Kurshida; [Author]

Shwettaj Jahan Tithi; [Facilitator]

Me in the mirror (embroidery)

Fultola (embroidery)

Embroidery (EMB)

Decorative

Asmida likes looking at the mirror when she feels healthy but avoids it when she becomes skinny. She often looks at her reflection in the mirror and wonders why she becomes healthy or skinny from time to time. Asmida wants to see her reflection when she is dressed in new clothes but the mirrors at the camp are so small that she can only see her face instead of her full body. 'It would not be that bad if there were no mirrors, I would get used to it. I would not feel the need to look at myself, nor would I even know what i look like,' she says.

The art facilitator faced difficulty at first to make the women understand how to embroider this project, but they quickly created it once they understood. Single women often spend more time looking in the mirror and talking to themselves compared with married women, who are too occupied with work and children to find any time for themselves. The ones who do, feel upset that mirrors in the camp are much smaller than the ones in Myanmar. Most of these women avoid mirrors when they are upset or lose weight, but all are grateful for the invention of mirrors, because without them they would be unable to see their reflection.