Oh, I never knew you had scoliosis.

To respond to your questions, we have to find a women's livelihood activity for the long winter months (six months over here). Women now typically either do nothing, or those who are lucky weave carpets. But carpet weaving is hard work. It involves sitting crouched next to two or three others, and having to look in the dim light. Many people have shoulder and neck problems as well as eye problems at the end of it.

But the fate for those who don't weave the carpets is worse. They do not earn any money and are very poor.

Weaving gellim is better ergonomically than carpets. But it pays less. Spinning pays the most. Also, it does not require you to look at the wool/yarn. You could even spin if you were blind. And you can stretch whilst spinning. And it is not small movements like it is for carpet weaving, or even crochet or knitting. I tried out the machine and the pedal is very sensitive. It does not require any strength, and works when you tilt it forwards and backwards. Also, the woman had a cushion, but we asked her to move positions (she was by the window) as the light was not good there.

Basically, it has less ergonomic problems than even tailoring has. It is the best option there is for now. Also, the women (and even children) spend the summer months doing very very very hard farm labour, like digging potatoes, carrying wood, carrying big bales of hay. When I shake their hands, I am stunned at how rough and calloused they are. They regard even carpet weaving as easy work.

I like your idea of task diversity. We could think of combining it with gellim weaving. And have women work in rotation with each other. That could work.

Another thing to take into consideration that the poverty here is extreme. One in four children die before they reach the age of five. One in six women will die in childbirth. Most women do not reach the age of 45. Hunger is extreme. Having this little extra money means that families have fewer hungry days in a year. A few children live a little longer. Girls are married off a bit later.

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