DREAM WEAVERS

In the craft village of Quat Dong, women were traditionally judged on their ability to embroider – perhaps it’s no wonder girls start practicing while still in primary school

As soon as school ends for the day, 10-year-old Nguyen Thi Khuyen rushes home to her house in Quat Dong village in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin district.

Khuyen comes from a family of embroiderers. She is now old enough to ply the family trade. “My grandmother says that I have to do this work, but I don’t know why,” says Khuyen, who has been weaving for five months.
As Khuyen puts her head down and toils away, her two younger brothers are also busy sweating – however, they’re playing hide-and-seek in the garden. Khuyen’s mother Nguyen Thi Yen knows it is hard for a child to understand why she must work while her brothers get to play.

“I have to teach her how to make brocades as I want her to become a good embroiderer in the future,” says Yen. “I remember when I was eight years old I started to learn to embroider. My mother made me do it, too. When I asked why, she said she had to learn it when she was seven, too!”... Read more

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