Laos Disabled Women Development Centre

Having just a few days to spare in Vientiane, and wanting to experience something new, we decided to go for a class teaching us traditional Laotian crafts. While looking around on the internet, we found out about The Laos Disabled Women’s Development Centre (LDWDC). 

In a society where men often rule the roost,  the LDWDC is founded in 1990 and offers a shining beacon of hope to the Disabled Women community in Laos. They bring Disabled Women from all around the country providing various training, aids and workshops from handicrafts to financial literacy, helping them seek employment while empowering them to lead independent and enriching lives. They also work with the Lao government and lobby and advocate for disability rights creating acceptance of the underserved in Laos mainstream community.  Hearing about LDWDC’s cause, we immediately signed up for their classes for tourists which are priced very reasonably and headed off to attend our class at their centre. 

The moment we arrived, I realised how calm the place is. We were soon warmly greeted by our guide who introduced and brought us around to their centre. She showed us the sewing room, traditional weaving workshop and pottery facility where they conduct their classes for the public and train the women. 

It was here that she shared with us that they house the women from all over Laos that come to the centre for free until they find employment or get married. The centre provides training in traditional weaving, sewing, tailoring, and creating handicrafts and pottery. They also help source internships or interns at their centre to create work experience for better employability. The centre operates using sponsors and donors. 

She revealed to us that we are the only ones here today, as not many people would sign up for their classes individually and are usually big groups either on tour or as corporate. So, we will be having private lessons. We soon head off to our individual lessons. 

Traditional Banana Paper Weaving

I head off to the traditional weaving workshop for Banana Paper Weaving.  My teacher today is a sweet lady that actually does not speak any English.

I sit down on the weaving machine and she started guiding me through the steps to operate the wooden machine.

Despite the language barrier, she taught me well. She simplifies to me the steps that needs to be done and made it really simple for me.  She is attentive and corrected me when I was wrong. We start working on our dinner mat. After about 20 minutes, I finally figured out how to operate the machine.

After about 2h of weaving, I am finally done with my dinner mat. My teacher took over and proceeded to finish the mat at a very fast pace, making my pacing looks slow. She is so experienced and so proficient with the machine, like a true master. She achieved the same length of dinner mat I did for 2h in 5 minutes.  

I passed the unfinished dining mat to the staff in the sewing room, who kindly finished it for me by making a few final touches to finalise the dining mat.

5 minutes later, she handed me the finished dining mat and here is the end result.

Damien went to the pottery class.


Damien:
Despite having absolutely 0 knowledge in the Lao language, the trainer was able to help me grasp the concepts of *simple* pottery making. I wouldn’t say I’m the fastest learner, but after a few rather terrible failed attempts, I managed to form what seems like a big coffee mug.

The trainer broke down the entire process into 4 simple steps:
1. Forming the base of the mug
2. Forming the sides of the mug
3. Refining the depth (hehe) of the mug
4. Polishing off uneveness (if any) off the mug

Looking at the steps, it may seem simple (or as I thought it would be simple enough); but boy was I stumped at how poorly my attempts were. After a few exchanges of laughters at my attempts of what seemed like a mug-that’s-falling-apart, my final attempt managed to make the cut. So, here’s what it looks like:

With that, the mug is then dried and sent off for glaze firing.

Disclaimer:
Do take note that the drying and glaze firing of the mug would take roughly around a month or so. If you are planning on the pottery class, do make arrangements with the centre manager on the completion and collection of your piece.

We had a fun and enriching day at LDWDC and are impressed by their cause. We firmly believe in trying to make an impact as you travel and experience culture overseas. If you are looking to learn about traditional Lao crafts while making an impact at the same time, I highly recommend the LDWDC. Despite the location being just a bit right outside of town, they provide an incredible experience and attentiveness in their classes. We urge you to head down here and support the LDWDC and their incredible cause.

If you are looking to book a class, you can contact them at  +856-21 812 282 / 021 820 489 or send them an email at info@laodisabledwomen.com or check out their Facebook here (LDWDC).