Covid-19|Education raises indigenous women income

"Hello, my name is Esmeralda and I am a craftswoman in the elaboration of toquillo products. I make handmade bags, my brand is called Esmeralda Arte en toquillo. I used to be a housewife and I used to sell silver jewelry, now that I make bags I left it for a while. I studied until the open high school, in the year of the earthquake of 2017, I thought if I want a formal job the minimum they ask you is to have completed high school. 

In my family nobody is dedicated to handicrafts in toquillo, only my mother embroidered. I was interested in learning a trade to do it at home. When I saw the workshops of Una mano para Oaxaca in 2019, I took a course on toquillo that lasted two days, it was an intensive course and that's where I started, I learned everything. Alone I started looking for more techniques, tutorials, and how to make other models. A few months later, Perseida contacted me and asked me if I could teach a toquillo course at the community center, and I became a teacher.  

I dedicate at least 2 hours a day to the bags, one bag takes 10 hours, although it depends on the model. 

The most significant change with this work is to be able to impart the knowledge, to teach it to other people, a tool to be able to generate income. When I gave courses at the migrant house, I thought the language would be an obstacle because of the Haitians [we only speak Spanish] but it wasn't. I learned a lot from them, from the Haitians. I learned a lot from them, from their culture. When your students do not value craftsmanship, he does not value the work involved. When you give a cost, you take everything into account, the materials, the labor, the design, but I have had people who feel that it is very expensive, they tell me that it is a plastic bag and they don't think that it takes effort, dedication, time.  That is the most complicated part of being an artisan. The most difficult thing about being an artisan is dealing with people who don't value your work.  

Last year, I decided to join the Manos de Sol collective, to make myself known, to make my products known, and to make ourselves known as a collective, we help each other. The most challenging thing is to organize ourselves among ourselves, we all have different points of view, but we've all fit together very well. I would like to be able to export my products, nationally and internationally, to other states and to other studios. 

I am Esmeralda, I am a toquillo artisan"

Esmeralda continues to teach the toquillo craft to more women of our people, to migrants who cross our region and even to children who want to learn traditions. Thanks to your support this continues to be possible, more and more people, like Esmeralda, can have opportunities to undertake and teach others. 

Links:

• Interview with Esmeralda

Five years ago, we were dreaming about how we, as women, could be economically empowered. It was challenging to find a way, that really inspire us, a form of empowerment that was congruent with the love we feel for the place we inhabit. The answer was always: traditional trades, local knowledge, and support networks. 

Today, I have the happiness to announce the official opening of “Manos de Sol”, a collective brand for artisanal local collectives. We have worked with so many talented people! We can’t believe this is happening! 

The first traditional trade workshop in UMPO’s Community Center was taught by Don German, the last traditional shoemaker of our village, it was amazing, and so inspiring that from this first group, some students made their own brand of traditional shoes: “Guiduyu”. The same happened after other workshops of other traditional trades, for traditional embroidery, and food transformation, beneath others.  But also on our way, we met gifted artisans of other trades who weren’t taught in our trades school. We noticed that even though, all of them (students and non-students) were producing different things and services, they had very similar needs and a common goal: They wanted their communities to learn the trade of which they are guardians, to inspire others, to revitalize their knowledge. 

So, we started the project “Economy reactivation for Zapotec families”, a series of workshops and training to boost local business. “We have had the support of Una mano para Oaxaca with many workshops like photography, social media, finances, and cooperative principles,” said Isabel from Guiduyu.  There were around 31 cooperatives that were very committed to the program, you could find everything, what to eat, what to drink, things to wear, where to sleep, how to heal, we got everything. From those collectives,  8 of them decided to work together to create “Manos de Sol” and last week the physical shop was opened in Juchitan’s centrum. A lot of effort, many hands, lots of love, surreal stories, some tragedies, everything was necessary to get to this place. There is still a long path, but feeling accompanied makes everything wonderful. 

Thank you for being part!  

Links:

• https://www.meganoticias.mx/salina-cruz/noticia/artesanas-zapotecas-crean-tienda-colectiva/392626

We are so happy to share the last news about the strengthening of artisanal collectives. After almost one year of work, in which we made a call for all the artisanal groups and entrepreneurs who wanted to improve professional skills with which they could build better opportunities for their business, we can finally say that a solidarity team has been formed. 

There are around 35 collectives that participated in our strengthening program, they have learned about savings, social media, sales, innovation, talent strategies, teamwork, among others. Some of them have applied for getting some equipment and machines that could help them to produce, others needed some specific services for improving their brands so we helped them with labeling. It's quite interesting for us to find out all of them have specific needs for growth but at the same time they are inspired by the other collectives, they trust in the partners who have different entrepreneurs, and the most we like is the collectivity spirit that all of them share. 

