THREADS OF YUNNAN is a project designed to raise the standard of living of countryside women in Yunnan Province, China, while raising their self-esteem and helping to preserve their traditional handicrafts. Typical farming villages located in the remote mountainous areas of Yunnan, range in size but usually have less than 60 families. Family incomes are often less than US $50 per year. Most of the countryside women have never attended school. Through sales of their handicrafts, the project enables women to earn cash income which they can invest in their family's future. Threads of Yunnan began in 1999 with 20 women from one village. Today, 120 women from four different nationality groups are involved in the project. Most of the women now make $12 a month as opposed to the $36 a year they made before. Besides the financial benefit, as part of the project the women also receive training in literacy, hygiene, nutrition and money management. Life in these villages is very dull and gray. The only colors that brighten the villager's lives are found in their clothing and their embroidery. The designs and colors the women use are a traditional part of their culture and an expression of their love for beauty.