Ima Sumacc

Ima Sumacc - Torre de Melgar, Lima
Idelsa Guerra, Esperanza Perez, Isabel Zuņiga, Janeth Gamarra

The shantytown of Torre de Melgar, in Lima's violence-prone Villa Maria del Triunfo district, has provided an unusual experience for five women. Their story goes back a few years, when a group of women received training from a non-profit organization to strengthen their knitting skills.

The women work each morning, washing other people's clothes or cleaning their own houses. They then dedicate their afternoons to developing their knitting skills in the Fair Trade workshop. These enterprising women have created a place which not only houses the creation of hand-made products, but has also become an important place for solidarity and sharing. For this reason, the women call their group "Ima Sumacc", which in Quechua means "How beautiful!"