China

The peasant women pictured here are part of a cooperative of about ten women from Ghuizhou, China. Sewing these elaborate baby booties by hand is a dying art form. These women are rightly proud of their elegant handiwork. The women live in largely unheated homes. During the winter months, arthritis combines with cold weather to make sewing nearly impossible. When the weather is warmer, they can produce baby booties more rapidly.

The money earned from one pair of baby booties will buy one of the following small necessities: a dozen eggs, two pounds of pork, a kilogram of salt, or a few cups of cooking oil.