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Name : | Ms. Phonesawanh Dittaphong |
| Country : | Laos | |
| Native language : | Lao | |
| Work Position : | Deputy Head of Production | |
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Work |
Living in a small village not far from the capitol city of Vientiane, Ms. Dittaphong works to find good markets for the traditional Laotian weaving produced by women at the Houey Hong Vocational Training Center. She coordinates the production and sales of all the specialty Loa handicrafts made by the students at the school. Many of the traditional weavings are strictly hand dyed using only natural coloring agents such as flowers or tree bark and Ms. Dittaphong is responsible for finding the raw materials for the dyes. Often she is required to travel long distances for a certain herb or plant required for a particular tribal pattern. In addition, she is always working to find new ways to teach the women ato connect to their own markets so that they may be able to sell their own wares upon graduating from the center. Ms. Dittaphong must also balance her duties at work with the daily work on her small farm. Together with her husband she cultivates rice and vegetables in order to feed her family. A lifelong farmer, Ms. Dittaphong gets up at sunrise every day to feed her chickens and weed her garden. Similarly, all of the students at her organization rely upon subsistence farming for their food. Ms. Dittaphong hopes to expand her organization’s training to include sessions on improved agricultural techniques to ensure food security for her whole community.
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Sending Organization |
The Houey Hong Vocational Training Center for Women trains women in traditional Laotian textile making and helps their students sell their products for a good income. Their students are trained by artisans who are struggling to continue their traditional livelihoods in the face of mass production. They also seek to provide a good source of livelihood in the villages to stem off the mass exodus of young people to the large cities. This Training Center for Women is committed to creating a new generation of traditional artisans and empowering women through small income generation.
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