Olympus OM-2N | Fuji 400H
Yanmi is the talented girl who made some of my bag designs while I was in Mae Sot, in hopes of garnering more interest in her work from Western NGO staff and volunteers.

At twenty-five years old, this young Lahu shoulders a great deal of responsibility. Escaped with from Myanmar three years ago with her then-11-year-old brother on request from her parents to find better lives for them both. Started the United Lahu Youth Organization's first income-generation project, by organizing together all group members who knew how to weave and sew, and representing them to retail outlets. Welcomes other lonely migrant friends into her bare small apartment--bare except for bags and bags of sewing paraphenalia, that is--for food, prayer, and conversation.

This was the day we'd first met, when she was halfway done with the first two bags and had a few questions. She treated me to lunch at Borderline Shop's tea garden--samosas, milk tea, and delicious tomato and onion salad--which bothered me until I was able to treat her back a few days later.