1. The young and the old sew in the refugee camps. This was a source of income for their families.
2. Storycloths are a newer form of embroidery that started in the refugee camps. The men would sketch the story and the women would sew it. Some storycloths reflect folktales, others reflect real events, such as these of the war.
3. Selling paj ntaub to visitors, including U.S. governors touring the camp. Sales were good on those days. This brought income to their families, and pride.
4. “I heard from a very young age that the “needle” was very important to our life, but I didn’t know what that meant. Later, the needle, such a small thing, helped support me and my children as I sewed Pan Dao’s for the Christian church to sell abroad.” -Pang Lee, St. Paul
5. “The sewing of Pan Dao’s were essential to the livelihood of the men, women and children in Ban Vinai. Our original pan dao’s were red and green, but when realized we could sell our work to feed and clothe our children, we had to change our colors and patterns to make them more marketable to foreigners. That is how we arrived at the blue and gray story cloths that you see so frequently today.” -Pang Lee, St. Paul