Dear friends and partners,

This morning I was singing a song that I learned in my childhood – Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love. What an appropriate song as I talk with the women who create our beautiful products in the cottage industry program.

The tie for us is the silk – colors and textures that reflect the great beauty of our women. It was not always so. Their lives speak of horrors and hurt that few of us can imagine. All were sold back in their youth – sold into a sex trade that dehumanized them – for some the lives long reward was contracting AIDS – an additional curse in lives that have so many curses.

Working with such a beautiful material – rich and vibrant colors – brings out their inner beauty so rich and vibrant in their current lives. They have become their own family – I am greeted every morning with big smiles and a happy good morning – often we ear laughter ripple through the building as they work together.