Can you imagine a design structure changing the life of a slum dweller? This has been made possible by a Dutch designer Pepe Heykoop and Tiny Miracles Foundation which works to create new products aimed at training communities to build up a source of income for them. This has been started in the poorest residential areas of Mumbai.
Named appropriately as the Tiny Miracles Foundation, this aims to bring about a change in the economic setup by providing a different and unique means of income. These small changes according to them can bring out a larger change. Till now, the foundation has been successful in helping 700 people who at present live in a slum in Mumbai’s red light district. They aim to move from the ‘very poor’ section to the ‘middle class’ section.
Pepe Heykoop & Tiny Miracles in Bombay from Pepe Heykoop on Vimeo.
The foundation is working on the lines of providing education for both parents and children. They also provide basic amenities like clean drinking water alongside providing for a permanent and feasible source of income. The community concerned was selling cane baskets for which demand dropped down. The new designs suggested by the designer have now made a platform available for these baskets to reach a global audience. The platform also includes making of paper sculptures or lamps made out of bamboo sticks and that made by recycled and used copper electrical wires. You can check out the entire collection here.
