Wirma “Weaving Hope”

In Patumbak Village, North Sumatra, a 9-year-old girl named Wirma Damayanti Rajagukguk has a passion for drawing and dreams of becoming a renowned weaver like her mother, Renita Simanjuntak, who hopes Wirma will find success in a different profession. By hanging her work on the walls of their home, she hopes to someday weave her drawings into traditional Batak ulos motifs. Wirma translates one of her drawings into intricate grids of patterns. Each small square in her design is carefully woven into ulos fabric, even though her tiny hands sometimes struggle to operate the weaving loom.