In the words of Rio: “Crafting tais helped me earn my family's love and support as a transgender weaver”

Romario Afonso de Fatima (Rio) is a professional weaver and one out of 1,346 beneficiaries who have been reached by Timor Aid and Alola Foundation under the project “Together for Equality” a UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and IOM joint programme funded by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). “Together for Equality” seeks to empower rural women economically, promote women’s leadership and engage male partners in promoting gender equality.

I started to weave when I was 13. However, my dad and elder brother hated it and would force me to play football. So, I would just hide at a friend’s house to weave. Only my mom and grandma, who I learned weaving from, supported me.     

After four years weaving behind closed doors, my grandma passed on her weaving materials to me. Then, I started weaving with my own materials and produced Tais (a traditional handwoven Timorese textile) that I would sell and from which I earned money to help pay for my brother’s school and support our family. Knowing that weaving has earned me money and support from my family, my dad and brother started to accept me as a transgender weaver and allowed me to weave at home. They even helped to find materials for natural dying.

In 2011, I started to get involved with weaver activities in the village. In 2020, I became a Weavers’ Network member, with the dream of gaining access to more opportunities. There, I learned about equal measurement, spacing of the pattern, and natural dying, as well as how to give products the right price tag and about product diversification. More than about Tais, we also learned about gender equality, gender-based violence, leadership, public speaking, proposal writing and about money-minding, through a programme with ANZ Bank that has helped me to manage my income.   

Being a member of the Weaver’s Network and producing a higher quality of Tais, in 2022 I got a chance to attend a national weaving competition and was the first-place winner, receiving USD 1,000. Then, people from Tais stores and local government, started to place order from me, and I also regularly store my products in our Weaver’s Network store since last year. Now, I have more access to markets. Seeing my face on social media brings me pride, and even my former male critics now fully support me.”