Namaste Kids supports more than 500 children from very poor families, most of them in remote mountain regions of the Himalaya. Over many years, until the end of their schooling, so that they can go to school and grow up healthy.

The weavers are paid before a scarf or blanket reaches us – and above the local rate. What remains after the purchase price and all selling costs helps us fund our work – above all education and health care for the children. The aim is to break the cycle of poverty and lack of education that would otherwise continue from one generation to the next, so that families become less dependent on donations.

• Fibre fineness of no more than 17 micrometres
• Colourfastness
• Free from harmful azo dyes
• Laboratory testing of samples at the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, additionally at SGS or Intertek where required

Source: certification page of the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association.

What Namaste Kids also pays attention to

• Long-standing cooperation with a manufactory in Nepal whose working conditions we know first-hand
• Fair pay: we deliberately pay the manufactory more than the local rate; the difference benefits the weavers
• The wool is combed by hand in spring, not shorn
• We follow the production chain from the wool of the high pastures to the finished piece
• Four-stage quality control before a piece is sent to you

Our certified pieces carry their own certificate number. Enter it on our verification page and confirm the authenticity – from the Himalaya to you.

The certificates are issued by the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) – Nepal's only state-recognised body for genuine Himalayan cashmere. The standard requires a fibre fineness of no more than 17 micrometres; our certified pieces measure between 15 and 15.3 micrometres.