I should be in Huancayo right now but a bout
with giardia has kept me an
extra day in Lima. (Giardia is Dr. Carrie’s
diagnosis…I took medicine and
already feel the party in my stomach coming to
an end.)
On Thursday we
visited 2 groups that are quite advanced, Grupo
Mana and Kuichi. Grupo
Mana has been together since 2000 and is one of
the first groups that
BOH started working with. The group has seen
some members come and
go over but right now they have 5 members who
range in age from 22 to
56. They are mothers and grandmothers who have
learned to sew and
make colorful products using the traditional
manta from Huancavelica.
They have worked with other groups in the past
to fill large orders
including an order several years back of a few
thousand conference
bags. I was only able to meet two members and
one was Berta, the
current featured artisan on our web site and
the other is named Emilia.
Both were the initial founders and are outgoing
and full of laughter. They
had many great stories to share about the
challenges and joys from the
past and their visions and hopes for the
future.
We talked about
changes they could make to their current
conference bag to drop the
price of the bag (without of course dropping
their own pay) so that the
bag can me more competitive for conference
planners (we’ve found that
most conferences budget at most $4 per
conference bag). They are also
going to price out how much embroidery or
printing will cost in case
people want to personalize their bag. In
addition, they are going to
develop a diaper bag sample. I couldn’t sleep
the other night and was
thinking about different product designs and in
my head came up with
what I think is a great design…but we shall see
how it turns out. I left
them with a model that Eleanor had made and
given me to show the
artisans.
Kuichi was the second group we
visited Thursday and
only two members were in town with this group
as well. Kuichi resulted
from several members of a women’s group who
wanted to start a
business. One member knew how to sew well and
another had one year
of training. Surprisingly they found out about
BOH through an internet
search and went to the office with a few
samples. And “colorin colorado”
as they say in Spanish at the end of fairy
tales.
I am very impressed
with the group's sewing skills and they had
created various samples of
new products to show me. They can make
backpacks, duffle bags, even
computer cases but their choice of fabric (a
traditional manta that is
simply too busy for an entire backpack) is what
makes the exceptional
designs less attractive. So we mainly spent
time discussing how to
improve their current products by modifying a
few aspects of each item.
They will also be joining me in a few weeks
(along with several other
artisan groups) at the large market in Lima to
explore what other fabrics
they could use. My dream for this group, whose
sales have slowed of
late, is to have sports teams and schools place
orders with them for
duffle bags and back packs. When I get back to
the states I’d like to
contact
Fair
Trade Sports to see if we can collaborate
with them on providing
accessories for sports teams…
When I
talked to them about
how their life had changed because of their
participation with Fair Trade,
the response from this group over any other was
the most touching.
Tears nearly came to both Hidivia and Jobita’s
eyes when they talked
about how the group had become a family for
them. “If one of us is sick,
we take care of them. They are like my sisters.
Before we didn’t even
know each other and now whatever happens to
one, we all share
together and support each other,” said Hidivia.
Nearly all of the artisans I
have met have moved to Lima from all parts of
Peru looking for a better
life, most leaving behind their family, some of
whom they have never laid
eyes on again. An artisan from one group we had
visited was absent
because she had gone to visit her home in
Southern Peru for the first
time in 15 years, to see if her mother and
father were still alive. She was
able to go thanks to the money she was able to
save from money her
group’s sales.
There are so many
challenges facing these
groups - in their personal lives, in keeping
their groups together, in
coming up with new products… But Fair Trade
brings to the artisans’ lives
a glimmer of hope, presents a new way of
looking at things, nurtures
solidarity and cohesion in their lives…
One last thought. The
common answer when asked, “What can BOH and PJT
do for you?” is
“Sales. Help us increase sales and have more
steady pay.” This is a huge
request for two very small non-profit
organizations but after meeting
these artisans, hearing their stories and
thinking about how ugly the
world can be because of where or what you
happen to be born into, how
can we not give it everything we have to make
this happen?
