Mrs. Doi, a member of the Black Tai people group, is the weaver of these elegant silk scarves. With an approximate age of 30 years old, she is the mother of five children. She and her children live in the village of Nongbua, located in northern Laos. he has moved with her family to this village some years ago.

She was born in Phongsali Province, which is a very poor area of northern Laos. Schooling and medical facilities are almost non-existent in this region. So like many families they moved to Nongbua in the hope of more opportunities for schooling the children, medical care and hospitals, and for more economic opportunities.

Mrs. Doi is taking every opportunity she has to make money. Her family is a classic rice farmer family, planting and harvesting sticky rice once a year. In addition to rice they have a vegetable garden where they grow different vegetables and bananas. Additionally they hunt animals in the forest and collect all kind of roots, mushrooms and edible flowers and leaves. Currently however the Chinese are cutting down thousands of hectares of forest in order to create rubber plantations. These actions have greatly decreased these special foods Mrs. Doi and her neighbors have gleaned from the forest. 

This Black Tai People have had a long history of sericulture (silkworm farming and production). They attempt to increase their income by weaving silk and cotton scarves or skirts. With your purchase of these scarves, their income doubles or triples, enabling them to pay the school fees for their children to attend school, for medical care and hospitalization, and most frequently for the simple survival of a family.

Maï Savanh Lao Co. Ltd.

Maï Savanh Lao, "Silk from the Paradise of Lao", was established in Vientiane, Laos PDR in 2005. It arose from a dual purpose: to revitalize a Laotian tradition and to generate a sustainable income for underprivileged families in remote areas of Laos by utilizing the talents cultivated by generations~ from silk farming to the hand-weaving of elegant scarves. The participating families are organized in a network that provides educational courses, quality control and support for their production. Weavers ~ primarily women ~ are working from their homes, providing them with the opportunity to engage in dignifying work as well as the flexibility to earn an income as they care for their home and families

The vision of Maï Savanh Lao is three-fold:

• To assist the local population with promoting their local handicraft under Fair Trade guidelines
• To improve silk production in the villages, by constructing better looms and providing patterns that are adapted to the international market
• To develop international distribution channels for these products, with the revenue from this trade being reinvested in the local villages.