From old newspapers, scraps of cardboard and fabric offcuts, the skilful hands of young people with disabilities at the Vi Ngay Mai Centre (Hanoi) have created delightful products — jars, cups, baskets, cushions, pot holders… These environmentally friendly products had just taken part in the Vietnam Creative Women Day 2013 exhibition, organised by the Vietnam Women’s Union in Hanoi.
A new lease of life for old newspapers and fabric
Le Minh Hien – Director of the Vi Ngay Mai Centre (Vietnam Association for Relief of Children with Disabilities), who herself has a mobility disability – showed us the products on display: a vase for dried flowers, a fruit basket, a rubbish bin, a sewing box, a foot mat, cushions…
Vases made from old newspapers.
“To make a flower vase 40cm tall, the young people roll pieces of newspaper into long sticks. Thanks to their good eye for measurement, they bend and weave them into the frame of the vase. When they run out of paper sticks, they use glue to join on more until the weaving is finished” – Hien explained.
For baskets and cups woven from strips of newspaper, the young people fold the newspaper into strips about 1cm wide and weave them around a mould.
A mat made from fabric offcuts.
How do you stop the newspaper from falling apart and the ink from smudging onto your hands? Hien ”shared her secret”: the products are dipped in a layer of transparent, waterproof and non-toxic glue. The result is highly usable and unique in its materials. And not only newspaper: the fruit plates are made by the centre from leftover pieces of discarded postcards and wedding invitations.
A fruit basket.
“We sort out the thick paper with beautiful colours and choose colours to suit each detail of the product”- Hien explained. The chair cushions, doormats and back cushions are also made with great care by the young people with disabilities, and are both beautiful and highly usable.
Community inclusion
These products are the work of a handicraft vocational class for young people with disabilities run by the Vi Ngay Mai Centre.
Nguyen Huu Phuong (22, from Thanh Hoa) and Dang Thi Hai (23, from Nam Dinh) – two of the 60 trainees – shared: “Other trainees roll the newspaper into paper sticks for me. Once I have enough, it takes just 3 hours to finish a vase” – Phuong said.
– Is it hard to picture the design yourself?
“It is not simple, because this is the first time we have tried it. At first I sat for hours without thinking of anything, but the more I did it, the more ideas came to me, and now I have lots of ideas”– Hai said.
From right to left: Minh Hien, Huu Phuong and Dang Thi Hai.
All the trainees on the course are young people with disabilities who are still able to work and have a certain level of awareness.
Le Minh Hien hopes the centre’s products made from old newspapers and discarded fabric can hold their own on the market thanks to their uniqueness, variety of designs and affordable prices, and in doing so build confidence for people with disabilities to integrate into the community.
Dang Thi Hai with a basket made from old newspapers.
The centre’s director hopes that after graduating, the trainees will stay with the craft and have a livelihood to live on. The centre is preparing for its first sale at year-end fairs in Hanoi.
“Young people with disabilities are very sensitive to life. If they have the chance to show their confidence and earn a living from their craft, they will put all their determination into it. I am giving them confidence and the chance to try” – Le Minh Hien said.
Besides hoping to find buyers for products made by people with disabilities from old newspapers and discarded fabric, the Vi Ngay Mai Centre badly needs donations of raw materials: old newspapers, out-of-fashion clothes and discarded paper offcuts of all kinds.
For more information, please contact: Vi Ngay Mai Centre – No. 96, Group 19B, Vien village (Co Nhue, Tu Liem, Hanoi). Tel: 04.22426664 – 0904446640.
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