The person who brought brocade back to the village.

(Baonghean) - In recent years, Thanh Tan village (Chau Nga commune, Quy Chau district) has been reviving the traditional brocade weaving craft, contributing to a stable income and improving the lives of the people. This is largely thanks to the dedication of Vi Thi Chuyen, the head of the Women's Association branch, in finding employment and opening up a path out of poverty for the women in the village.

Thanh Tan village currently has 97 households and 379 inhabitants, with women accounting for 60% of the village's population. Previously, the villagers' lives depended primarily on farming and the surrounding forests. Since the government implemented a policy of closing the forests, many families have been living in poverty. Without jobs, they are left waiting for government assistance. This has also led to the emergence of social ills such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling.

Thanh Tan village brocade weaving group (Chau Nga - Que Phong).

Concerned about the poverty in her village, Ms. Vi Thi Chuyen took the lead in participating in a brocade weaving class organized by the Quy Chau District Women's Union. She then boldly established the Thanh Tan Village Brocade Weaving Group, with the support of the Chau Nga Commune Women's Union, to create jobs for women in the village. However, simply weaving brocade wasn't enough, as the villagers still faced many difficulties. She proactively encouraged and persuaded villagers to borrow money from the bank to raise buffaloes, cows, chickens, and pigs… to increase their family income and gradually escape poverty. From being one of the poorest villages in Chau Nga Commune, the number of poor households in the village has now significantly decreased (only 48 out of 379 households remain poor).

Following Ms. Lo Thi Huong – President of the Women's Association of Chau Nga commune, we visited Ms. Vi Thi Chuyen – who has served as the head of the Women's Association branch in Thanh Tan village for 15 years. According to Ms. Chuyen, the craft of brocade weaving dates back to ancient times, passed down from mother to daughter within the family, and every girl in the village knows how to weave. Before getting married, a girl had to weave blankets and mattresses herself as gifts for her husband's relatives to demonstrate her virtue and talent, and also to be a source of pride for the groom's family. Therefore, in the past, girls aged 13-15 were taught by their mothers and grandmothers how to spin thread, weave cloth, and work on the loom. However, in the last ten years, Thai girls have been attending school, leaving them with less free time, and the concept of virtue among adults has also changed somewhat, so few young people still learn the traditional craft. The sounds of spinning silk and weaving cloth have become increasingly rare in the mountains.

After participating in a three-month brocade weaving vocational training course at the Hoa Tien Craft Village Cooperative (Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district), organized by the Quy Chau District Women's Union, she was recognized as one of the outstanding trainees by the craft village. Her first products were purchased by the Hoa Tien Craft Village Cooperative. Delighted, she decided to return to her village to gather other women and establish the Thanh Tan Village Brocade Weaving Group, hoping to provide them with more work and money to support their children's education. Ms. Chuyen said: “Previously, the women were only familiar with traditional weaving methods, so it was very difficult to adapt to new designs. The looms in the households were damaged or no longer available. Meanwhile, they couldn't afford to buy or make new ones. Furthermore, the women were worried about the market for their products, so they weren't very enthusiastic about participating.”

She persistently encouraged the women to participate, primarily to make products for their own use and to preserve the traditional craft of their village from fading away. If they could sell the products, it would provide income for their families, and with money, they would no longer be poor. Following the principle of "slow and steady wins the race," she worked tirelessly, day and night, going from house to house whenever she had free time to persuade them. Understanding her sincerity, the women in the village agreed to join the weaving group. Initially, with just a loom, she contacted the Hoa Tien craft village to obtain materials, instructing each person on a different step in the production process, and then asked the Hoa Tien craft village cooperative to sell the products. All the products they made were sold. The income encouraged more and more women to join the weaving group.

Established in 2011 with 5 members, the group has now attracted 20 active participants, including women from Thanh Son village. Each month, the women complete 10 to 15 products, earning between 1,200,000 and 1,500,000 VND per person per month during the off-season. Among them, 5 families headed by women have escaped poverty thanks to participating in the village's brocade weaving group. Ms. Luong Thi Tho, a household that escaped poverty thanks to weaving, shared: “Before joining the village's weaving group, my family was classified as poor, always lacking food, and my children had to drop out of school. Joining the weaving group has helped my family escape poverty. My children can now go to school and learn to read and write. The women in the village are very grateful to Ms. Chuyen.”

Seeing the success of the Thanh Tan brocade weaving group, many women in Chau Nga commune are now enthusiastically participating. She then proposed to the Women's Association of the commune to contact Hoa Tien craft village to open two more vocational training classes in July 2014, attracting 60 women participants. "This is a positive sign for the imminent establishment of a brocade weaving village in Chau Nga," said Ms. Lo Thi Huong confidently.

Besides bringing the traditional brocade weaving craft back to the village, from 2011 to the present, with the loan capital entrusted by the Women's Association of the commune, Ms. Chuyen has guided women in borrowing capital to invest in livestock farming and cultivation such as sugarcane, acacia, and mahogany... The total loan capital has reached 930,560,000 VND and has been quite effective for the women. Ms. Ngan Thi Luyen happily said: "My family borrowed 20 million VND from the Social Policy Bank to invest in livestock farming. Currently, my family has 10 pigs, a flock of chickens, and 5 cows. Now we have enough to eat and save."

The Chairwoman of the Women's Association of Chau Nga commune affirmed: "Ms. Chuyen is a highly responsible official, always dynamic and creative in finding ways to escape poverty for women in difficult circumstances, and is loved by everyone. She is the one who restored and revived the traditional brocade weaving craft of the locality."

With the dedication of a branch leader, loan group leader, and weaving group leader in Thanh Tan village, Ms. Vi Thi Chuyen has received commendations from the District and Commune Women's Unions for outstanding performance for many consecutive years. This is a well-deserved reward for an official who is always concerned about the lives of the people in this remote, mountainous area.

Text and photos:Le Hoa