UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

April 1, 2008

Sewing with Friends

On a recent visit, my schedule was to attend a meeting with a sewing group whose members are also part of a self-help group of people living with HIV and AIDS. The group consists of eight women from Vientiane who are infected and affected by HIV. The group was established two years ago under the Lao Buddhist Leadership Initiatives supported by UNICEF. The majority of the group members are women whose husbands died from AIDS. Every day, the members come to their work room located in the office of the Lao Youth AIDS Prevention Project to sow aprons, bags, quilts and souvenirs. The group now has a small shop in front of the project building where they sell their products.

To make the meeting less formal, participants were asked to sit in a circle in the sewing room. Together with the leader of the group, I facilitated the meeting which lasted until lunch. The objective of the meeting was to share experiences and progress with regards to the group’s work. I was also interested to find out whether the sewing activities had had a positive impact on the group and to some extent improved their daily lives.

Before asking the question, I noted to myself that there were already some visible changes. The members seemed relaxed and smiled more often. They were able to openly share ideas on how to improve their products and discussed the challenges they were facing. I noticed that this was a totally different group from the one that was formed two years ago. I remember the ladies’ faces very well: they came to work stressed and worried about their health and their future. Today, I am happy to see that their health has improved due to their antiretroviral treatment and psycho-social support.

Mone, a mother of three children, answered my question. She told me that life was not easy when her husband died from AIDS. He was the head of the family and she was totally unprepared to become the bread earner. After her husband died, Mone found herself thinking only of her own death and of leaving everything behind. Today, she is stronger and trying to build a future for her children.

“I am glad that I listened to the advice of the doctor at the HIV and AIDS clinic and joined the self-help group” Mone happily told me. Then, a friend who had participated in a training session organized by the Metta Dhama Project, persuaded her to join the sewing group. At that time she was home alone, depressed about the future. She had no work and desperately wanted to have someone to talk to. Mone said that joining the sewing group had given her a new start in life. The sewing group and its members helped her forget her nightmares. She now has many friends who, like her, are fighting AIDS and poverty.

Nang, a single mother commented that before, as a housewife, she only stayed at home to take care of her child. Now she earns $30 a month from the sale of the products. Nang said that this may not be a big amount of money for many people, but she is really proud because this is the result of her determination and hard work.

The meeting today made me realize that two years may seem a long time for some people, but in terms of the empowerment of this group of unskilled women living with HIV, it is just the beginning! I think this initiative can make their dreams come true. But the group still needs more support both in skills development and group management. The project would like to see the sewing group grow, become self-sufficient and be able to help more disadvantaged women by encouraging them to join this supportive circle of friends.