Jahanara Cottage Industries is a rural-based handicraft organization that helps poor village men and women develop job skills. Jahanara provides fair wages and encourages self-help and mutual aid. It provides handicrafts training, loans, education and health services, and children's day-care. In a region where Islamic tradition secludes most women at home, Jahanara allows them to be employed wage earners in cottage industry. Jahanara artisans use local raw materials and recycled materials.