By Jen Harris | Marketing Coordinator
Awamaki works in rural Quechua villages located high in the Andes mountains. We partner with women’s artisan cooperatives to offer capacity-building and training in technical, business and leadership skills. We also connect them to markets and help them sell their unique handmade products in Peru, the United States, and Europe.
Part of Awamaki’s programming with every partner cooperative is supporting the construction of a shared workspace to run their business, hold trainings, and host tourists. Each cooperative purchases land in the name of their business, and contributes manual labor and rustic materials like stones, soil and adobe. We partner to provide specialized labor and modern materials like concrete and roofing materials.
A core part of our partnership with artisan groups is that the labor for their centers is done by the artisans and their husbands. Like the trainings, it is a considerable time commitment. In Kelkanka, Awamaki and the Wakanquillas artisan cooperative have just completed the final addition to their worksite: a functional restroom.
The center provides a centralized location where the artisans store products, and host trainings. Through support from donors like you, Awamaki has been able to complete the construction of the work site and a functional bathroom that will facilitate the growth and contribute to the success of the artisan cooperative's business, by providing them a designated, shared, work space.
The center has provided our artisan partners with a sense of security. It created a safe and comfortable space to gather, not only to do work for Awamaki, but also for community communication. Artisans now have a place to work together if they choose. They also continue to do much of their work at home and in their fields, which is possible because the traditional backstrap loom is completely portable.
The new weaving center has produced a cohesive and focused space, where materials are organized and people can congregate. This increases the cooperative's sense of solidarity and communication. The opportunity to host trainings and work alongside one another has facilitated an improvement in quality of work. Having a space designated for the artisans’ craft has been motivating and has yielded collective success.
By Emma Hague | Project Director
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