Burma Karin Refugees Visit Tempe Yarn

We often forget how fortunate we are to be born Americans!

Today, Tempe Yarn & Fiber had the good fortune to be visited by a group of Karin refugees from Burma.  These ladies are part of ten families that are being sponsored by the Scottsdale Bible Church.  They fled a military regime in Burma that the USA has singled out as one of the most brutal in the world.  Many have spent most of their adult lives in the refugee camps in Thailand.

In the Karin culture, weaving is traditionally done by the women and is a measure of their contribution to their family.  However, when they left the refugee camps, they were only allowed to bring one small bag of clothing.

 

Recently a loom was donated to the group. The loom was unlike the primitive looms they had used in their home country. 

So they came to Tempe Yarn & Fiber to get lessons on how to use the loom they now have.  Despite the lack of any ability to communicate, weaving proved to be a universal language and through trail and error, they began to pick up the skills needed to use their new loom to weave pieces that they hope to be able to sell at some point in the future. 

The smiles on their faces at the end of the day said it all.