Dorothy Lacy sells Shenaini Miao embroidery at a fair in the US in 2004. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Empowering Miao women

Inspired by Dorothy's Chinese name, the couple named their company Lacy's God-Given Ethnic Handmade Crafts Co. Plus, they created a website called "shenaini", literally meaning "God love you", to promote their products around the world.

"The meaning of my name is 'God's gift' and 'shenaini' means 'God love you' in Chinese, and we believe 'God helps those who help themselves'. The biggest reason for us to stay in Fenghuang is that we want to help lift the locals out of poverty by providing them with satisfying and profitable work. We think we will keep doing this as long as our health permits," Dorothy said.