Spinning Dollar
Silk and weaving had been part of Mrs Lueg’s life for as long as she could remember. For generations, in Luang Namtha, a rural town in the north of Laos, her family had spun and woven silk.
he’d learned to spin and weave silk into beautiful patterned scarves by the age of 10. Her wooden house, set on tall stilts among trees, was a refuge from the heat of the afternoon sun. In the corner of the wide veranda was a large loom where Mrs Lueg sat, slowly forming an intricate pattern into a colourful scarf. I’d come to Luang Namtha because ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) has helped a number of its families, including Mrs Lueg, establish a silk-weaving industry.
The silk industry faltered during the Vietnam War, but in recent years in many parts of Laos it’s been revived. The war lasted well into the 1970s in Laos. In its aftermath, many women sold their heirlooms, which were prized by collectors, leading to the disappearance of original patterns and silk weaving itself.
The war led to poverty for families like Mrs Lueg’s, who attempted self-sufficiency through weaving. The price of raw silk was too high to make a profit. So ADRA recognised the need for villagers to be able to produce raw silk for themselves.
Silk is made from the cocoon of the silkworm, which feed on mulberry leaves. Thus the community project set up by ADRA—the silk project—is designed to help struggling families establish and maintain sufficient mulberry trees to supply their silkworms with food, and therefore have sufficient silk for weaving and sale.
ADRA works in conjunction with the District Agriculture Department, as growing mulberry trees not only creates a silk industry but also has a secondary function in reforestation. Laos is a heavily forested country and recently has turned to its forests as a major source of income. With forestry products now among the country’s major exports, forests are being clear-felled. This deforestation causes environmental hazards, such as erosion, which can be combated by planting useful crops.
The way the project works is simple and effective. ADRA supplies mulberry seedlings, fences, silkworm cabinets and training to the villagers. If the villagers don’t have a plot of land, the government will lend them land that has been cleared and in need of regeneration, for mulberry plantations. Villagers are trained in composting, pest control and pruning.
Spinning and dyeing techniques are also taught to ensure the quality of the final product. They’re also instructed in how to care for silkworms, which are temperamental and require a high degree of care. Changes in temperature, humidity or even the smell of a carer can reduce yields.
It takes the average silkworm about 25 days to mature and spin a cocoon, which is made up of a single continuous filament. The cocoon is placed in boiling water to loosen and unwind the filament, which can be up to 300-400 metres long. It is then spun with three or four other filaments to produce one yarn of silk. Depending on the season (less in the wet), it takes about eight kilograms of cocoons to produce a kilogram of raw silk. The cleaning, spinning, treating and dyeing are extremely labour intensive. A 1.8-m scarf will take about two days to complete. They’re then sold to village traders for $A3.50 to $A7.50), depending on the intricacy of the pattern. Mrs Lueg says she’s been able to have access to more silk than she previously could afford, increasing the supply of silk scarves as the buyers’ demand increases. This has become the main income for her and her family.
Villagers participating in the silk project pay nothing for the help ADRA provides. But once they become profitable, they give some of it to assist another family to join. Thus silk grows throughout the community and enables those in need to earn a reasonable living and become independent.
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