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Ten Thousand Villages News
August 2006
Silk and Stories Enthrall Customers
August 31, 2006 - Kommaly Chanthavong, visiting silk artisan from Laos, dazzled a crowd at her August 26 presentation at Ten Thousand Villages in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Paul was the first of over a dozen stores Chanthavong visited in August and September.
A crowd of about 40 people, including some of Chanthavong's U.S.-based family, gathered to hear riveting stories about her life and work with Lao artisans. Chanthavong also demonstrated the dying and spinning of the silk that is used to weave the vibrant textiles that Ten Thousand Villages sells in its stores.
Store manager, Kathy McGinley, said, "We were nothing but blown away by her ingenuity and commitment to empowering the people of Laos." Also impressing the crowd was Chanthavong's three-year-old granddaughter, Cameron, who took to the loom to show off her precocious weaving talents.
Kommaly Chanthavong Visits Ten Thousand Villages
Stores
August 21, 2006 - Ten Thousand Villages is privileged to have hosted Lao artisan Kommaly
Chanthavong, a compassionate artisan with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Chanthavong traveled from Laos to visit Ten Thousand Villages and Partner stores in August and September,
offering customers the chance to meet her and witness the fine silk weaving craft that
preserves traditions and sustains families at the Phontong
Handicrafts Cooperative in Laos.
Chanthavong overcame war and political and personal hardships to co-found Phontong Handicrafts Cooperative in 1980. Today, Phontong Handicrafts works with Lao artisans in villages around the capital city of Vientiane. The group provides lessons and free raw materials, helping to revive the art of traditional weaving. The craftswomen intersperse weaving with housework and childcare to bring valuable additional income to their households.
Ten Thousand Villages has purchased rich, intricate textiles from Phontong Handicrafts Cooperative since 1989. Today, Chanthavong says, "My passion remains the same...to help the [artisans] to help themselves."
Contact Juanita Fox, media coordinator, for more information.
Email: juanita.fox@tenthousandvillages.com
(717) 859-8120
