Capacity-building for rural women artisans in Peru

Situated deep in the Sacred Valley, the community of Patacancha is home to a cooperative of 42 incredibly talented artisans. The Songuillay cooperative was formed well before Awamaki’s founding in 2009. Songuillay began working with Awamaki ever since one of our founders, Kennedy Leavens, had worked with them previously through a former organization in the valley. Since collaborating with Awamaki, the artisans have undergone trainings and capacity-building workshops in the hopes of one day operating as their own autonomous business. Their cooperative was the only one to work in both tourism and weaving. By 2010, Awamaki was bringing tourists up to visit Patacancha and buy textiles directly from the women of the community. Then in 2014, we officially launched our sustainable tourism program with the enthusiasm of their cooperative, while continuing to place orders for export with them.

With your support over these past nine years, Songuillay has received continual training and guidance as they gain skills such as color theory, quality control, customer service, and financial literacy. The women have completed construction on their very own Artisan Center, allowing them to host tourists during inclimate weather and hold cooperative-wide meetings in one central location. With their earned income, these 42 women care for a total of 128 children. With 110 of these children currently enrolled in school, their futures are bright.

“The next steps will be finishing up some final details on their tour presentation and activities offered,” Melissa Tola, our new sustainable tourism coordinator comments. We’ve been planning with them to prepare for their graduation since the beginning of 2018. With the departure of Juan Camilo, our sustainable tourism coordinator of the past two and a half years, and welcoming Melissa to her new role, the preparations have been delayed a bit. However, Melissa has been working hard to get to know the women and understand their mindsets for the future “in order to help them achieve their own goals.” Although communications can be a challenge because of the limited Quechua fluency within our staff, we are working hard to ensure that the women of Songuillay fully understand the details of their final trainings. Their understanding is more important now than ever, because after these final trainings they will be operating as a fully autonomous business.

While we are still going over final details like tour conduct, timing, and scheduling, we are encouraged by the recent success of the Songuillay cooperative. Over the past few months, the women have gained independent clients on their own. “The women were approached by several tourism agencies during the high season, and managed to make a deal by themselves, and were able to do so without any of our support,” Melissa points out. Gaining their own independent client signifies a lot to us here at Awamaki. Not only are the women clearly demonstrating new skills and abilities learned in the capacity building workshops, but they have also completed our Impact Model, and are now fully ready for graduation.

“We developed the Awamaki Impact Model as a way to encourage the women to make improvements in their businesses and to take initiative in their work,” Kennedy Leavens, founder and executive director, explains. “Our vision is that through our program, they will not only earn an income but also learn to run a successful business beyond our guidance.”

The women of Songuillay have surely proven themselves capable on that front. We will continue our relationship with the cooperative, working with them in specific tourism contexts, such as large student groups or multiple overnight tours. “We will become clients of theirs, and we will also act as advisors if they need any support with logistics for their tours,” Melissa adds.

One of the most important and exciting parts of graduating a cooperative is the opportunity to work with a new group of women from a new community that is seeking training and assistance to launch their own careers. Already, we have been approached by a new community eager to build a partnership and gain new skills that would allow them to better support their families. While we are not quite there yet, we see what the future could hold for these new women because of the inspiring example of Songuillay in Patacancha. Melissa is full of new ideas for improvements and growth, and we know the future of sustainable tourism is safe in her hands.

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“Okay, it´s time for affirmations! Find a partner!” Ginette Collin announces. The room becomes a flurry of movement as the artisans pair up and giggle. At first, some of the women are quiet, but within the next few minutes, the meeting is full of arms waving in the air and voices calling out phrases like, ¨I have energy!” or “I am incredible!” in Spanish and Quechua.

This month, Awamaki collaborated with Ginette Collin from PurpleLily, a non-profit organisation committed to “inspire and empower women and girls to thrive and shine” by providing life skills training and financial education. The PurpleLily program consists of eight interactive workshops, including building confidence, financial literacy, motivation and goal setting, and five healthy habits.

Ginette worked with Mercedes Durand and Martha Zuniga from Awamaki to adapt the workshops to the needs and culture of the rural Andean artisans. This month, the team is implementing the program in the Patacancha and Huilloc cooperatives, and Martha and Mercedes will continue the workshops in the other cooperatives this year.

“The goal of the PurpleLily program is to add value to what Awamaki is already doing. We´re supporting the technical skills that the artisans have with practical techniques to be more confident, connect with tourists, and sell their products,” says Ginette. The program supports Awamaki´s mission for the artisans to become financially independent.

“Now, we`re going to finish with power poses! Make some room!” Ginette calls over the artisan´s chatter. The women laugh as they find a spot, and then they become silent. They make a stance, put their hands on their hips, and raise their head high. The room is full of Andean superwomen. They are not only Awamaki´s heroes, but they are their own.

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