Provide Medical Care to Maya Women Artisans

At Cojolya, we believe that the health and well-being of our artisans are as important as the art they preserve. Each story reflects not only the beauty of the backstrap loom, but also the strength of women who, day after day, balance their family life, their chores, and their passion for weaving. Today we want to share the testimony of Dolores, a weaver with more than 35 years of experience who has made weaving an essential part of her life.
Dolores tells us:
"I thank God because now I see that my work has given me a lot of strength; that's how I feel. I don't feel that I am superior to my work, nor do I boast about it. On the contrary, it has given me strength. Throughout the time I have been working in knitting, 35 years, starting at 17, God has helped me to this point. Many times my husband says to me, ‘Don't work in knitting anymore, you're getting older and you don't have the same strength you had years ago.’ I can't give up my work, because it has seen me grow since I was a child and has accompanied me every step of the way until now."

Her work has not only given her financial stability, but also freedom and happiness in her daily life:
"I feel that my work has given me happiness and freedom. Why freedom? Because when I finish cleaning my house and taking care of my family, I start knitting; after knitting for a while, I go back to my household chores. I feel that it has allowed me to be free in my household activities, happier, and more attentive to my family. There is something special about knitting that personally appeals to me... perhaps the way you concentrate when you make a brocade or how relaxing it is when you hear the sticks clacking on your loom."

Dolores also recognizes the physical challenge that knitting poses in her current life:
"As much as you want to knit all day long, sometimes you can't, because sitting on the floor for long hours tires you out and your back starts to hurt. Here in the village, we say something that translates as: ‘it eats away at your strength’. If you don't pace yourself and work non-stop, you also get exhausted and sick quickly. But thank God this work has given me so much to date and continues to give me, helping me and my family. Today, because of my health and my age, I try to balance it: I weave, I do my housework, I wash clothes... because as women we have so many things to do, we have our hands here and there, and the amazing thing is that we manage it."

Cojolya's health program has been an essential support along this journey:
"Today, thanks to the Association's health program and the fact that I have learned to manage my time between knitting and taking care of my chores, I feel a little more relief. I have access to healthcare with the card that allows me to go to the pharmacy for my medications, and so I am still standing and eager to knit more. My desire to knit continues as long as God allows us to do so. I will visit you at the Association to ask for more yarn to knit."

Thanks to your support, stories like Dolores' continue to flourish. She is an example of resilience, balance, and love for her tradition. Every contribution allows artisans to have access to healthcare, well-being, and the possibility of continuing to weave not only threads, but also hope and a future for their families.

At Cojolya, we believe that each weft is more than a thread: it is a way of caring for life. Concepción Ajchomajay knows this well. She learned to weave as a child, watching her mother and working hard alongside her father. As she herself says:

"The times were very different from now. Before there was more opportunity to weave, those yes, but the payments were low and many times one worked for others without feeling valued."
Today, thanks to the Association, Concepción feels that her work is paid fairly and with dignity. For her, each hand-knitted design represents hours of effort that have allowed her to support her home, educate her daughters and move forward, even as a widow.

Four years ago, Concepción faced a complicated illness that forced her to stop weaving for a year. With her fighting spirit, she tells us that the health program and the card she receives made the difference: she was able to see doctors, buy her medicines and recover little by little.

“Even if it is little, it is a great help,” she says, because she knows that this support allows her to save to cover the most essential things: firewood for cooking, corn for tortillas and what her family needs on a daily basis.

This year, Concepción began to feel very tired:

"Suddenly I would sit down to my weaving and I would get sleepy and exhausted, and I wasn't even halfway through. I got worried because I was coming from an illness, and I am also getting older, so I went to the pharmacy days later and I was able to explain that of course I work in backstrap loom and I explained to them about my health situation years later"
But thanks to the card she was able to go to the authorized pharmacy, receive vitamins and exercise recommendations to prevent the fatigue of the loom from affecting her even more.
"I was told that if I don't take care of my body, the weaving can affect me more. Now I do everything I can to do mobility exercises before I start weaving, they gave me vitamins to help me perform better and when I run out, I will go for more, because my health is also important and it helps me to continue working and looking after my family," she tells us.

For Concepción, this support is more than a medical consultation: it is a motivation not to give up. She knows that each donor who supports this program not only takes care of her health, but respects and values an entire legacy:

"If it weren't for this help, I would have to take the money out of the little I earn and I wouldn't be able to buy the house. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your health for your family, but not now. Thanks to you I can continue working and fighting for my family."

With pride, Concepción also teaches her daughter Antonia the art of backstrap loom weaving. She says that each stitch is a way to ensure that this living tradition is not lost:

"Every time I can I tell my daughters: value this job. It is very valuable, to me it has helped me this far with you, raise you and watch you grow, I have great respect for this work because it has given me the opportunity to see me grow with you and for myself, Please do not let it get lost how to weave."

Her hope is clear: to continue to count on the support of each donor so that next year more artisans can have even greater help and continue to weave well-being for themselves and their families.

“Thank you to you for helping us take care of our health and continue weaving our future.”