.

In the spring of 2003 Mahaguthi Crafts with a Conscience was asked to set up a weaving project for the prisoners. The Australian Embassy provided a grant to start the program and to build a library and store room inside the prison.

Through this project the women have learned to weave basic cloth, which is now used in their sewing training and for their personal use. They have also been trained in embroidery, an easily portable skill that the women can do in their prison quarters and take with them wherever they go upon their release. This training has proven to be so successful that Mahaguthi is now marketing the products produced by the women.