Life is a struggle for Wang Ping Fen and her husband. They live with their three children in the mountains of Yunnan Province, where sweeping craggy slopes meet the vibrant colors of Yunnan’s many ethnic minority cultures, brimming with embroidered textiles, different dialects and traditional dance and song. While rich in cultural heritage, it’s an area that sees great material poverty. Many families like Wang Ping Fen’s survive on a salary of less than US$50, leaving them vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and poor education.
Someone once asked Wang Ping Fen what her greatest desire was. Her answer was simple: she wished to own a sofa – a soft and comfortable place to sit at the end of a long day’s work in the fields. The humble dream became a real possibility, when Wang Ping Fen was given the chance to join a project called Threads of Yunnan. The hand-embroidered ornaments, homewares, jewellery and cards, designed with a modern international market in mind, are inspired by the beautiful traditional designs and motifs of the different minority cultures of Yunnan.
After some time making handicrafts with Threads of Yunnan and carefully saving her earnings, Wang Ping Fen was able to purchase her sofa! Delighted as she was, however, there was something she earned that was even greater. Before taking on the handicrafts job, Wang Ping Fen couldn’t read, write or do basic arithmetic. Threads of Yunnan offered her the chance to take part in their educational and development programs. When, at last, Wang Ping Fen wrote her name for the first time, she had tears in her eyes.
You can see the handiwork of the craftspeople employed by Threads of Yunnan in our Global Handicrafts shop, where we stock embroidered hanging ornaments, greeting cards with lift-out decorations, jewellery and bags.
To mark International Volunteers Day on 4th December, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme announced the winners of the “Online Volunteering Award 2010”, honouring the ‘outstanding’ contributions of volunteers who work entirely over the Internet to contribute to peace and development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
When Microsoft first contacted Crossroads, it was to arrange a day of corporate volunteering and simulations. But after a day serving at our Crossroads’ site and experiencing a taste of poverty through the Struggle for Survival simulation, they were inspired to do more than just use their muscles!
with a Disability’ simulation, above) were so inspired by simulations they took part in at Crossroads that they went back to the classroom and came up with a strategy to raise enough money to sponsor two shipments of aid – one to a school in Zimbabwe, another to help orphans and foster families in Moldova.Crossroads has helped, literally, hundreds of Hong Kong school groups engage with world need since we began our Global X-perience programmes in 2005.
The Sudanese Civil War killed more civilians than any other conflict since World War 2. Two million Sudanese people died – an incredible 20% of the population – from war or the disease and famine it caused.
