I'm raising £3,000 for Moltow Bello in Jodhpur.

I visited Jodhpur in March 2025. Here, I met Nanda who runs Moltow Bello Handicraft - a Rajasthani organisation that supports tribal, young brides, and widowed women become independent.💫🧶

In March 2025, Nanda had employed 72 widowed and vulnerable women from all castes to assist them in becoming independent following the deaths of their husbands, or to create hope for a future in their own right. Nanda explained that even now, women are often encouraged to commit Sati - a largely historical Hindu practice in which a widow burns alive on her deceased husband's funeral pyre, either voluntarily, by coercion, or by a perception of the lack of satisfactory options for continuing to live. Moreover, research says that a reason for high suicide rates amongst Indian females is domestic violence. Most women I met in Rajasthan had been married off at a young age, and forced to become a wife and a daughter-in-law. The women at Moltow Bello told me how they would spend entire days at home doing household chores, with all sorts of restrictions placed on them, including rare access to any personal money. When husbands pass, women are forced to beg on the streets, or sometimes turn to prostitution in order to provide for their families. Nanda is helping widowed and vulnerable married women to carve a life for themselves. She is helping tribal and young women who have been side-lined in society and deprived of education, health facilities, and economic opportunities to create a better future for themselves - independently of men.

***

I will be organising some mini fundraisers but mainly, will be walking a customised version of the 40 mile Green Chain Walk (GCW), that started in August 2025. I will cover around 8 miles each walk and then complete the walk on dates TBC. Each of the 5 walks, I hope to raise £500 which will immediately go into investment to start this project and get the ball rolling.

I will adapt this walk so the 8 miles all link together: https://www.walkingenglishman.com/ldp/greenchainwalk.html

I will undertake this 40 mile challenge to raise money to buy between 50-75 (approx) handcrafted tapestries/bags/pashminas from Nanda's organisation to then sell in the UK.

All profit will go towards buying more handcrafted products, setting up an Etsy account, potentially establishing a Foundation if successful, in order to keep trade between Moltow Bello Handicrafts and the UK going. Nanda will be able to hire more women, and help them avoid destitution, slavery, suicide, and prostitution.

Any support would be amazing. Thank you!!

Dates, times, locations and details TBC. Keep an eye out and please see our page with links to our Instagram shop: https://rhiannonswriting.blogspot.com/2025/10/moltow-bello-handicrafts-jodhpur.html.