Suai Koisamau
Persian Suntai
Nuantoi Ene Selian
Salaite Sentero
Naitetoi Masiane
Mitau Punyua
Ida and Lila
Ida and Lila are very talented seamstresses. They are the sisters that agreed to pass their skill on and bless these moms by teaching them how to stitch and create the scarves. The finished stitch is their idea and design. They taught the girls everything they know.
Novi
Novi was the inspiration for the start of this project. She is a beautiful mother of three girls ages 12, 5 and 2. Her husband works as the security guard for an international school. Novi stays at home with the girls and walks them to school each morning. Her 2 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with epilepsy and Novi has to spend a large amount of money on medicine each month. She has been through more than we can imagine or even begin to relate to and for that she is incredibly strong and inspiring.
Eka
Eka is the wonderful mother of three boys ages 5, 3 and 1. Her husband works in an organic vegetable green house and also raises catfish to sell at the local market. Eka is quiet and stays at her house with the boys the majority of the time, but once you get her away from the house, she comes alive. She is funny and incredibly sweet with an extremely likable personality. She's doing really well with her hands as full as they are with her active little guys.
Titiek
This picture represents Titiek very well. She is so much fun to be around and keeps the party going. Titiek and her husband have begun their own business grinding and selling corn which now takes up a lot of their time. Titiek has one daughter who is 6 years old and has just started elementary school. Titiek is awesome. If you need something done and done well, she's your girl, and will keep you laughing. She now helps to lead the second sewing group, along with NIrma, below, and does a great job!
Nirma
Nirma stays at home with her three daughter ages 9, 5 and 1 and has a small home business sewing uniforms for school children. Nirma was the only girl with a little experience in sewing but has never hand sewn before. Nirma is passionate about what she believes in and has a soft and likable spirit. She now helps to lead the second sewing group, along with Titiek, does a fantastic job with them.
Yuyun
Yuyun is Titiek's sister and also is a mother of a little 6 year old boy. She stays home while her husband builds houses nearby. She is very much like her sister in that she is a go-getter. She had a beautiful skill from the very beginning. Her first scarf was very impressive and looked as if she had been doing it for years! She is a hard and diligent worker who settles for only the best. Her smile is contagious and you rarely see her without it.
Susi
Susi is one of the 4 new girls to the Ayu Sewing Project. She is 24 years old and is Siti's sister below. Her husband is 26 and has developed kidney disease. Because of this disease, he is on dialysis 2 times a week and is not able to work. She struggles with her future as she faces the challenge of caring for her husband and her 5 year old child. The sewing project has allowed her to receive an income while caring for her loved ones. She is an incredibly sweet, personable, and beautiful young lady.
Siti
Siti is 28 years old, the sister of Susi pictured above, and also one of the 4 newer ladies to the project.. She is the mother of a 5 year old boy and is a very conscientious worker. She tends to be more introverted, but is always kind, agreeable, and personable. She enjoys meeting with the others and listening to all that is said around her.
Ju
Ju is 44 and the mother of 3 children, one of which is out of school, one is in high school and one is in elementary school. Unfortunately, her husband had a bad motorcycle accident about a year ago and was seriously injured. He struggles to work full time now. Despite this turn in her life events, Ju is very gracious and grateful for the blessings in her life. She is very sweet and has a wonderful and helpful spirit. Ju is also one of the newer members of the group but tends to act as the mother figure to all of them.
Suci
Suci began sewing for Ayu in March of 2015. She is the mother of three children. One of them is in elementary school, one is in high school and one is out of school. She is very quiet but has a wonderfully sweet disposition. You can't help but like her! She is very grateful for this opportunity to improve her family's life and has proven to be very responsible and hard working. She has learned how to sew using a machine and helps to sew placemats, table runners, napkins, make-up bags and shopping bags.
Ribka
Ibu Ribka is a new member of Ayu Sewing Project and began with us in March of 2016. She has a beautiful personality and has been a great encouragement to the other women in the group. She is married and has one little girl. Ribka's first child tragically and unexpectedly passed away due to a brain tumor at the age of 3. But the following year, she was blessed with another little girl who was born at the exact time and date that her first child passed away! Her second little girl is now 3 years old and healthy. Her husband doesn’t make much money so she wants to help provide for her family by sewing scarves with Ayu. She is a hard worker and we are blessed to have her as a part of our group.
Sutiar
Ibu Sutiar has recently joined the sewing group, and began in June of 2016. She is very sweet, outgoing, and a hard worker. She also makes plastic shopping bags for a local factory out of her home but gets paid very little for each bag she makes. Her husband worked for the government but this past year has had some health problems with his kidney and he has not been able to work. She is grateful to be able to sew these beautiful scarves to help provide for her family.
Ika
Bu Ika is one of the newest members of Ayu Sewing Project, having only been a part of it for about 7 months now. She has such a sweet, loving personality, and is always caring for other people. She is a lovely lady with a precious heart, a hard worker and loves her family. Bu Ika and her husband have just opened a small barber shop, so she needs the Ayu Sewing Project income to be their source of steady income while they are building their barber shop business.