Communities in Serbia
Dobra Torba (The Good Bag)
GOOD PRACTICE TITLE: Dobra Torba (The Good Bag)
KIND OF PRACTICE: Economic empowerment of women
DOCUMENT AUTHOR: Housing Center – Housing Development Center for Socially Vulnerable Groups, Belgrade, Serbia Marko Finci PLACE: Belgrade- Serbia
CONTEXT, FIELD OF INTERVENTION:
In Serbia, women are usually unemployed or paid less then man, they mostly don’t have steady job or regular income and they live in communities where there is no perspective for them. Under these conditions, it is obvious that they need support and some other way to make income. Being specific vulnerable group, women bear greater sacrifices during social crises. Although having more obligations and less spare time, their work more often gets unpaid and inadequately valued – 13 percent of all women and 24 percent of women aged 55 to 64 are ranked as unpaid household members who work in family business or on the family farm. Women are more numerous in the unemployed population and have lesser average income than men holding the same jobs. Concept DOBRA TORBA was designed to help women all over Serbia to get chance to prove how given opportunity can do a lot for them and their family. The main purpose of the DOBRA TORBA (The Good Bag) project is giving the chance to women all over Serbia to feel useful and to prove them self their value.
PERIOD:
2013 to present
POPULATION, PARTICIPANTS:
Women from all over Serbia become members of the big family of the DOBRA TORBA manufactures through their local women's associations. They're mostly women without a steady job or regular income, living in communities where perspectives for economic wellbeing and a more dignified life do not open up so easily.
COORDINATORS:
DOBRA TORBA project is the result of a project initiated by SMART KOLEKTIV, committed to the economic empowerment of women as one of the key prerequisites for the development of society as whole and establishing higher human rights standards. SMART KOLEKTIV is an non-profit organization that pioneers the promotion and development of corporate social responsibility, social innovations, youth entrepreneurship and social marketing in Serbia
METHODOLOGY (HOW THE PRACTICE WORKS):
Work activation of women from all nationalities in Serbia who have been unemployed for a long time. Entire income made from the sale is going straight into the hands of those women. Every woman skilled in sewing which has an ordinary sewing machine can join in the manufacture of the DOBRA TORBA. Working at home, she can set for herself the work hours she devotes to sewing. Economic dependence and inequality are the source of numerous other negative social trends, jeopardizing the life and dignity of women. The DOBRA TORBA is a step towards a different, better position for women. Original domestic design, hand–made production and universal values that is what people are supporting by buying DOBRA TORBA. Plus, they are getting a bag that is unique, beautiful, long–lasting and suitable for every occasion. These branded promotional bags are ideal for an efficient and innovative business promotional gift.
DOBRA TORBA) defined by organization SMART COLLECTIVE. The roles and obligations of woman in project are precisely
PARTICIPATORY PROCESS:
In the course of the project development, the participation of project beneficiaries has been given increasingly more attention. Women involved in project have been consulted in several phases during the project realization:
1. How much time do they need to make one bag, and how many bags is possible to make in one day.
2. What kind of sewing machine do they need for this type of bag and is it possible to do it with regular machine.
3. Should we do some changes on design of bag to adopt it to tools that they have. And what do they think about material that we provide for those bags.
TIME TO BE SUCCESFUL (HOW MANY TIME THE PRACTICE TAKE TO ACHIEVE THEIR OBJECTIVES):
There is an estimate, based on the concrete experiences, that the period of six months to three years is needed for full psychological adaptation of woman involved in process. Over time, as participants are strengthening their capacities and gaining more independence, due to the support services applied, most woman need support only occasionally. It is important that organization provide them enough job and enough emotional support until they start to validate them self.
VALIDITY (IF THE PARTICIPANTS THINK THAT THE PRACTICE RESOLVED THE PROBLEMATIC):
This practice has helped to solve problem of women's from vulnerable groups who have l been unemployed for a long time and enabled them to work, to earn for a living, to be employed and most importantly, enabled them to be included in community and to be further strengthened.
IMPACT:
This practice helped to reduce level of unemployed women in Serbia and helped them to provide some income to their families and to help them to provide financial conditions for existence.
INNOVATION:
Creative usage of Design, good design, working from home, innovative usage of resources, combination of design and social company, design adjusted to tools that most homes have.
RESOURCES OR CONDITIONS NEEDED FOR THE PRACTICE:
Sewing machines, Row Materials, Design, Good marketing.
LIMITATIONS:
The constraints are mostly of a financial nature
LEARNED LESSONS: :
-
Importance of support of vulnerable groups.
-
Importance of Creativity.
-
Importance of learning through continual monitoring and evaluation.
SUSTAINABILITY:
Practice strives to maintain lasting sustainability in an unlimited future.
Repeatability: The practice seeks to develop an innovative methodology to be borrowed and replicated by other similar Bulgarian and foreign organizations and local communities.
REPLICABILITY:
This practice can easily be used in some other context with some small correction
CONCLUSION:
THE GOOD BAG IS A BETTER IDEA
The Good Bag is better because she's not like all the others. The Good Bag is better because she's pretty, practical and strong like the women who make her. The Good Bag is better because she's stylish and not brought from the mall. The Good Bag is better because she shows how something can still be Made in Serbia. The Good Bag is better because she doesn't turn into plastic waste that takes hundreds of years to dissolve. The Good Bag is better because she's made from natural materials while also acting naturally. The Good Bag is better because she doesn't come from slavish sweatshops on other continents but is home–sewn by women in Serbia for whom the Good Bag is an opportunity as big as a house. The Good Bag is better because you can sing while you sew it. The Good Bag is better because it's an idea initially laughed at even by the women who can now smile more often while they sew. The Good Bag is better because it's not a fake brand but original life, signed by the very woman who sewed it. The Good Bag is better because no living being was skinned to make it or buy it. The Good Bag is better because like a true beauty she wishes peace in the world and love among the nations. The Good Bag is better because she goes to the green market as well as to the film festival, the workout and the office. The Good Bag is better because she's not a status symbol to cure complexes with but a human gesture that can cure at least some of the society's problems. The Good Bag is better because she comes from "passive" parts of Serbia, while being very active. The Good Bag is better because, when travelling abroad, she realizes how there's no one like her in the whole world. The Good Bag is better because she's never, unlike a certain briefcase, involved in corruption scandals. The Good Bag is better because she's unisex. The Good Bag is better because she's not expensive but never looks cheap. The Good Bag is better because the person wearing it has a sense of community and couldn't care more. The Good Bag is better because she doesn't whine and make excuses but fights the crisis. The Good Bag is better because she's up to date and knows all about social entrepreneurship. The Good Bag is better because responsible companies use her to pack their promotional or conference materials and give her as a gift to their partners and associates, thus showing a sense of style alongside a sense of responsibility. The Good Bag would call herself the Better Bag if she weren't so decent and modest. The Good Bag is better because she's original by life for Life.
CONTACT (PRACTICES AUTHOR AND ORGANIZATION):
DOBRA TORBA
+381 11 2659 700
facebook.com/dobratorba
twitter.com/dobratorba youtube.com/dobratorba