Capacity-building for rural women artisans in Peru

Awamaki’s Capacity Building Project is full of exciting updates! The Global Giving fundraiser that we held in June to raise money to send our weavers on a visit to another women’s group in Puno was a huge success thanks to all of our generous donors.  A large part of the women from the Patacancha cooperative will be going on the trip in a few months time thanks to the money earned from the fundraiser! Women in the Andes have very little opportunity to travel or build networks with other women in business.  Examples of women leadership or economic success in their communities are rare.  Even a short trip to a different region of the country will be instructive and inspiring.

The Patacancha weavers have been busy with a series of intercultural leadership workshops.  The goal of the workshops is to cultivate leadership in the women so they have the confidence and skills to take over management of their cooperative business; next in the series are workshops on administrative skills and technical skills. These leadership workshops focus on connecting the women to their cultural identities through team building games and discussions about how to face challenges as a group of indigenous people. The women also had a chance to discuss the challenges and roles of being a woman in remote communities in the Andes today, and how some of these challenges can be effectively addressed.  Awamaki has partnered with the Centro Bartolome de las Casas (CBC) to carry out the workshops. The CBC has over 40 years of experience promoting indigenous empowerment in the Cusco region.

Without the kind and generous support of our donors, Awamaki would not be able to organize capacity-building trips and workshops for our cooperatives.  In order to continue to increase the success and autonomy of our cooperatives, we put tools and knowledge directly in the hands of the women artisans. By learning new ideas and rediscovering their own cultural identities, the women are empowered to make positive changes in their daily lives and in the running of the weaving cooperative, ensuring their future economic success and their ability to earn income and transform their communities.  Thank you again for all of your support!