Unique Cards Raise Funds for India Charity

Wednesday October 9 2019

If you’re looking for something different for this year’s Christmas cards, how about these unique painted leaf cards?

The leaves are painted by lower-caste women, often single mothers, from Kerala in southern India, and sold by Strathaven Friends of Health Help International (SFHHI).

Health Help International (HHI) is a Christian charity which works in Zambia and India, providing hospital and clinic infrastructure, supplying medical equipment and funding healthcare for people who can’t afford it.

It is based in Wales but is also supported by the Strathaven group, which is mostly made up of members of the two local Church of Scotland congregations – Trinity, and Avendale Old and Drumclog. The charity's founder, Ron Prosser, was born and brought up in the South Lanarkshire town.

The painting of the leaves of the Peepal Tree is a traditional occupation carried out by lower caste women in southern India, painted in craft centres or in their homes. The leaves are prepared by steeping them in water for several weeks.

HHI supports a number of womens’ groups in Kerala, training them in leaf painting and providing paint and brushes. The designs for the HHI leaves are the work of Tom Sutherland, an Australian who fronts the charity’s work in India. Each leaf is an original painting.

You can buy the leaf cards from the SFHHI’s online shop.

HHI website
SFHHI website
More about the painted leaf cards.

Post Tags: hhi, painted leaf cards

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