A Hands on Hips Project
Empowering women to preserve their traditions and earn fair prices for their work
Barbara Sher’s project to help women in a small Turkish village save their ancient art and earn fair prices for their kilim rugs by selling online in the early days of the Internet.
Barbara's Dream
In a small village near the Goreme Valley of Cappadocia, Turkey where Barbara Sher lived part of the year, she decided to set up a tiny weaving shop in which local craftswomen could produce and sell their products. However, the real purpose of the program was to introduce computers and the process of e- commerce to the local women so they could sell their beautiful kilims for fair prices to customers all over the world.
She used the “Wish & Obstacle” technique outlined in her books to reach out to the local weavers, the local community, technologists, her readers and kilim lovers around the world to make this innovative project happen.
Barbara Sher passed away on May 10, 2020 at the age of 84. This website celebrates her caring for these women and provides an example of how using her techniques can make dreams come true.
Ortahisar, Turkey
Ortahisar is a small town in Ürgüp district of Nevşehir Province, in Cappadocia, Turkey. Ortahisar has 14,262 inhabitants as of 2015 and is located about 20 km east of the provincial capital, Nevşehir.