Cat. no. 01
Women's Library
Reading rooms and study spaces, support for competitive exam preparation, digital library access and a safe place to learn.
About the libraryNon-profit company · India
A library card for every woman.
Jolaha Foundation works for women's education, skill development and community empowerment. Our first initiative is the Fatima Sheikh–Savitribai Phule Women's Library.
Educate to Liberate, Skill to Empower, Weave to Prosper.
Why this library
Named for the first women who taught girls.
In the nineteenth century, in Pune, Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh were among the first women in India to teach girls. We named the library for them because reading is where that work continues.
Read our storyWhat we do
Four ways we work.
Cat. no. 02
Skills and digital literacy
Computer literacy and MS Office, English communication, digital marketing and entrepreneurship training.
See programmesCat. no. 03
Weaving and traditional crafts
Handloom and weaving training, embroidery and textile crafts, product design, and artisan collectives.
See programmesCat. no. 04
Women's empowerment
Self-help groups, financial literacy and banking awareness, leadership and mentorship, and micro-enterprise development.
Get involvedTransparency
A registered non-profit, open about how it runs.
Jolaha Foundation is a Section 8 company, which means it is registered in India to work for a charitable purpose. Registration details, governance and how we use funds are on one page.
About us
Reading is where learning starts.
Jolaha Foundation is a non-profit company in India for women's education, skill development and community empowerment.
Vision
An inclusive society where women and girls, especially from underprivileged, marginalised and economically weaker communities, have equal access to education, skills, knowledge and economic opportunities, while traditional weaving and craft heritage is preserved.
Mission
- Set up women-focused libraries and learning centres.
- Provide skill development and vocational training.
- Preserve and promote traditional weaving and crafts.
- Support women's entrepreneurship and self-employment.
- Promote digital literacy, financial literacy and lifelong learning.
- Build partnerships with government bodies, CSR initiatives and social organisations.
Who we serve
Women and girls from underserved and economically weaker communities, with room for women from every social, economic and cultural background.
- Students and first-generation learners.
- Unemployed women and young women looking for work skills.
- Rural and urban artisans, weavers and craft workers.
- Women entrepreneurs and self-help group members.
- Anyone who needs digital literacy, financial literacy or learning resources.
We named the library for two women who taught girls when few would.
Savitribai Phule
Savitribai Phule (1831–1897) is remembered as India's first woman teacher. She taught girls in Pune and worked for women's education and social reform.
Fatima Sheikh
Fatima Sheikh, who lived in nineteenth-century Pune, worked alongside the Phules to teach girls and open learning to communities that were shut out of it.
What we believe
- Education is a tool for empowerment and social change.
- Everyone should have equal access to learning, whatever their background.
- Traditional knowledge, crafts and cultural heritage are worth preserving.
- Women's self-reliance, leadership and economic independence matter.
- Development works best when the community leads it.
Our plan, year by year
Year 1 · Foundation
Open the first centre
Legal registration, the first women's library centre, and basic literacy and skills programmes.
Year 2 · Expansion
Grow the partnerships
CSR and funding partnerships, advanced skills training, compliance, tax registrations and systems to scale.
Year 3 · Scale
More centres, women-led enterprises
Several centres, artisan cooperatives and women-led enterprises.
This is our plan. Dates move as registration and funding are confirmed.
How we work
- We start with what women in the community ask for.
- We run through volunteers and local partners, and publish what we do.
- We keep records and report openly, as a registered non-profit should.
- We keep every member's details private.
Fatima Sheikh–Savitribai Phule Women's Library
Borrow a book. Take your time.
A reading room and lending library for women and girls.
Draft details in [square brackets] are to be confirmed before launch.
Make your library card
Type your name to see your card. This is a preview; joining opens when the library does.
Women's Library · Member
Your name here
Sample number shown.
Visit
- Where
- [Library address and town, Bihar]
- Hours
- [Opening days and hours]
- Membership
- For women and girls. [Fee, if any, age rules and ID needed: to be confirmed.]
- Borrowing
- [Books per member and loan period, to be confirmed]
- Languages
- Hindi, Urdu and English books. [Collection details to be confirmed.]
- Give books
- We accept donated books in good condition. How to donate books.
Programmes
Skills that help women earn.
Four programme areas, run with local trainers, volunteers and partners.
Programme names, dates and fees are placeholders until the first cohort is confirmed.
Programme 1
Women's Library
- Reading rooms and study spaces
- Competitive exam preparation support
- Digital library access
- A safe community learning space
Programme 2
Skills and digital literacy
- Computer literacy and MS Office
- English communication
- Digital marketing and online tools
- Entrepreneurship training
Programme 3
Weaving and traditional crafts
- Handloom and weaving training
- Embroidery and textile crafts
- Product design and development
- Artisan collectives
Programme 4
Women's empowerment
- Self-help groups
- Financial literacy and banking awareness
- Leadership and mentorship
- Micro-enterprise development
Awareness sessions on education, health, legal rights and finance run alongside these programmes.
