I was born into basket weaving. My grandfathers and their grandfathers weaved basket. My name is Hajra and live in Bahawalpur, Punjab, that’s one of the biggest basket exporters in Pakistan. Once you are born here, you grow up basket weaving. It becomes just a thing you do, and not think about it much. You make friends and time around the activity.Since it’s been in generations, we have been taught the skill of making the baskets, but never taught how to sell it. Like other numerous women in my community, this is my source of income. The raw material for baskets is not easily available in the region. The specific kind of white Date leaves have to come from date trees on the river. It has to go through an intensive process before it’s ready to be made into a basket.
Until now I had no business skills to sell the product and make a profit. WoMart came out as a source of inspiration and education. It helped me in understanding my market skills and how to improve on them. I have a platform where I can sell my stuff to people around Pakistan and around the world.I feel like, the world has opened up for me. The program taught me about marketing too. It has been a life changing experience.
My products holding all my generational knowledge and folklore will bring joy to anyone who buys it