Journal · Bangladesh
Your Market Bag Impact
Our award-winning film Oporajeo shares the story behind more than one million Market Bag owners and the extraordinary women of the cooperative that makes them. Their courage and resilience inspire us daily, and your support makes our mission of using business to improve lives possible.
International Women’s Day
Defend Tomorrow
Released in honor of International Women’s Day: the story of the women of Oporajeo, whose craft carries more than one million Market Bags into the world.
Oporajeo · Feature
Oporajeo, Part Two
Meet Opejero, meaning Invisible, one of the cooperatives behind the Apolis Market Bag, made up of survivors of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. In fifteen years working in Bangladesh we’ve learned that impact lasts when artisans have ownership over their craft and their future.
Day 5 · Gazipur
The Mercado
It takes eighteen hours, about three days, to create the Mercado Woven. With only one hundred possible per month, each one is an heirloom in the making. Time shows up in the details, in the durability, and in the quiet beauty of something made to last.
Day 4 · Narayanganj
Grass Collection
People talk about the future like it’s made of code. But the world still runs on hands. Hands that lift, build, weave, carry.
Day 3 · Narayanganj
Invincible
We spent time with Kazi, who volunteered during the Rana Plaza collapse and went on to build Oporajeo, meaning Invincible, a cooperative redefining what’s possible in Bangladesh.
Day 2 · Saidpur
Beaded Collection
Every bead, every stitch, every hour: fingerprints that machines can’t imitate. Fifteen years in Bangladesh has taught us one thing, real impact takes time.
Day 1 · Narayanganj
Original Market Bag
Since the beginning, my brother and I dreamt of building a company that creates real impact. Being a B Corp since 2012 means we don’t get to put the mission on cruise control, we have to earn it again and again. This week we brought our team to Bangladesh to stand where our bags are made and meet the women and families behind them.