Cross-Cultural Solutions: Volunteers For Change: Success, All Sewn Up

Volunteers For Change: Success, All Sewn Up

By Deborah Sanborn

What can a costume designer teach impoverished women in India? How to sew their way to economic freedom, of course. As a volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions, Daniel Lalande spent five months working at an education centre in New Delhi, where he taught sewing and embroidery classes with the goal of empowering local women - many of whom are illiterate - to generate a sustainable income. After a 25-year career that included the Stratford Festival in Ontario, the Comedie-Francaise in Paris and numerous stints for movies and television, Lalande felt confident he could develop a practical program that would benefit underprivileged women.

In-class topics ranged from different styles and fabrics to applique and block-printing techniques. "It was fascinating to see their eyes light up at the discovery of such things, which most had never seen," he says. When Lalande met professionals in the Indian fashion industry, he persuaded them to come to his classes, where they not only taught the traditional embroidery of zari and zardozi, but also lectured on the principles of design. He also created a website and catalogue to teach his students how to market and sell their products.

India wasn't Lalande's first volunteer destination. In 2003, he worked in Bali, Indonesia, helping to establish a gallery to sell local artwork, and in Guatemala, he worked in the slums with a co-op of seamstresses. At the heart of Lalande's efforts is a belief in the power of micro-enterprise: the ability of impoverished people to develop independent sources of income. He believes that time is critical to this type of work: time to acclimatize, understand what a community needs and develop programs that are relevant. And the rewards? "I always encountered people willing to share what little they had. I felt sometimes like a prince - which could be overwhelming."