Sunday, November 22, 2009

Two groups of weavers near Rabinal

We spent the morning in San Rafael meeting a group of Mayan women who have been weaving scarves for Mayan Hands for many years. I had my first weaving lesson surrouded and supported by more than fifteen women all gathering around me showing me how to use a backstrap loom. Quite a spiritual experience.

Then we moved in the afternoon to the home of Mariana and Paulino leaders of another weaving group that have not had enough work this year because sales are down. They make the beautiful placemats and tablecloths found on the website.

It is difficult to describe the mood aong the weavers who have been unemployed for some time. They told us they were triste.

So were we.

The solution seems to be to sell as much of the existing inventory as possible and seek new markets at the same time. Lots of work and imagination will get the job done. Winding down at the end fo the day but will try to post some photos tomorrow.

Back to the city to visit a sewing coop in the toughest part of GC.

4 comments:

  1. 15 tejedoras de Guatemala sosteniendo a una tejedora del Hudson, ¡quĂ© bonito! Like the waft supporting the thread and the thread supporting the waft.

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  2. Laura, are you taking pictures?
    What are you eating?

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  3. Yes, taking pictures but running so fast that there is no time to post them comfortably to the web. Will create a new post soon. Loving the trip, the people, the fresh fruit is great. Thanks for following all...

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  4. Dear Laura,
    I am loving hearing about your adventures with Mayan Hands and look forward to hearing more in person when you are home. After forwarding the link to several friends, they are writing to tell me how much they are enjoying reading your posts and learning about the beautiful work of the Mayan women as they weave life and thread together into whole cloth. Can't wait to hear more, Love, Mom

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