Threads of Yunnan
When looking for innovative social enterprises in China, one would not think to look at a corporate website, but in the case of the Threads of Yunnan that is exactly where I found one.
Supported by the Yunnan Danyun Business Affairs Consulting Company Ltd. , the Threads of Yunnan Project is one of those gems that you find and only wish there was more information on the project on the website, or that it had its own site.
Formed in 1999, this project started with a single village and has over the last 10 years developed out to include nearly 250 women who are apart of smaller groups (resembles a microfinance model less the money).
To ensure the ongoing growth of the program, members of Danyun make regular trips to the villages to assist in product development, training, and money management. which leads to potentially the most interesting part of the program - the women have created a fund of their own called the “folk bank” where:
where a certain number of women, usually six, commit to putting a part of their monthly earnings into a common pool. Each month a different woman gets to draw from the pool. At the end of six months, if there are six women in the group, each woman would have gotten an opportunity to draw from the pool
Their product catalog is here, but I recommend you contact them (threads_of_yunnan - at - pobox.com) to get the up to date version as their website does not appear to have been updated recently
to learn more, you can go to their website Threads of Yunnan
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