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