Behind the Scenes: Our Visit to India

This February, our Creative Director Nik and Marketing Manager Katha were in Kolkata, India. The primary purpose of the visit was to finally meet our suppliers in India in person again. Before COVID, we used to visit each other several times a year, but due to travel restrictions and other issues, this was unfortunately not possible for an extended period. It was all the more wonderful that we now had the opportunity again.

For Katha, it was her first visit to India. It was both exciting and interesting to immerse herself in and get to know this strange, yet unique culture. At first, the climate, the many different, intense smells, the slums, and the hectic traffic were somewhat unfamiliar to her.

However, with Nik at her side, she had someone who had visited India many times.

Through the many visits and our long-term collaboration with our partners, friendships have developed in addition to working relationships. 

During our on-site visits, we primarily visit our partners' production facilities, showrooms, and offices. Together, we discuss and realize new ideas, products, designs, and leather types. However, we always ensure that the designs remain timeless and functional. Some established styles are also improved and reworked. In addition to the design department, we also visited the production facilities. We are always impressed by the craftsmanship and attention to detail.

In addition to visiting our suppliers, a visit to the organization “ Calcutta Rescue” was another highlight on the agenda.

Calcutta Rescue

Calcutta Rescue is a social organization with several different projects that we have gladly supported in the past. Our trip gave us the opportunity to visit some of their social projects firsthand.

Street Medicine + Mother & Child

Firstly, we were able to visit the “Street Medicine ” and “ Mother and Child ” projects. The Street Medicine project involves a bus that goes directly to the local slums. There, medication, nutrients and food are distributed to the affected residents. The “Mother and Child” project is a program to support pregnant women and mothers with small children who unfortunately grow up in poverty. The program offers medical care, nutritional advice, educational opportunities and financial support for those affected and their families. Mothers and children are regularly examined and treated in a mobile outpatient clinic. The women are usually accompanied from pregnancy until the children are about 2 years old.

It was a very emotional experience for both of them to see the mothers and children in such poverty. We are therefore all the more excited to be creating a better tomorrow with Calcutta Rescue.

The project is an important step in combating poverty and inequality in Kolkata and has positively impacted the lives of many.

educational project

Another program we visited was the Tala Park School educational project. It's a program to promote education in the slums of Calcutta. The project supports not only children but also adults. Services offered include general tutoring, computer courses, and English lessons. In India, the literacy rate—that is, the number of people who can read and write—is unfortunately increasing very slowly. In 2018, the literacy rate was approximately 74% (men: approximately 82%, women: approximately 66%). Yet it's so important because education is key to socioeconomic progress and serves to improve and transform the living conditions of everyone.

In stark contrast to German classrooms, the children sat scattered across the floor with their teaching materials and listened attentively to the teacher. Despite the lack of a traditional classroom layout, the brightly colored walls and mosaic flooring made the classrooms a creative and comfortable place to learn. The children are picked up by their own school bus in the morning and taken back home to their neighborhoods in the afternoon. They are supervised from morning to afternoon and also receive two meals at school.

Something that particularly touched them was gender equality. Unfortunately, this is still not a standard in India. Men still have priority in schooling, which is also reflected in the literacy rate. Therefore, we were all the more pleased to see the mixed classes of girls and boys.

I hope Katha and Nik were able to give you a little insight into their visit to India.

We wish you a nice week!

Your myBagFactory team