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Emady
Maria
Castro, Eluteria Rameres, Dionisia
Ramos, Ester Huaringa, Rita Cholan
The Emady artisan
group originally included three women and has
now grown to five women who have a sewing
business that specializes in products made from
Shipibo, a hand-painted cloth that is produced
in the Peruvian jungle.
The women, who
have worked together since 2002, meet in the
workshop the group has built on the second
floor of Dionisia Ramos’ home. From their
sales, Emady has invested in sewing machines
and materials in bulk so they can produce
steadily throughout the year. As a small
group they make their decisions by consensus
and rotate each year the location of their
workshop and who is responsible for the
finances.
Fair Trade has taught the
group how to file taxes and how to manage and
operate a legal business. Emady often goes to
fairs in Lima to sell their products (they also
sell for other artisan groups who live outside
of Lima and otherwise wouldn't have the
opportunity to sell at these Lima fairs).
Emady's good recordkeeping and willingness to
sell has been deeply appreciated by
others.
The women of Emady met each
other through an after-school and feeding
project that their children attended. Maria was
a seamstress who worked in her home sewing for
neighbors. Eluteria and Dionisia cooked in
the project's kitchen as
volunteers so that their children could get one
free meal. When the business grew, two other
mothers (Rita and Esther) became members.
Maria has 3 children and her husband
makes jewelry. Eluteria has four children and
her husband does day work when jobs are
available. Dionisia has three
children, one of whom has Down's Syndrome.
Dionisia and her husband were able to send
Victor to a school for special needs children thanks
to the income
she receives from her
work in Fair Trade.