CORR-The Jute Works
The story behind the product.

CORR-The Jute Works is an organization of women handicraft producers that was established in 1973 to rehabilitate the war-widowed and war-affected poor rural women of Bangladesh.

The aim was to provide income generation for these women through producing handicraft items made out of locally available raw materials such as jute, grass, cane, bamboo and clay.

Nowadays there are 220 cooperative groups throughout Bangladesh with 4856 women and 160 men producing a diverse range of handmade jute, grass, leaf and terra-cotta products for the export market. In the field, volunteer supervision of production by group leaders and regular visits by the staff of CORR ensure that the women receive a fair distribution of job orders and fair wages for their work.

Photo: Making jute string market bags can turn around a family's fortunes.

Bhavani's Dream

Bhavani Rani Das is one of those women. After marrying a landless sharecropper at fifteen she had three children, and the family could barely earn enough to feed themselves. Bhavani heard about a local group making jute products for CORR, and after being trained in making sikas (hanging baskets) by the group, she started to earn regular income from producing bags, cradles, curtains and other items for CORR's orders.

Her regular income not only ensured the family got enough food to eat, but allowed her to send her three children to school, and to plan for the future.

Bhavani also benefited from an interest free loan offered by CORR, with which she bought a cow and two calves. The calves became plough-bullocks for her husband, who was then able to get more share-cropping work, while Bhavani sold the milk and expanded into poultry rearing and gardening to feed the family. From her savings she has also repaired their hut to make it weatherproof, and with the help of CORR installed a well for safe drinking water and a toilet.

Photo: After Bhavani was trained by CORR she started to earn regular income.

In a few short years, with diligent work and the help of CORR, Bhavani has turned her family's fortunes completely around, and now they look forward to a life of happiness and prosperity - a life she once dared not dream about.

Jute facts:

Jute fibre is 100% bio-degradable & recyclable and thus environment friendly.

It is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption, production, and availability.

It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breathability of fabrics.

It is one of the most versatile natural fibres that has been used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile, construction, and agricultural sectors.

Jute plant is derived from a relative of the Hemp (Cannabis) plant. However, Jute is totally free from narcotic elements and odor.

The best source of Jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plain in the Ganges Delta, most of which is occupied by Bangladesh.