about thread of yunnan

Started in fall 1999, THREADS OF YUNNAN is a project designed to raise the standard of living of countryside people particularly women in Yunnan, China, while raising their self-esteem and helping to preserve their traditional handicrafts. Yunnan Arts has participated in this project and become a official partner since 2002, dedicating in improving quality of live of people in Yunnan by offering their opportunities to promote their unique embroideries.

Most the participants of THREADS OF YUNNAN are women who are Han, Lisu, Miao, Naxi and Yi people groups, residing in the poor developed areas where communication to the outside world is cut off by precipitous mountains. Most of the countryside women have never attended school. Life in these villages is very dull and gray. The only colors that brighten the villager's lives are found in their clothing and their embroidery. The designs and colors the women use are a traditional part of their culture and an expression of their love for beauty.

With the support of THREADS OF YUNNAN, these people are able to use their ingenuity and creativity to earn money, providing an opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty, which grips the mountain villages. As part of the project the women also receive training in literacy, hygiene, nutrition, and money management. Night schools have been started and if a woman is in the project she is strongly encouraged to go. The school meets two nights a week and the women are taught to read, write, and do mathematics. Some women have invested the cash they have earned to improve their lives and the lives of their children. They are now able to pay school fees, start small businesses, buy household necessities, and pay medical expenses.  Women are opening market stalls, raising pigs and other livestock, and even buying furniture and making other home improvements.

The project now includes more than two hundred women from four different ethnic group. They are organized in small groups, each with a leader who receive special training and instruction, which they in turn, pass on to the group members. By working together, the walls of division between the different peoples have slowly come down. The women see the need to help each other and to support one another. They are also earning more respect from their husbands who are helping around the house so they can have more time to do their embroideries.

The women receive immediate payment for their work. It is not unusual to see incomes increased by 70 to 80%. Throughout the project, at the end of each year either a portion of total sales has been given to the women’s village in a lump sum or reinvested in the community. The plan is to develop a sustainable business where all profits are reinvested into the running of the project or into the lives of the people served by the project. Now the entire village benefits from the work of the women through community projects which to date include an irrigation system and purchase of hybrid corn and fertilizer. The women themselves are active in choosing the project each year.

Yunnan Arts continues to invest time and resources into THREADS OF YUNNAN and is actively working to expand into additional villages. Yunnan Arts is also working to develop international markets for the ethics products. At the same time customers around the world are given the opportunity to enjoy beautifully authentic Chinese works of art.