Want to teach or host?
If you have a skill to share or a space for a session, tell us.
Get involved
There is a place for you here.
Volunteer
Teach a session, help at the library or support events.
Donate books
Hindi, Urdu and English books in good condition, for adults and children.
Weavers and artisans
If you weave, embroider or make crafts, tell us. We plan to help artisans form collectives.
Partner with us
Organisations, schools, companies, government bodies and social organisations can support programmes, including through CSR. [CSR eligibility to be confirmed.]
Support us
Help keep the library open.
Gifts pay for books, shelves, trainers and running costs.
Online giving opens once our tax-exemption registration is in place. Until then, write to us and we will share bank details.
- Account name
- [Registered name of the Foundation]
- Bank and branch
- [Bank, branch]
- Account no. and IFSC
- [To be provided]
- Tax benefit
- [12A and 80G status to be confirmed. We will not claim a tax benefit until we hold it.]
What a gift can do
- Pay for new books in Hindi, Urdu and English.
- Fund a trainer for one skills cohort.
- Cover a month of running costs for the reading room.
Amounts and costs are shown here once the budget is approved.
How the Foundation is funded
- Donations and philanthropic support
- CSR partnerships
- Government and NGO grants
- Membership contributions
- Affordable training fees
- Sale of handcrafted products
All funds are reinvested in the Foundation's objectives. No profit is distributed.
Transparency
Who we are, on the record.
The facts a donor, partner or member should be able to check.
Registration numbers are placeholders until copied from the incorporation documents.
- Legal form
- Section 8 company (non-profit), India
- Registered name
- [As on the certificate of incorporation]
- CIN
- [Corporate Identity Number]
- Registered office
- Ansari Cottage, Ansari Lane, Jail Road, Chandwara, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India [confirm against the certificate]
- Board
- [Directors as registered with the Registrar of Companies. The board is still being settled.]
- Governance
- The board sets strategy, oversees finances and compliance, monitors programmes and builds partnerships, with annual audits.
- Funding
- Donations, CSR, grants, membership contributions, training fees and sale of handcrafted products. All funds are reinvested in our objectives. No profit is distributed.
- PAN and tax status
- [PAN] · [12A and 80G status]
- Focus
- Women's education, skill development and community empowerment
- Reports
- [Annual report and audited accounts will be published here]
- Concerns
- Write to us through Contact. [Grievance contact to be named.]
Community
Skill lives in communities.
Weaving, stitching and teaching are skills women pass hand to hand. Here are the craft communities of India, where the Foundation works, and of the other countries we have visited.
India
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
The Foundation works in India, so we begin at home. These are the craft communities of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh whose skills fill the markets and wardrobes around us. We will add more states as we travel.
Bihar
Chhapa · Patna, Bihar Sharif, Gaya
The printers of Chhapa
Chhapa is the silver-foil cloth that Bihari families give to the bride as part of the wedding gifts. It is printed by hand by families of dyers and printers in Patna, Bihar Sharif and Gaya.
They cut the design in a wooden block, press silver foil onto the cloth with gum, and beat it so it sticks. Their printers' association asks for the support given to other village crafts.
Tussar silk · Bhagalpur, Banka
The tussar weavers of Bhagalpur and Banka
Bhagalpur is called the Silk City, and tussar weaving there is more than two hundred years old. In Katoria village, Banka district, weaving families are watching the craft fade.
Women boil the cocoons, draw the yarn and fill the bobbins, work that is mostly unrecognised. Only about a quarter of the village's households still weave, and many weavers' children have moved to tailoring work in Mumbai.
Sujni embroidery · Bhusura, Muzaffarpur
The women of Bhusura
Sujni is made only by women, about 600 of them in 22 villages around Bhusura in Muzaffarpur district, with a few villages in Madhubani. It began in the 18th century as quilts for newborns, stitched from layers of old sarees and dhotis with thread drawn from the same cloth.
Women choose their own motifs, worked in running stitch with chain-stitch outlines. The craft had nearly died out before a revival in 1988, led by Nirmal Devi of the Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti. It has a Geographical Indication, approved in 2006.
Khatwa applique · Bihar
Khatwa makers
Khatwa is Bihar's applique and patchwork, made from waste pieces of cloth, usually white on a bright red or orange ground. Men cut the circular patterns and women stitch them.
It was made for wall hangings and for shamianas, the ceremonial tents, and now appears on sarees, dupattas and cushion covers.
Madhubani painting · Mithila
The painters of Mithila
Madhubani painting began as wall and floor painting in the mud houses of Mithila. Traditionally the painters were women and the skill passed down within families. The art is now practised across communities.
There are five recognised styles: bharni, kachni, tantrik, godna and kohbar. It has a Geographical Indication.
