“I can’t compare Blue Mango to any other working place. This is my first job.
All I know is that at Blue Mango you feel loved.” -Amutha

“My husband died of AIDS. My youngest daughter and I are infected. I think about which of us will die first. My daughter is a teenager now, and she cries about the fact that she won’t be able to get married. I love Blue Mango because I can laugh, make friends and temporarily forget my worries. Blue Mango is family to me.” -Kuttirani

“Nobody can believe that I can earn money. I wasted my whole life uselessly sitting in the house day in and day out, just because I am disabled. Look at me now! “ -Manimehala

“What I like about Blue Mango is the new savings program. It means that when I get older, I won’t be vulnerable. The fact that I can stand on my own two feet makes me proud and happy.” -Sushila

“I am a widow. Because of Blue Mango, I am able to raise my children on my own. My son is studying engineering, my daughter is top of her class. I can buy new clothes for them during festival seasons, we eat well. I don’t have to depend on my father, I don’t have to depend on my brothers, I won’t have to depend on my son. I have pension, savings and does that ever feel good! My neighbors say ‘not bad not bad’. They have never seen an independent widow before!” -Rajakumari

I was married at age seventeen. After five years, my husband died of AIDS. Now I have AIDS but my two daughters don’t. For this, I say ‘Thank You’ to God everyday.” -Nageswari

(Please see “Women’s Stories” for more.)

Why Blue Mango? Because we provide a safe haven for widows. They take courage from each other even though the larger society often alienates and shuns them.

Why Blue Mango? Many of our widows are also HIV positive. Imagine having to live with this double blow. Sometimes their children also carry the virus.

Why Blue Mango? We invite those with disabilities to join. In the not so distant past, families used to hide individuals with disabilities. The fear was that the able bodied children wouldn’t procure a good marriage if the truth were known. Even though this is changing, some of these attitudes still persist. One of our Blue Mango women had a sister who was disabled. It took her two years to ask us to take this sister in. She even hid the ”shame” from us.

The kind of transformation that we see in some women after some months at Blue Mango is astounding. Muthu is paralyzed from her waist down. She used to crawl under a table and hide all day. Today she chatters with her friends, and puts ribbons in her hair.

We are not overly sentimental at Blue Mango. Because many disabled persons grow up being discounted, some also develop a helpless attitude of entitlement. We tell the women that they can’t have it both ways. No one is served at tea time. Leave rules and piece rates apply equally. Quality expectations are the same for everyone. Only then will they experience the good feeling of self respect. We do of course recognize individual limitations and try to adjust if necessary so that each woman can rise to her potential.

Why Blue Mango?
Women who are broken start to heal.
Women who have no belief in themselves start to gain confidence.
Women who look scared and vulnerable start to loosen up and laugh.
Women who are dependent on irresponsible and abusive men start to take charge of their own futures.
THIS is why Blue Mango exists.

Blue Mango offers a supportive infrastructure to marginalized women
enabling them to gain financial stability and emotional self reliance.

Blue Mango gives priority to:

• HIV affected women
• Widows
• Abandoned women
• Physically disabled women
• Victims of domestic abuse
• Impoverished women

Blue Mango provides:

• Pleasant working conditions
• Free training
• Product design
• Sourcing of materials
• Marketing

Although we receive donations for construction and capitol expenses, on a day to day basis, Blue Mango is fully self-sufficient. The women develop self-confidence as their products compete in the market place. We supply to high end boutiques within India and to Fair Trade Organizations abroad.

Product design is done backwards. Instead of first designing a product and then hiring trained women for production, we first accept women regardless of education or experience and provide free training. We then design marketable products which the women are able to produce.

Blue Mango runs by Fair Trade principles and Social Business standards. All of our profits are reinvested in the program, improving our business and enhancing the women’s lives. Benefits made possible by the women’s hard work:

• Financial incentives for long term savings
• Retirement program
• Bonuses based on profits and productivity
• Free primary health care
• Highly subsidized noon meals
• Child care
• Free transport to and from Blue Mango
• Annual tour
• Legal Aid
• Tuition free admission to Nirmala School for Blue Mango children

As Blue Mango develops, the women themselves are taking a more active role in the business. We hope that they will not only embrace the vision, but help to form the vision. The concept of ownership is fundamentally embedded in the ethos of Blue Mango.

We have grown from 4 women to 65 women. The only persons we have hired from the outside include an elderly gentleman accountant, our van driver, and the head cook. Today, senior women who had started as trainees include:

• Rajakumari - Supervisor of Blue Mango
• Kalavathi – Manager of the Beading Department
• Saravanakumari – Head of Cutting, Banking
• Jagatha - Packing and Shipping,
  Computer Data Entry
• Viramani – Main Sewing Trainer
• Leela – Quality Control Stitching
• Sasimala – Quality Control Beading
• Viji – Bead Design Assistant
• Sivamani – Stitching Design Assistant

We have regular group meetings to help the newer women bond into the Blue Mango family.
We hope many of them will grow into leadership positions.