Meline currently uses her embroidery earnings to support 19 people, including her own 3 children, the 4 children of her sister who she fosters since her sister’s death, her Mum and her younger siblings. Her family now eat rice twice a day, and cassava once a day, and eat laoky or a side dish with every meal, a significant improvement in her diet even in the last 6 months. Her latest news is that she has bought a zebu. Cattle are considered an investment and a symbol of status, something she couldn’t have achieved without embroidery training. She has also managed to keep some savings which she is keeping for emergencies.
Meline with the sewing machine