Bienvenidos a Santiago!

For an indigenous woman in Guatemala, even day-to-day life can be a constant challenge. The indigenous population makes up at least 60% of the country’s population, but their livelihood remains marginalized. According to my research for a paper for my graduate studies at the University of Denver, 87% of indigenous Guatemalans live in poverty and 61% live in extreme poverty (making less than $1.25 per day per person, according to the World Bank’s poverty measures). In indigenous communities where nine out of ten children under age five are malnourished, indigenous women are not only concerned about their own lives but also about the livelihoods of their families.

Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala is a small village of 40,000 residents located on Lago de Atitlán, the largest lake in Central America. 95% of the inhabitants are indigenous Mayans. The region was hit hard by the 36-year civil conflict in Guatemala from 1960-1996. The conflict and systematic marginalization of both women and indigenous people has left most of the women in Santiago Atitlán with very few marketable skills. Many women depend on artisan handicraft work to survive.

Approaching the docks at Santiago Atitlán, via boat from Panajachel

Women doing the day's washing 

Lago de Atitlán and Volcan San Pedro amongst the clouds

On our way to the market

I am spending the summer living in a homestay in Santiago Atitlán and working as the Project Development Intern for Natik, a U.S. based nonprofit that works together with community-based organizations in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico to transform marginalized communities through economic and educational empowerment.

Natik has been working in the Santiago Atitlán area since 2003. With Natik’s assistance, a group of 34 indigenous Mayan women have formed a microenterprise called Just Apparel in the community. Natik provides the materials for the handicraft work, and the women create beautiful woven handbags, tablecloths, pillowcases, and clothing from the thread. Once the items are sold, the women receive a portion of the profits, and a portion is retained for reinvestment. Additionally, a portion is allocated for a scholarship fund for secondary school for students in the community.

The Just Apparel scholarship fund has afforded at least 15 students with secondary school scholarships. Natik also operates The Puerta Abierta Biblioteca, which "offers creative learning opportunities to Santiago Atitlán children through preschool and kindergarten classes, after school enrichment programs, reading hours, homework help, and the traveling library, which spreads the joy of reading to the most remote parts of Santiago” (Natik.org, accessed June 1 2013).

A day of lessons at the Puerto Abierta Biblioteca

The biggest challenge facing the women of Santiago Atitlán is a lack of work for the artisans. The local tourist market for traditional embroidered goods is flooded, as there are too many women with the same skills and not enough local buyers. With such limited access to local markets to sell their artisan crafts, the women are forced to take on additional work that is often not paid at a fair, living wage.

My project in Santiago (as the locals shorten it) is to assist the cooperative of women to be able to earn a living wage through artisan craft sales by expanding the market for their crafts to include an international online marketplace. I will help with product design, pricing strategy, and website design for the Just Apparel website and online marketplace, as well as create and manage several other online portals such as an Etsy store. I will also be conducting in-house interviews with each of the women, working individually with each woman on her color preferences and embroidery styles in order to help her create and sell unique works of art. I will be writing short biographies of each woman in order to include information about the artist on a small card with each product when it is shipped to the consumer.

Meeting with some women in the cooperative at their homes to discuss fabrics

Monday was my first meeting with the women of the Just Apparel cooperative. At least 25 women came over to my neighbor’s house here in Santiago, and we sat in a big circle and talked about the next step for Just Apparel. I was introduced and we explained to the women that I will be working on the project for the next two months here in Santiago. The women were asked to bring over samples of their products so that we had an idea of what kind of skills the women already have, and how we could incorporate these skills into their future work with the cooperative.

The women of Just Apparel in our first group meeting

One of the examples of handwoven embroidery

The problem in this community isn’t the lack of desire to work but instead the lack of opportunity to work. I truly believe that this project has great potential for small-scale improvement in human livelihood, and I am looking forward to an incredibly rewarding summer!