Black Kantha Dress

Amrapari (We Can) is a women’s collective that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown as a way of creating sustainable livelihoods for char-chapori women in Assam. Many of these women were daily wage earners (e.g., in fisheries, agricultural work, brick kilns, etc.) who suddenly found themselves without work during the lockdown. Their extreme food insecurities were exacerbated by several spates of floods. Started and led by Manjuwara Mullah, a local women’s rights activist and longtime community worker in Barpeta district Assam, Amrapari seeks to support women’s empowerment and economic self-sufficiency. This is primarily accomplished by supporting women in making and selling embroidered quilts—a legacy of women in char chapori areas.