India: Day Fourteen

Our last day in India…so sad to leave.  We visited a laundering facility, one of United Dry Goods' factories, and an embroidering facility before making our way to the airport.

We started our day at Jyothy Fabricare Services Ltd, home of FabricSpa.  This facility washes everything from airplane blankets to carpets to dress shirts to saris.  There was a clear focus on quality and professionalism, from uniforms to hairnets, cleanliness and labeling.  I loved hearing about their environmental focus too, such as how they use biomass briquettes (made from tamarind rind and peanut shells) to power the plant.

Next we walked a few doors down and visited Master Rao’s Temple of Hope, Opportunity, and Happiness (MRT). MRT is a cut and sew facility run by our sponsor, UDG. In this facility was saw garments being produced for brands such as Justice, Lane Bryant, and Katherine’s. We were welcomed with roses and hairnets, as well as Dominoes pizza!  The factory workers were on their lunch break at the same time we had lunch, so I was able to sit and talk to some of them.  Despite a language barrier, I learned that one of them was a supervisor, that they did not mind their jobs, and that they had all been there for varied amounts of time.  They were so sweet and kept sharing their food with me and sprinkling chili powder on my pizza.

After lunch, we had the opportunity to walk through the factory and see how they cut and sew the fabric into a finished garment.  We saw quality checking and packaging, and of course the whole sewing line.

Our last official stop of the day was to an embroidering facility.  This company embroiders fabric yardage for export to Africa.  It was super cool to see sequins being made and to watch the machines create magic embroidering beautiful motifs.

We walked back over to MRT and repackaged all of our luggages before heading to the airport.

Goodbye, India! Thanks for all the memories, I'll be back as soon as I can!