Handicraft Workshops Lift Women out of Poverty

A rural woman sews a mouse doll in a women's poverty alleviation workshop on April 8 in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

With the help of the Women's Federation of Chongqing Municipality, women's poverty alleviation 
workshops have operated in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Chongqing, for several years. 

Relying on traditional techniques of the local intangible cultural heritage, women in the poverty 
alleviation workshops have increased their income by making crafts. The workshops have created a series of handmade cultural and creative products with features of Tujia ethnic group.

A series of embroidery training courses have been offered by the cultural and creative enterprises that were introduced into the village to left-behind women whose husbands have migrated to other places for work along with impoverished and disabled people. The average monthly income of the workshops' participants has increased by nearly 1,000 yuan (US $141.81).

A granny sews Tujia-style tiger puppets made of cloth in a women's poverty alleviation workshop in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on April 8. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

A local woman sews a handmade Tujia-style handbag in a women's poverty alleviation workshop in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on April 8. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

A woman embroiders the strap of a Tujia-style handbag in a women's poverty alleviation workshop in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on April 8. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

Tujia-style tiger puppets made by the local women are displayed in a women's poverty alleviation workshop in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on April 8. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

Tujia-style key rings stitched by local women have delicate embroidery patterns. The crafts are displayed in a women's poverty alleviation workshop in Zhongyi Town of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on April 8. [Xinhua/Liu Chan]

(Source: Xinhua/Translated and edited by Women of China)