“I want to continue improving my sewing skills and be able to produce more products for Dao Ethical Gifts. I want to save the money that I earn from Dao Ethical Gifts to buy a house for myself and my children in the future.” - A.

39-year-old A., of Lahu ethnicity, first moved to Suphanburi from Chiang Rai with her husband and their four children. Pregnant with her fifth child, she was unable to do any work and only looked after her children at home. Upon finding out that her husband had a second wife, she separated from him and moved to Chiang Mai alone with her youngest daughter, who is noweight-years-old. Her oldest son and daughter, now 24 and 18 years respectively, live with their grandmother in Chaing Rai, and her third child lives with her husband’s relatives and is no longer in contact. Unfortunately, her husband passed away after she moved to Chiang Mai.

She moved to Chiang Mai with just 15,000 Thai baht and with no family or friends to seek support from. Despite the difficulties, she did not share them with her family and went through them by herself. She rented a room for 600 Thai baht per month and searched online for shelters or organizations that could support her and her daughter. She came across a shelter but was informed that they would only be able to support her for three months. However, as she was close to her delivery date and soon after giving birth, the staff continued to support her for an additional three months, after which she was referred to another shelter, where she stayed for two years.

A., joined BDF’s Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP) in 2020, after being recommended by a staff from the shelter where she was residing. The shelter also referred other women in similar situations to BDF in previous years. She joined WEP in hopes of learning skills that would be useful to earn money. Through the various training sessions, she shared her increased knowledge of child rights, labor rights, financial management, future planning, and making her own action plan. She also learned to build her self-esteem and confidence, further motivating her to continue working.

Working as a Dao EG producer was her first work experience, and she applied all the skills she had acquired from hard skills training (hand embroidery) to produce various Dao EG products, including the Bolt bracelets and backpacks. Proud of her achievements, she single-handedly made 200 bolt bracelets for ASCO LOTUS, one of Dao EG’s clients. From the income that she earned from this particular production and with help from BDF’s Case Manager and Dao EG, she purchased a motorbike. Despite the issues with her weak eyesight, A. is constantly motivated to continue producing more of Dao EG’s products and keep refining her skills. She receives school support (including financial support) from BDF for her daughter’s education and also has a part-time job as a cleaner. A. wishes to save the additional income from Dao EG to own a small house for herself and her children in the future.