By Mira Talbott Pope | Funding Liasion
GLOBAL GIVING REPORT 28 AUGUST 2026
CREANDO MI FUTURO sigue adelante. Creando Mi Futuro keeps on keepin’ on!
WOMEN’S GROUP: Two months ago, we received a donation of floor looms from a friend in the U.S. Our mothers are expert in using the backstrap loom, as were their mothers and grandmothers. But none have ever used a floor (pedal) loom. All of them make a little “extra” money each month turning out beautiful belts for their traditional wear…some of them really intricate….but the floor loom will expand the width of what they can weave, and once the loom is “dressed,” a chance to produce larger items rather quickly. We have finished refurbishing these 30-40 year old but still very-usable looms.(see photo. We have contracted a local male weaver of the large skirts they traditionally wear, and he will be teaching them to dress the loom and begin weaving. We bought local thread, and the mothers began the process of preparing the warp last week.
The presence of these looms in the children’s classroom is creating logistics issues, but the kids and teachers are accustomed to adapting to limiting situations, so we continue with the kids’ classes in the same space.
The mothers have also been receiving a class in managing stress and emotions, from personnel of another project in the pueblo (amigos). A young man is giving the talks and conducting the discussions. I was surprised that the mothers accepted this from a young man, but when I asked they said “todo bien” (it’s fine.) These talks will finish in a week. If the class doesn’t terminate with some assessment of what they learned, I will attempt that.
Although the focus of the group is traditional crafts, especially weaving, embroidery and crochet, the mothers receive a lot from each other. Not just ideas and new techniques for their projects but personal advice – such as any group of women share, anywhere. Many of these women have husbands that seem to have given up on the life struggle that supporting a family in this pueblo entails, and alcoholism brings other distress, as well. Because of the mutual support they receive in the group, at least one mother was recently able to officially separate from her abusive spouse, and I notice her children are blossoming without this influence in the home.
So, the benefits of participating in Creando extend beyond the educational and nutritional help.
YOUNG MEN’s GROUP: The boys are learning to play chess from a local male volunteer, and are enjoying the challenge. (see photo) I look for activities which will augment their learning in school by expanding their mental agility and comprehension (working both sides of the brain not just memory and ability to copy from the board.) Chess in particular augments the ability to see options and to strategize. The group divides their Saturday class between chess and learning to paint in acrylics, but this coming Saturday we will go to the local “futbol” (soccer) court, which luckily is close to our site, for an hour, part of our efforts to exercise body and mind together..
YOUNG WOMEN”S GROUP. They have been doing beadwork for some time and asked for a break from this activity. For a month, we made various desserts and treats to add to the children’s small meal during class. After this I did a quick assessment of their ability in English. To my surprise they have been learning quite a bit in school, but I notice their pronunicion is pretty bad, so we will work on expanding their English for a number of weeks to come They mentioned this will help them with one of their grades in school.
I am seeing changes in the behavior and attitude of this group of girls, for the first time in our ten years in this current permutation of the program I think they are very affected by what they are encountering on-line. We had some discussions about what they see in their futures, regarding the traditional path of early marriage, motherhood, and work outside the home that brings in pennies. The only alternative they know of is going to the capital or the U.S. to seek their fortunes however they can, sometimes staying in the homes of relatives, but not necessarily with the support needed to avoid negative influences. However each of them indicated a strong intention to pursue some sort of career that will give them more independence and economic power than they see their mothers have had.
COMMUNITY GARDEN. Another new family has begun to work in the community garden, and despite the dry spell we have been having in our usual wet season, which caused some garden deaths, the group of gardens are flourishing. This coming February will be the end of our land contract. Like everywhere, here, this plot is part of a long thin piece stretching from the road to the beach, now cut up into dozens of pieces for the family descendants of the original owner. I hope the lovely older man who is current owner of this plot can resist the demands of his children to turn our garden over into another multi-family dwelling to house short or long-term visitors. He likes us a lot, but “family is family.” It took us 7 years to develop the soil from sand to its current rich state; I don’t know if or where we could start again. I intend to have a long talk with him when he returns from the capital.
AND OUR STORE. The store is struggling. We had some small items taken from the store, earlier in the year, which lost confidence of the mothers for putting their products there. Thus we don’t have as much to show as we previously did. We also have to make the effort to reach the public more than we have in the past. Our road is on the way to the area of restaurants and sellers, but not part of that area, thus passerbys are less likely to be the tourists who buy things. We sell from time to time, but not as much as we should to be a benefit to the program, as well as the producers. And this is the Front of our project. So it will take some brainstorming and extra effort to pull this together better…..and expense, as we need to buy a vigilance camera.
But so we continue. My l focus, as always, is to push them to imagine new possibilities – especially for education, language, and economic growth, but also to integrate the artisan skills of their ancestors in their lives. Their focus is just to get through another week. And so we continue, mostly with a lot of joy and learning.
We can continue, because of the economic and emotional support we receive from you donors. We APPRECIATE THIS SO MUCH.
By Mira Talbott Pope | Financial Liasion, Directora, Project Leader
By Mira Talbott Pope | Financial Liasion, Directora, Project Leader
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