Two pretty important things happened. For the first time Salina Cruz, an important municipality in our region, was the host of the last Solidarity Market. You must remember this is the event that collectives organize to sell their products, and share some art shows, its a kind of cultural resistance space in which people rectify being binnizá ( which means people from the clouds in zapoteco)  We are so proud that this movement is expanding by itself, that more people are participating, that this event is starting to be an encounter space for the people we love and admire.

The second fact we want to share with you is that finally, we opened the collective online shop Manos de Sol, which is a collective effort of 14 groups of artisans who are organizing themselves for amplifying their selling market. This page is still in construction but very soon it will be properly functioning. 

We dream of a community that can keep their traditional knowledge, and creates possibilities with the support of their own partners, a community in which we can produce sustainable ways of living. Sometimes this goal seems to be far away, but with achievements that the one we share with you today, we know that we are taking a good path. Thank you for walking with us and giving us the push we need to grow together. 

30 families have improved their income through our craft cooperatives strengthening program, in which people are trained with business development support. Most of the groups are led by women, they have learned about collaborative design, product photography, circular economy, echo design, and techniques for improving internal communications.  

The artisan entrepreneurs participated in the first "Semillero cooperativista" (cooperatives seedbed), a regional meeting in which they learned and shared their experiences. Most of the workshops in which they can participate focus on cooperative principles and a solidarity economy. 

To date, we have organized three events called “Solidary market”, in which the entrepreneurs put up for sale their artisanal products in municipal public places. The last one was almost fully organized by themselves, without UMPO’s leadership,  I want to mention this because they are developing self-management aptitudes as a collective of cooperatives. The results have been the income increase, generation of networks, and visibility.

Isabel, is part of the collective “Guidi yuu”, traditional shoemakers, after the last Solidary Market she told us “Since I decided to learn saddlery in UMPO's traditional crafts school, until now, with the strengthening training for cooperatives, my sales have increased, but most importantly, I have generated new networks with other entrepreneur women like who are doing what they do with love and energy. Today I have got many tools and innovative knowledge that have helped me reactivate my economy and be resilient. I have never stopped working hard because I feel supported by UMPO, I believe they put their heart into what they do. I really admire the team and celebrate the existence of such noble and loving people.”

We are very happy about the evolution of each one of the initiatives that have been part of the cooperative strengthening project, we are very proud of them. Thanks a lot for believing that the growth of local traditional crafts entrepreneurs is possible.

See you soon! 

Links:

• Semillero cooperativista

Hi there! We are very proud to share with you our latest news about “My fruit, my town”, which is our project to respond to the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy of indigenous communities in Oaxaca. We achieve this through workshops and learning women groups for transforming fruit and vegetables, to avoid their waste. This time we worked with women of San Pedro Jilotepec, located in the mountains of “La Sierra Chontal”, a beautiful paradise full of oak pines. 

Arturo was our host, he has a traditional community leadership role “There is a lot of waste in my community, we have a lot of yellow pumpkins, our people don't know many ways to cook it so we usually throw away plenty of it!” 

This experience was incredible, 30 women of the community participated, which is the largest group we have ever had with My fruit my town workshops. They are very committed to being “Fruit guardians” of their territory.  

During the workshops, women brought a lot of fruits and vegetables for making preserves and other delicious and healthy options. San Pedro has an abundance of squash, tomato, and yellow pumpkin, it's a place in which people sew their own crops such as onions and carrots, which were a great companion for making successful gastronomical experiments. The atmosphere of coexistence between women was very healing. In UMPO we believe that food is a way of connecting with the territory and ancestors of a community, based on experiences of abundance and solidarity.

 During one session, the group rescued 25 kg of fruit and vegetables, with these techniques and good organization they are capable of saving 140 kg per week. We were very emotional at the end of the workshops. Maximina, 62 years old, told us  “Thanks a lot for sharing this knowledge with us, I had no clue about all the ways we can use pumpkins pulp, we used to take only the seeds for selling them. I think this is the beginning of a big change for San Pedro”. 

We will continue working with San Pedro’s women, it's an opportunity to link our organization to a new environment. The richness of their territory is the most awe-inspiring experience for transforming food.  We are convinced that COVID-19 has strengthened the way of organization of many communities. Surrendering to a broken economical situation is not an option for chontal people, but getting new tools for taking care of their fields, regenerating their land, and consuming the food that sprouts from it, is a way to be resilient. 

Thanks a lot for being part of this new achievement, and thank you for promoting the well-being of chontal women.