Warmipa Maki

Warmipa-Maki - La Oroya, Junin
Adela Yachachin Amaro, Soledad Terrel Atoc, Marleny Terrel Rosales, Herlinda Atachagua Silvestre, Sonia Vilcas Mayta, Nelly Terrel Atoc

The knitters of La Oroya are a group of women who always dreamed of running their own business, but were never able to attract enough orders to make their business succeed. Their group's name is Quechua meaning "Women's Hands". Warmipa Maki grew out of the Filomena’s Association, an organization that works with women in gender development.

The principles of Fair Trade have helped the women organize themselves, establish their prices, and manage their production costs and cash flow. As the group's creativity grew, so did their efficiency and solidarity.

One member of the group said, “We thought we knew everything about knitting, but we have learned so much more than we thought possible. Before we did not value the knitting we did as work because we’d always done it. But now we realize that our knitting helps to support our household and that we should have a say in the decisions that are made.”

The group works together twice weekly, and more frequently when there is heavier demand. La Oroya is located 4 hours east of Lima at an altitude of 12,000 feet, and is one of the most contaminated cities in the Western Hemisphere (Time magazine included La Oroya in the top 20 most polluted cities in the world in 2007.) The source of the heavy metal pollution is a smelter owned and operated by the Peruvian affiliate of the U.S. lead producer Doe Run of St. Louis, MO. Two of the group’s members have passed away from cancer in the past few years; Warmipa Maki blames the contamination from Doe Run for their deaths.