"Huanchaco!!" bellowed the cobrador of the "H con corazon" micro as we climbed aboard the bus on Sunday. We were headed to Huanchaco beach, about 20 minutes from the SKIP house in Trujillo, to work/hang out at the artisanal fair set up by Mythri, our reigning queen of Economic Development volunteers. She had organized this fair as her ultimate project, before jetting back to the US on Monday.
SKIP had a tent set up where we sold scarves and purses knitted by the SKIP mothers in El Porvenir, along with free food- a big big hit. There was music, balloons, flyers and even a march with posters and banners advocating womens rights and feminine power. A local dance school provided a volunteer dance group who drew a large crowd with their traditional dances.
The weather even cooperated, as the sun shown breifly, but brightly.
The mothers were most excited to see their work actually being sold to strangers, for some it was their first time to Huanchaco even, and I could see the pride on their faces as scarf after scarf was picked up. Overall, we sold over 200 soles of merchandise, and gathered 50 soles in donations. More importantly, we handed out countless flyers to draw attention to SKIP and its motives.
Looking to the future, two stores in Huanchaco have now agreed to sell some the mothers' work, as the quality and technical skill has improved tremendously over the 9 months of Mythri's rule. A potential collaboration between the Huanchaco Club de Madres and the Madres de SKIP is on the horizon- the mothers would get together to teach each other new knitting techniques and other skills. SKIP has also started hosting knitting and jewellery making classes, and we hope to find stores in downtown Trujillo willing to sell some of the mothers' wares. Overall, nothing makes me smile more than to see the mothers collaborating on taking loans to buy the wool and working together on design ideas or helping each other with difficult stitches.
Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment