Liujiadawan Women's Embroidery Group in Anhui Project
It is a tradition for women in Changlin Village, Dabie Mountain Area in Anhui, to embroider children's clothes, scarves and shoe insoles. They used to embroider handicrafts and sell them for money. However, with the development of society and the economy, most clothing for children is factory-made. Fewer and fewer local women possess the skills of embroidery.
Since Heifer started project in this village in May 2009, the village has seen positive changes in women's attitudes and initiatives. They started to think about having their own activity. In Heifer's Liujiadawan Self-Help Group (SHG), only a few elderly women were good at embroidery and it had been a long time since they practiced the skill as housework occupied most of their time. During the Group's planning meeting, women raised the idea to resume the tradition of embroidery, which was greatly supported by the male members. Led by several skilled ladies, the Liujiadawan Women's Embroidery Group was formed within SHG. Young women learned from senior villagers, and the tradition was re-established again!
At the very beginning, the SHG members had a discussion about which products were most typical. They thought about traditional scarves and shoe insoles. Heifer staff suggested making cell-phone bags and cloth shoes, which were very popular in the city market. Taking the suggestions, the group developed more and more products, including those bearing with the Heifer logo and Cornerstones icons. Heifer staff was surprised when they saw the "Heifer" products.
The SHG has a plan to make a series of products as samples for promotion and demonstration. They believed that with their hard work, there would be a market for their products. The growth of the Women's Embroidery Group has in turns fostered the growth of SHG.