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A Mala carpet being woven in India

Life changing carpets

Oriental carpets have had a chequered history.听They are normally associated with stately homes and being owned by wealthy people.听In more recent times they have been linked to child labour and exploitation, yet in York during December there is an exhibition of fine oriental carpets by a charity that specialises in helping the people of the carpet weaving belt in India.听

A Project Mala school

Project Mala was founded in 1989 to address the problem of child labour in the hand knotted carpet industry in India.听It identified at the outset that child labour was not the problem; the real problem was the lack of the alternative, ie schools.听Project Mala set out to provide schooling as an alternative to work for children in the carpet weaving belt in Uttar Pradesh, India.听Today Project Mala runs six schools and has 1,000 children in full time education.

The Mala carpet show at Benson's

To help fund the schools, it established a trading arm which makes some fine carpets. These are currently being shown at an exhibition in Geoffrey Benson & Son, the furniture shop on the A59 at Green Hammerton.听On show - and indeed for sale - are over 600 rugs and carpets. Mala Handicrafts is a 鈥渘ot for profit鈥� fair trade company where any surplus made goes to support the schools.

As the manufacture of the carpets provides work for skilled weavers, and any surplus goes towards giving children an education, these carpets really can be described as 鈥渃arpets that change lives鈥�.