The culture of weaving in Nagzor_Wooling chiwog in Orong Gewog of Samdrup Jongkhar is as old as the place. And today, with time, it has evolved from being a personal household practice to a commercial one.
Despite many chores to attend to, most women in the village find time to weave as it has become one of their main sources of income. They weave belts, rachu and tablecloths.
“I don’t weave all the time because we have to do other works as well. But in a month, I am able to weave three or four clothes which fetch me around Nu 50 to 60,000,” said Yongmin, from Nagzor_Wooling in Orong Gewog, Samdrup Jongkhar.
“I get time to weave during the afternoon hours and in a month I get around Nu 15 to 20,000. Even after including the expenses for buying threads, we are left with some profits,” added Tshering Lhamo, from the same village.
“Weaving has been a practice since long. And these days, we make a living out of it. Compared to the olden days, the business is better now,” said Khaujey Mo, also from the same village.
With better prospects, a weaving group was also formed in 2012 with help from the gewog administration. Through this, marketing the products has been made easier. And recently, the members distributed the profit of Nu 350,000 made since its formation.
“We do not have much problem with selling our products since the group helps us with that. Some buyers even come to our village personally. Our products are sold in Samdrup Jongkhar and Thimphu. We will continue with the practice since it is a good alternative source of income,” shares Tshering Lhamo.
Nagzor_Wooling chiwog is about 68 kilometres away from Samdrup Jongkhar town and has 97 households.
Kinley Wangchuk
