Highland women make a living from brocade: A journey to escape poverty through traditional hands

Growing up in the indigo dyeing kitchen of the Mong people, Ms. Sung Thi Lan knows every sound of the shuttle clicking, every twist of flax thread. But after many years of making brocade, she and the women in the village still struggled to make a living. Wishing to restore the traditional craft and create a stable livelihood, in 2018 she decided to establish the Muong Hoa Cooperative, restoring the indigo dyeing and flax weaving of the Mong people in Lao Cai .

Ms. Sung Thi Lan shared: "It takes many months to weave a brocade like this. The dyeing process alone sometimes requires re-dyeing many times. Visitors to Sa Pa love to experience how to draw patterns, patterns typical of indigenous culture."

Phụ nữ vùng cao làm kinh tế từ thổ cẩm: Hành trình thoát nghèo từ đôi tay truyền thống - Ảnh 1.

Phụ nữ vùng cao làm kinh tế từ thổ cẩm: Hành trình thoát nghèo từ đôi tay truyền thống - Ảnh 2.

Phụ nữ vùng cao làm kinh tế từ thổ cẩm: Hành trình thoát nghèo từ đôi tay truyền thống - Ảnh 3.

From the linen spinning and weaving profession of the Mong people, women in the highlands of Lao Cai have formed cooperatives, combining experiential tourism to create sustainable livelihoods.

Since the cooperative was established, many women in the village have had stable jobs. Mrs. Lu Thi Lieng happily said: "Buying thread, dyeing, spinning, drawing, then weaving. Since the cooperative was established, everything has changed a lot. Now, even if we don't farm, we still have something to eat."

Not only restoring the weaving and dyeing profession, the experiential tourism model is also exploited, creating a new source of income for hundreds of women. Ms. Son Thi La, who is in charge of introducing local cuisine, confided: "I make five-color sticky rice for guests to see. Since the cooperative was established, I feel self-reliant, independent, and not dependent on anyone. I want to spread this to the whole world to know that women can do everything."

Cooperatives like Muong Hoa are part of the Australian Government-funded GREAT Program support network, implemented in Lao Cai and Son La, to help ethnic minority women develop economically.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Australian Embassy in Vietnam, emphasized: "Gender equality and women's empowerment are the concerns of the Australian Government and the Vietnamese Government. We are implementing in Lao Cai and Son La provinces to help ethnic minority women rise up. Investing in women is investing in the future."

Phụ nữ vùng cao làm kinh tế từ thổ cẩm: Hành trình thoát nghèo từ đôi tay truyền thống - Ảnh 4.

Phụ nữ vùng cao làm kinh tế từ thổ cẩm: Hành trình thoát nghèo từ đôi tay truyền thống - Ảnh 5.

Not only restoring the weaving and dyeing profession, the experiential tourism model is also exploited, creating a new source of income for hundreds of women.

Based on a completely manual process, without using chemicals, Mong brocade products both preserve traditional techniques and are environmentally friendly. Ms. Sung Thi Lan said: "Customers are designers and long-time tailors. They quickly recognize the sophistication of each product."

From linen spinning and weaving skills, highland women now know how to connect to the market, tell cultural stories through products, combine experiential tourism, and sell products through digital platforms. They are becoming community leaders, preserving identity and opening a sustainable path out of poverty for the village.

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