Uttar Pradesh
Banarasi saree · Varanasi
The weavers of Banaras
Varanasi has the largest number of handloom weavers in the country. The Banarasi saree is woven by families working on pit looms in quarters such as Madanpura and Alaipura, and the wider textile trade has depended on them for generations.
The finest weavers were once given the title Noor Baaf. Today the trade faces power-loom competition and a hard market for handloom.
Banarasi saree · Varanasi
The many hands behind one saree
A Banarasi saree passes through many specialists. The naqshband draws the design and the patrewala punches it into cards. The weaver works the loom while women in weaving families wind bobbins. dyers colour the silk, and warp-stretchers, reed-makers, darners, clippers and polishers finish the work.
Bobbin winding and thread clipping are often done by women in weaving households.
Chikankari · Lucknow
The women of chikankari
Chikankari is embroidered mostly by women working at home in villages around Lucknow. Men handle every other step, from the design and blocks to printing and washing, mostly in the city.
A trader usually controls the work, and each embroiderer works for one trader with no direct market. SEWA Lucknow, founded in 1984 with embroiderers, trains them and helps them sell directly.
Hand-knotted carpets · Bhadohi, Mirzapur
Carpet weavers of Bhadohi and Mirzapur
Carpet weaving here is a cottage industry, done in home workshops and sheds, often by whole families. The weaving families work at home, with the whole family helping.
Contractors supply the wool and cotton and collect the finished carpets. Weaving is physically demanding, and many weavers have moved to tufting or left for other work.
Leather · Kanpur
Kanpur leather workshops
Kanpur has made leather goods since the 1800s. We visited a Kanpur workshop where hide is cut, stitched, shaped by heat and steam, burnished and finished by hand.
Much of the city's leather trade serves export buyers. We want more of it to reach individual buyers directly.
[Community names and details here come from public sources and are to be confirmed with each community before launch.]
Vietnam
Sapa
The community
Sapa is a highland town in Lao Cai province, in northern Vietnam. The villages around it, such as Cat Cat, Ta Van and Lao Chai, are home to H'Mong communities, and Red Dao people live in the area too.
H'Mong women handle every stage of the textile work. Hemp is grown on hillside plots, stripped into fibre and spun on wooden wheels, and one skirt can take weeks of spinning. Indigo is grown in garden patches, fermented with lime and ash, and the cloth is dipped twenty to thirty times for a deep colour. Among the Flower H'Mong, patterns are drawn in hot beeswax on hemp before dyeing, so the wax leaves white designs.
Embroidery, in cross-stitch and chain-stitch, is worked without sketches. The designs are carried in memory and handed down from mother to daughter.
[Which community each weaver in our photos belongs to is to be confirmed.]
What we saw
In Sapa we met a woman weaving on a wooden frame loom set up on a covered porch, with woven and embroidered pieces displayed nearby. She works in the open, in view of the lane. A small jar on the loom frame invites visitors to leave a tip.
In another village near Sapa, a weaver in a conical hat and bright green jacket worked a small wooden loom in the open front of a timber house. Plaid cloths hung beside her, and baskets held woven bands and scraps of fabric. Nearby, a larger loom held pale cotton cloth, and winding frames stood ready with green yarn. Everything from the frames to the looms was made of wood and run by hand.
Philippines
Sagada
The community
Sagada is a town in Mountain Province, in the Cordillera of northern Luzon. The Kankanaey weaving tradition is strong here, and woven cloth is one of the marks of the town's identity.
Weaving has traditionally been women's work, done mostly on the backstrap loom: one end is tied to a post and a strap goes round the weaver's back, so she sets the tension of the threads with her own body. Cotton was spun by hand and coloured with plants: indigo for blue, roots and bark for red, turmeric for yellow. Cloth carries meaning too, such as the finely woven abel used in rituals and feasts.
Weavers across the Cordillera have formed cooperatives to sell together while weaving at home. Mass-produced cloth and migration to cities put these skills at risk.
What we saw
Sagada Weaving is a shop and weaving workshop in the town. Wooden floor looms stand side by side, and a weaver sits at one, working purple and pink threads. Striped cloth hangs at the door, and visitors can see the work being done inside.
The shop is described as a pioneering weaving business in Sagada, begun in 1978 and grown from an earlier craft business. It makes bags, wallets, blankets and table runners, and traditional Cordillera clothing, in red and black stripes on white and other traditional patterns. [We believe this is Sagada Weaving & Souvenir Shop; to be confirmed.]
What this means for our work
- Textile knowledge is held by women and passed from one generation to the next.
- Learning is strongest when it is taught by people from the community.
- A skill that earns gives a woman a voice at home and beyond.
- Cooperatives let weavers sell together while working at home. That is the kind of artisan collective our programmes aim to support.
- Our programmes in India will be built the same way, with local trainers.
This page is a draft. The Foundation works in India; these photos show the kind of craft community we learn from.
Contact
Write to us.
- [info@jolaha.org]
- Phone
- [Phone number]
- Address
- [Office address]
- Hours
- [Office hours]