Meet Pring, a young woman from a Hmong village in Northern Thailand. There are several hill tribes in Northern Thailand. Due to lack of sustainable resources and income, many young people become from the area become victims of human trafficking when brothel owners from coastal areas offer families financial help by purchasing a child to work in their establishment. Pring relocated to Chiang Mai, the major city in Northern Thailand to study high school. After finishing a vocational school education in sewing, Pring began looking for work.  Most of the available jobs are in sweatshops that exploit and abuse workers. After hearing about Pring’s ambition to further her study in clothing design, Thai Village (a Wisconsin based mission) sponsored her. They hired her as a seamstress and regularly provide her projects. Meanwhile they assisted her to enroll in a clothing design school program to further her career in fashion.

As a result of a cooperation project between Thai Village and Fair Trade for All  Pring is embarking now in fulfilling her dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Pring and her team are producing thousands of fashionable, unique and high quality headbands that we are able to sell in our shops and distribute to other local retailers. We met Pring when we visited Thailand last February and we are honored to partner with Thai Village in this project of empowering women and minorities in Thailand. Look for Pring’s handiwork around Milwaukee!