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Mana
Maná -
San
Genaro, Lima
Patricia
Avila, Bertha Flores,
Emilia
Serrano
Mana is a
sewing group that makes many products,
including the colorful mantas which women in
the Andes Mountains use to carry their babies.
The group formed in 2002 and the workshop has
rotated and for several years has remained its
fourth location, on the top of the house of
Mana member Berta Flores.
The
members of Mana met each other years ago, when
they worked together at a community soup
kitchen. There they cooked and worked so their
children could have free lunches. The members
jumped at the opportunity to work with Bridge
of Hope, even though they didn’t all know how
to sew. Berta says, “I wanted to work with the
group so much that I said I knew how to sew –
even though I didn’t.” The members pooled their
talents and resources to form a group – one had
finished high school and could keep the
finances; another knew a little about sewing;
and two had very old, used machines that had
been passed down in their families that the
group could start sewing with.
This is
a group that demonstrates problem-solving
skills when facing challenges, and they
embody Fair Trade values such as solidarity in
their solutions. While health insurance is
unusual for workers in Peru, the group pitches
in when necessary to create their own
healthcare. For example, when one of the
artisans broke her arm, she was unable to sew
for three weeks. The group decided to divide
her share of the work between them, and give
her the same distribution of income that they
would receive. In addressing the
situation in this way, they created their own
"insurance", assuring that this member still
received pay.
With the support of the Bridge of Hope
Project, they learned about taxes, bookkeeping,
and took sewing lessons. The group members have
been able to improve their houses and send
their children to school, thanks to their
involvement in Fair Trade. Grupo Mana hopes to
increase their orders they receive so that they
can add more members.