Denica Riadini-Flesch of SukkhaCitta on rediscovering Indigenous regenerative farming and dyeing techniques & challenging the status quo

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In episode 292, Kestrel welcomes Denica Riadini-Flesch, a development economist and the director at SukkhaCitta, to the show. A social enterprise started in 2016, <a href="https://www.sukkhacitta.com" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">SukkhaCitta</a> works to give women in rural Indonesia fair access to education and market.</p> <p><strong>“We have grown this company, this mission, these projects on the ground with that mindset that we want to build a model for change. So, we are not here to grow and make the most profits or be the best company in the market, you know, but it’s really a very different mindset. We’re here to connect consumers with the full story of how and why something was made.” -Denica</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">One aspect of the complex and opaque fashion supply chain that is often overlooked is the number of homeworkers that are an integral part of making our clothes today.</p> <p class="">I was reaching for some sort of statistic, and that led me to <a href="https://www.buildanest.org/why-craft/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Nest’s website</a> – where they outline that upwards of 300 million people around the world work from home, engaged in primarily craft-based handwork. They are predominantly women, often invisible and without social protections.</p> <p class="">This week’s guest, a trained economist, saw this firsthand when she returned to her home country of Indonesia and was working as a social development consultant. This work took her to villages across the country, where she saw women literally making things with their hands from their homes. </p> <p class="">She even spoke to a woman who was dyeing garments in her home – she had been given toxic dyes to use and was feeling the harmful health effects of it directly, not only on her lungs but also on her surrounding environment, when the dye would be dumped in the nearby river, where her children would play.</p> <p class="">These experiences led her to realize that it could be