CAMAcrafts
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| Camacrafts' History and Involvement: |
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CAMACrafts is a non-profit, self-help
project which markets handicrafts from Lao PDR. CAMACrafts strives
to provide a sustainable method of income for village women that would
otherwise be unavailable. CAMACrafts’ income generating activities
produce handcrafted pieces using traditional patterns and needlework
techniques. Hmong symbols and motifs, appliqué, cross stitch,
embroidery and batik are fashioned into contemporary home decore and
accessories.
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| CAMACrafts’ goal is to lead Hmong and
Lao villagers toward self sufficiency, to generate income as an aid to
societal development, and to preserve and encourage traditional skills
and handicraft. |
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| CAMACrafts fosters family unity by decreasing rural unemployment and
subsequent migration to urban centers. An estimated 70% of women, who sew
for CAMACrafts, are the sole income earners of their families. Money earned
from the handicrafts is largely used to send their children to school and
to buy food and medicine. This income supplements the produce they receive
from their farms - their only means of livelihood. |
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CAMACrafts’ handicraft products are sold in
local and foreign markets.
In 1990 CAMA Services established CAMACrafts project . CAMA Services was involved
in building schools and clean water projects in Lao PDR. It is currently involved
in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and working with Lao partners
in a silk and mulberry project. |
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| CAMACrafts has worked with over 400 Hmong and Lao
people, in over 20 villages. CAMACrafts initially trained villagers to
produce the contemporary crafts they sell today. The villagers used their
traditional skills to develop handcrafted products and trained others
in Hmong traditional needlework methods. CAMACrafts currently employs
around 12 Hmong and Lao men and women in the CAMACrafts office. The project
includes over two hundred Hmong and Lao villagers from the Vientiane
municipality and the Xieng Khuang province. |
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| CAMACrafts strives to generate income as an aid to
development for local people. As a result, about 40% of sales profits
return to the original producers. Thirty percent of sales income is used
for raw materials, which CAMACrafts purchases and provides, free of charge,
to the producers. The other 30% of sales covers overhead expenditures
and Lao staff salaries. Expatriate staff are funded by private funding
agencies, third parties, and individual donors. |
