Welcome!
About Our Group The women who weave the beautiful products you see here live in a rural village outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand where income is scarce, but need is high. Many of these craftswomen are raising their grandchildren, who were orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and have little time or energy to spare for a full-time job—if one were available. Until the Padaeng Village Women's Weaving Group began in 2005, these women had no way of providing income for their loved ones. You can view these products here on our website or go to our store at JJ Market in Chiang Mai. Though in many ways this group is successful in helping to elevate the Padaeng village, both financially and as a community, Padaeng Village is still in poverty and needs your support. If you would like to make a donation to help us expand our cotton fields, raise more silk caterpillars, and market our products to a larger audience, please email us at siam_ty@hotmail.com. Our History Padaeng Village Women’s Weaving Group was started by a Buddhist nun named Pranorm. The Machee (“nun” in Thai) Pranorm became a Buddhist nun and journeyed north from Nakon Patome in 1999 with her two children to escape her abusive husband and almost by chanced happened to come across Padaeng Village. As soon as she stepped foot on the temple grounds, she knew she had found home, and she stayed. Machee Pranorm became a sort of spiritual mentor for the women in Padaeng Village, who valued her feminine presence and her willingness to listen to their problems. Machee Pranorm counseled a stream of women who brought their complaints and grievances forward about their living situation: their daily struggle for survival and how their husbands berated and verbally abused them for not having any skills to help bring in money. One day, Machee Pranorm learned of a neighboring village that was making and selling macramé bags to support itself, and the seeds for the Padaeng Village weaving group were planted. At her request, members of the village came to teach the women of Padaeng how to make these bags. Machee Pranorm had experience in knitting, and picked up the trade quickly enough to take over the training. She soon started a small macramé center at the temple for the women to practice and produce bags to sell. After several years, small clashes and rivalries began to arise between Padaeng and the other village, so the nun switched their trade to weaving. The year was 2005, and when Machee Pranorm met Hope Watcharaprecha at a Red Cross meeting, they officially started the Padaeng Village Women’s Weaving Group together. Hope helped the women find proper training and equipment to jumpstart the group, as well as funds to build an actual center by the temple instead of using small temple buildings. Since then, the scarves have been awarded three out of five stars of quality, meaning that their product is the best in their village. What started out with five women has grown to include 44 families. In 2008, Chiang Mai University became involved, providing training and materials such as cotton seeds and Eri silk worms. The village is growing into a sense of camaraderie and is starting to stand on its own. Machee Pranorm completed official training courses at Chiang Mai University and has recently moved on from Padaeng Village to start similar groups in the area. She returns to the center in Padaeng to help them make the full transition into autonomy, but she has done the most she can in Padaeng. She brought confidence, skills, and unity to an entire village, and feels that it is now time to let them develop on their own—especially when so many others need her help. |
Padaeng Village Women's Weaving Group
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