This cotton wall hanging displays the poem Think Like a Tree by Karen I. Shragg. The poem reads, “Soak up the sun / Affirm life's magic / Be graceful in the wind / Stand tall after a storm / Feel refreshed after it rains / Grow strong without notice / Be prepared for each season / Provide shelter to strangers / Hang tough through a cold spell / Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring / Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky / Be still long enough to / hear your own leaves rustling.” Handcrafted by artisans working with Saidpur Enterprises in Bangladesh, providing sustainable jobs for women who lack employment opportunities.
- Cotton, jute, bamboo
- Finished product: 13W x 24L (not including jute cord) inches; Jute cord: 15.75L (end to end) inches; Bamboo rod: approximately 13.75L inches
- Wall hanging reads, “THINK LIKE A TREE Soak up the sun Affirm lifeÆs magic Be graceful in the wind Stand tall after a storm Feel refreshed after it rains Grow strong without notice Be prepared for each season Provide shelter to strangers Hang tough through a cold spell Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky Be still long enough to hear your own leaves rustling - Karen I. Shragg”
- Handcrafted in Bangladesh
Saidpur Enterprises comprises two groups: Action Bag Handicrafts and Eastern Screen Printers. Its Action Bag subsidiary employs women artisans who make a variety of jute products. Some have husbands who are underemployed; others are widowed. Action Bag provides literacy classes, and training on nutrition, women's legal rights, educational awareness and finance. Following the 1971 war that established Bangladesh, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) started clinics and nutrition centers in Saidpur to help address food shortages and disease. In 1976 MCC began a program to help mothers of malnourished children coming to its nutrition center. This temporary employment program became Action Bag Handicrafts, and now supports artisans selling for the fair trade export market.