On April 16, the foundation stone of a one-of-a-kind hemp processing facility in Hungary was laid, located in Krishna Valley, Somogyvámos. The valley is known not only for its peaceful residents dressed in colourful attire, its exotic temple, and vegetarian cuisine, but also for being the largest and longest-standing eco-village in Europe striving for self-sufficiency.

The community has already achieved significant results in sustainable, organic farming —especially in food production— but they’re not stopping there. The next step is homemade textiles: from hemp field to wardrobe.

Six years ago, a local couple launched Syama-handmade, a craft workshop aimed at reviving the traditions of cottage textile industry. Today, in their Somogyvámos workshop, seven pairs of diligent hands are weaving, spinning, embroidering, and employees of the workshop took up learning – and teaching – techniques such as indigo dyeing and block printing. At the ceremony, they all wore their own handmade clothes. However, their aim goes beyond preserving tradition: they’re also aiming for self-sufficiency in textile production. They’ve already created garments from locally grown flax and hemp and are exploring natural dyes derived from plants.

The new grant-funded hemp processing facility will provide a fitting home for this work—now within Krishna Valley itself.

At the event, my role was to interpret the speech of Mr Praveen Kumar, representing the Embassy of India, and assist him in understanding the talks of the other speakers.

Among the distinguished guests were József Attila Móring, Member of Parliament and Government Commissioner for the development of the South Transdanubia region; Norbert Bíró, President of the Somogy County Assembly; and Norbert Hubai, State Secretary for Agriculture. Mr Hubai turned out to be personally invested in organic farming and an expert in biodynamic soil cultivation. He expressed great appreciation for the work of the residents in Krishna-valley.

The project is incredibly inspiring. All the guests expressed hope to meet again soon at the grand opening—and I hope they will honour me with their trust once again.