GumCha: a 100% cotton, handmade tool for active people with a history spanning over 2,000 years.

GumCha: handloomed by farmer/weavers combining art with hard work and providing an essential component of the economy of subsistence farming families for generations.

GumCha are made for people:

who work hard, run, swim, bike, walk, hike, work in the garden, do yoga, get cold or get hot.

GumCha are for people:

who support Subsistence farming, Artisan craft for self-sufficiency, Fair trade, Women’s health, Infant and child health, and Sustainable communities.

Welcome to the GumCha4Health Project

A GumCha is the original: cotton scarf, towel, hat, skirt, and air conditioner and are used by millions of hard-working people every day.  GumCha are handloomed by rural farming families in West Bengal, India, from 100% Indian cotton.  GumCha are about 64”-69” long and from 25”-29” wide, yet only weigh about 4 ounces. There are over 10,000 distinct patterns and color combinations, and because they are handwoven, each is unique.

Every time she loads her loom the weaver chooses the colors, the patterns and creates a unique, ever evolving design.

Our area has been the acknowledged home of master weavers since at least the 3rd century BC.

 

Now this valuable artisan craft is at risk. 

Drastic increases in the cost of Indian cotton during the past five years have made it difficult for weavers to earn an adequate income from weaving 100% cotton GumCha.  Many families have been forced to stop weaving and find other sources of income, including becoming day laborers on construction sites far away from their homes and farms.  The difficulty faced by weavers could be a permanent result of the now-globalized Indian cotton market.

Please share the GumCha story and our GumCha4Health website with your friends, family, colleagues and others in your social networks.  Help the program and the people our project serves to grow and prosper.

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Sent to you from our offices in the USA
Just $20 each

Shipping is FREE

On this site you can:

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“I am so pleased to have received my order of GumCha scarves. I will be giving them as gifts to family and friends.  I think your GumCha project is very imaginative, and a wonderful way to raise money for your program while helping to support local weavers.”
– SE, Washington DC

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Click on the any GumCha for higher resolution and more details.

Just $20 each
Shipping is FREE

“Received our three gumchas today.  Everyone is excited.  They are so colorful and designed in such good taste.  Have to be pleased.  Furthermore, my purchase will go for such a good cause.”
– JL, Buffalo, New York

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The GumCha4Health Project

GumCha4Health, LLC is a social business designed to triple the income of subsistence farmer/weavers for weaving GumCha and provide a self-sustaining funding source to support programs for projects that address the health, economic, and educational needs of the rural poor in agriculturally based communities.

GumCha4Health continues a 30-year partnership of advancing self-sufficient, self-sustaining, community-based health and development solutions that focus on the needs of rural families and communities. This strategy has successfully promoted and supported the development of a) primary health, b) maternal health, and c) infant and child health models that can be sustained within local economies.

Thank You for Your Support

Pick your GumCha from our wide selection for $20 each (shipping is free)
Get a free GumCha

If you buy 2 or more GumCha from our catalog, we will send you one complementary GumCha as a gift.  (We'll pick out a great design from the many we have in stock) Shipping is free (our standard shipping is through USPS and takes between 5 and 7 days), sales tax included, and your order will be much appreciated right now.

As an added bonus, each GumCha in your order will be accompanied by a card-sized 4-page brochure that introduces GumCha, the weavers, and the public health programs that the project supports.  This is great for giving GumCha as a gift.

Please beware – giving GumCha to friends and loved ones is a pleasantly habit-forming experience.
Thank you for your support.

Shop for GumCha Now

Pick your GumCha from our wide selection for $20 each (shipping is free)
Get a free GumCha

If you buy 2 or more GumCha from our catalog, we will send you one complementary GumCha as a gift.  (We’ll pick out a great design from the many we have in stock) Shipping is free (our standard shipping is through USPS and takes between 5 and 7 days), sales tax included, and your order will be much appreciated right now.

As an added bonus, each GumCha in your order will be accompanied by a card-sized 4-page brochure that introduces GumCha, the weavers, and the public health programs that the project supports.  This is great for giving GumCha as a gift.

Please beware – giving GumCha to friends and loved ones is a pleasantly habit-forming experience.
Thank you for your support.

Shop for GumCha Now

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