OUR MISSION

Our mission is to simply serve the underprivileged. At Ilanos, we navigate with the philosophy of “Love All, Serve All”. We have elected to engage in this humanitarian project to cut across barriers of class and religion while addressing issues faced by the socially and economically neglected of our society. We are guided by Mahatma Gandhi’s undeniable beliefs in love, peace, truth, nonviolence, and compassion.

OUR HISTORY

In 1990 a team of young volunteers were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s practice of serving the “Antyodays” (most neglected and marginalized) with love and compassion. We began by gathering children from the neighboring slum area under the shade tree at the Gandhi Ashram. Here we gave the children baths, cut their nails, groomed them, played with them and fed them. This small act of service aimed to give these children a childhood they could enjoy. This small act of kindness quickly grew into a full-time endeavor to brighten the future of thousands of disadvantaged children in Ahmedabad.

Today, we, along with the community, serve more than 9000 children and women solely through projects of creativity and art. We have formed a circle of giving and unconditional love.

OUR COMMUNITY CENTER

Ilanos believes that value based education is just as important as academic education. The values that our children learn at a young age will be beneficial to them throughout their life.

We educate through interaction. Some of these values include respect, love, cleanliness, faith, etc. Through this holistic approach we hope the children will gain a sense of regularity, personal hygiene, self-discipline, leadership skill, and most of all self-confidence.

Through our value based educational programs, children are taught to keep clean and organized, by being respectful of others, and those around them.

PRAYER AND MEDITATION

We have tremendous faith in the Almighty and believe in bestowing the same in our children. All of our activities commence with an all-religion prayer to promote oneness.

Children are also encouraged to adopt and practice the art of meditation to strengthen their inner self.

Ilanos Hand Craft Projects

A story of pure, selfless intention creating beautiful ripples

Sometimes, what starts as a small step results in a completely unexpected journey. Such is the story of Unique Art & Craft.Ilanos is an NGO based out of Chicago, IL, and it is designed to help empower destitute women in the Global. At Ilanos, underprivileged women make a variety of home furnishing items, clothing and handicrafts, which are sold through select outlets in different countries generating income for their much needed livelihood.

In 2007, in Singapore through the generosity of volunteers, who opened up their homes for an exhibition of our Women’s work. At that time, no one could predict the ripple effect such a simple event would have. Our volunteers had an excellent network of friends, and a wonderful home that could accommodate such an event. All invitations were by word of mouth, and work was done entirely by local volunteers. The exhibition was a hit! It provided an unexpected new source of income for women and spread their stories to our Singapore family.

In the midst of rapid growth between then and now, two golden rules of business were decided upon: First, there would be no overhead costs, so all proceeds could go the working women. Keeping these costs low required an incredible amount of work by volunteers, who physically transported goods, manned stalls all day long, and committed valuable time asking for nothing in return. Second, there would be no commercial goal or desire other than to aid the hard-working women. People were moved by the selfless spirit of giving and moral principles by which Ilanos was operating.

Ilanos, is a unique platform that showcases and brings into the spotlight the best of craftsmanship from worldwide. It aims to empower artisans by connecting them to resources, tools and network of partner members. Our mission is to revive, preserve and share the craft traditions of the world and develop a sustainable and scalable model for craft development.

Through 27 wide varieties of craft forms, Craftroots creates awareness in the market about the skills, time and creativity that artisans invest into their craft. Craftroots has connected Artisans, NGOs, Self-Help Groups, Cooperatives, Businesses, Corporations, Design & Management Institutes, Individuals and Experts such as designers, educators, students, and customers so the can interrelate in a better and more productive way.

As Mother Theresa once said, “Small things with great love”.