Our models prepare for the catwalk

The biggest event on the Kanchanaburi calendar this summer was the Baan Unrak Fashion and Yoga Show. Held on the Queen’s birthday weekend, the amalgamation was intended to occupy the children during the holiday, raise funds and display our dazzling array of clothes and accessories.

Here at the home we hold a regular teenage girls club, at which we discuss topics such as self esteem and body image. The show was the perfect opportunity to give the girls a boost, so we made sure they were fully involved. Splitting the group into three, our young women nominated themselves for the jobs of nail artists, models and performers and we assigned them tasks accordingly.

We held a series of meetings and training sessions; the first of which involving all twenty two young ladies descending upon our little wooden volunteer house… Despite our best intentions to spend the session calmly designing posters, the evening slowly unraveled and culminated in all of us cavorting around to Beyonce’s Single Ladies, practising our catwalk strut.

In preparation for a stand at the show, we held a nail art workshop. This was a great success and although most were more interested in painting their own nails, it turned out to be something that some would like to pursue as a career.

Choosing outfits for the models was also a lot of fun – the girls ran a riot in the weaving centre, trying on all of the clothes and accessories. We had a few little ones modeling some adorable baby outfits and our two male presenters reluctantly agreed to model some jazzy specialty shirts..!

Three of the girls formed pop group “The So Lovely Sakuri” and prepared a couple of dances, whilst some of the boys put together hip hop and circus routines. All of our performers designed and made their costumes with the assistance of Baan Unrak Weaving (pictures can be found on our Facebook page). So we had quite the production!

Of course on the day we had tears and tantrums from the tots and traumas from the teens… A combination of stage fright, sound issues and Thai timing (Thaiming) meant that things were fashionably late getting going, and our models were far too nervous/excited to remember their order. “But how do I walk?!” was the question on everybody’s lips.

But it was a success – the children had a great time and after their initial hindering nerves were eagerly asking “can I model this too??” at anything and everything they could find. The cakes, as usual, went down a storm, we made a hefty sum from sales of the clothes and we nearly made it the whole way through without the power cutting out! Check out our short Facebook film for footage of the event.

Next on the horizon is a Burma Awareness event – to be held in the Bakery and Shop. This will involve a series of informative talks and film clips in order to educate our community about the human rights abuse in our neighbouring country. The occasion will also include a special Karen dance (performed by our care mothers), cakes and drinks and will mark the launch of our Baan Unrak Weaving sale!

Safe inside the cozy orange walls of Baan Unrak it’s easy to forget the dangers that our residents have escaped. But the harsh reality is that each year thousands of Burmese women and children are still subjected to severe forms of sexual trafficking. Whether by force, fraud or coercion, these girls find themselves in the commercial sex trade; sold as prostitutes, slaves, wives and even child bearers.

Victims are lured away with promises of work in restaurants, factories or sewing workshops, but once delivered to their destination are passed on to a different broker. Already burdened with the debt of their transport costs and trafficking fees, these migrants are obliged to earn enough to pay their dues.

Protestations are met with violence; in most cases those who oppose are beaten or tortured until they agree to comply, and without legal papers, access to resources or knowledge of the local language, workers are powerless to escape. Furthermore, strict cultural standards enhance the shame that would be brought upon victims’ families if brokers carried out threats to spread rumours in their home towns.

Perhaps most distressingly, these women are often all too aware of the dangers that surround migration but choose to run the risks regardless. So what kind of dire situation in Burma renders this uncertain fate the preferable alternative?

Despite recent events of apparent advancement, Burma continues to treat its population as an internal enemy. The outwardly progressive results of the 2010 election are widely viewed as merely cosmetic, serving only to cover up a worsening situation of political oppression. Military rule, economic hardship, insufficient education opportunity and an overall lack of health and human services make daily life intolerable for many Burmese women.

Over 50% of the country’s GDP goes towards supporting internal conflicts and standing military, whilst 1.9% reaches education and only 0.8% the health ministry. To put this into perspective, the UK generally spends around 2.7% of its GDP on military defense, 5.7% on education and 9.3% on health.

The armed forces dominate both public and political life, with active and retired military officers holding most of the top government positions. Since women are not permitted to join the some 500 000 person-strong army, they are immediately excluded from primary spheres of power, and so girls are twice as likely to be withdrawn from what little education is available to help work on farms or in shops.

Widespread destruction from the 2008 Cyclone Nargis was worsened by the government’s refusal to permit foreign aid access. Suspicious of foreign influence, the SPDC denied its people disaster relief at a crucial moment, and assistance since has been allowed inconsistently and insufficiently. The government frequently seizes land from villagers, coerces labour and enforces excessive taxation. These human rights abuses, together with rippling effects from the recent economic collapse, have left the Burmese public financially crippled and desperate. Migrating family members (illegally, due to the difficulty in attaining travel documents) is often their only option.

Also rife in Burma, sexual violence is used as a weapon of political intimidation and cultural destruction. Soldiers assault civilian women as a power-building tactic, and “Blood Mixing” (forced marriage and impregnation) is a strategy employed to further the military’s ethnic majority bloodline, rewarded with monetary bonuses. The chance of escaping this trauma, together with the prospect of sending home monetary remittances, for many women outweighs the danger of corrupt trafficking.

And still little is being done to protect trafficking victims; on the contrary, government action has had the adverse effect. Burma-based NGOs were financially backed merely to gain support for the 2010 elections and are often run by wives of government personnel. Therefore, these groups actually deter women from seeking help and so prevent them from approaching genuine NGOs – most cases go unreported and without substantial evidence the UN cannot intervene. Similarly, imposed anti-trafficking laws are easily overcome by bribes; serving only to make other forms of migration more difficult.

Our border town Sangkhlaburi is the most popular entry point for traffickers because of the many broken boundaries along the mountainous topography. Immigrants usually cross the border on foot and are either set to work in nearby establishments or change vehicles to be sent on to Thailand or Malaysia.

The Baan Unrak women’s project is aimed at addressing the many issues faced by displaced women along the border; providing vocational training, jobs and English lessons. Please help us help more destitute women by buying a Baan Unrak Weaving product or making a donation.

One of our long-term goals here at Baan Unrak Weaving is to implement a natural dyeing centre.

Whilst we hand-weave all of our materials and make all of our own products we are currently having to use pre-dyed thread. This is because without the correct training and equipment we are only able to dye non-organic, synthetic materials; which just isn’t natural enough for Baan Unrak Weaving!

Once the project is up and running we will save a lot of money. Maintenance of the centre will cost far less than buying pre-dyed thread – the start-up products have a very long shelf life and will need very little replenishing, and the ingredients for the dyes will come from our own organic plants.

The project will mean we need to increase our workforce – opening up job opportunities for more women here in the Sangkhlaburi region. They will learn invaluable new skills as implementing the system will mean bringing in a professional to teach our ladies – they will receive one month’s intensive training.

The natural dyeing process we want to implement incorporates traditional Thai and Burmese techniques – something that we pride ourselves on in making our fabrics and products. This would mean we can extend this reputation to cover the entire process – and our halo can shine a little bit brighter!

Help us to achieve our green dream by buying our products or making a donation. Please email us at baanunrakweaving@yahoo.com for more information.