Club de Artesanas: Seeing Growth

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Today we started our jewelry making series with our Manos Independencia program. This program serves rural weavers in Independencia, a small, isolated village in Bolivia. Today’s class was with the Club de Artesanas, a group of 6-8 women, who vary in age from 20 – 45. The women in the Club are mothers (and grandmothers!) and many of them have farms that they tend to in nearby communities, meaning their days are filled with caring for their household, caring for their land, and caring for their children. 

The Club, which was founded by PAZA and is open 2 days a week, provides skills workshops for the women as well as a place to work on various projects. For example, the women in the Club can use PAZA’s work room for sewing projects (including the use of the industrial sewing machine Ruraq Maki donated!), jewelry making, weaving, and other special projects. PAZA employs one local woman, Dona Maxima, to serve as the Club’s trainer and she leads jewelry making classes, assists the women in warping their looms, and helps with sewing projects. She also assists in the free dye days PAZA provides to help the women dye their yarn with local plants. 

The women often chat while they work

The Club is a wonderful place for the women to come to take time for their self, learn new skills, and enjoy each other’s company. Additionally, the skills workshops help to create economic opportunities for the women. Ruraq Maki has been holding annual jewelry making workshops at the club for 4 years. 

Dona Bea with her pliers neatly in a row

Today’s project was part review and part new concepts to prepare the women for the more difficult projects ahead. We had 5 in the class with one new woman. Since my visit last year, Dona Maxima has been teaching and facilitating jewelry making classes and the women’s skills have vastly improved. I noticed that they were more proficient with the pliers and worked faster than ever before! One woman, Dona Bea, who I’ve worked with in the past, has made leaps and bounds since last year. She was the first to finish her project today and her work was impeccable. 

Dona Adviana works with baby in her lap

I’m so thrilled that the women have improved their skills since my last visit! Even so, today’s class was no cake walk (even though PAZA founder, Dorinda, did make us cake) and the women struggled with the new project. This year’s session focuses on construction, and how various elements needs to come together to create a strong, well designed piece. I see this as the next step to the classes, as it lays the groundwork for design. 

Dona Antonia examines her completed earring

Although we had struggles, each woman made it out of the class with a pair of earrings and a better understanding of how the pieces fit together. I don’t expect them to understand these ideas completely the first day, and today was a perfect starting off point for more to come in the following weeks.   

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 We are still raising money for our Plier Fundraiser! As of today, we have raised enough for 16 sets of pliers. Our goal is 25 and we are only 9 sets short! $15 buys one high quality set of 4 pliers, which will greatly enable the women to create sales-quality jewelry pieces. Currently, 80% of our plier sets in Peru and Bolivia are broken or dysfunctional. Support our fundraiser by donating online!