Artisans and bakers, women from Chiquimula seek economic alternatives
In 2016, a group of 17 women organized, with the support of SOSEP, to form the Productive Unit "Women Artisans", with the aim of promoting the sale of natural reed fiber baskets and obtaining their own funds.
The original women of the Guior community (Chiquimula), opted for this typical product of the Ch'orti 'culture, however in the process they noticed that it was marketed at a low price due to the high supply.
Accompanied by our team from the Directorate for the Improvement of the Socioeconomic Conditions of Women, a new market opportunity was identified and after a strategic alliance with INTECAP and the Technical Mission of Taiwan, they were trained in the elaboration of crafts and furniture in natural fiber made of bamboo.
In 2019, eleven of them were certified as experts in the occupation of bamboo by the General Directorate of Extracurricular Training and the group managed to promote events and marketing fairs at the municipal, departmental and national levels. However, the emergence of covid-19 stopped the sale of their products.
As an alternative, SOSEP offered to train them in making French bread and corn bread. The process was in charge of the departmental technician Fredy Orellana, who reported that the induction was done in groups and contents such as disinfection of the work area, use of a mask and social distancing, as covid-19 prevention measures, were included.
To reactivate their economy, the women requested to be trained in the technical elaboration of the Barro artisan oven. They immediately put what they learned into practice and built their own clay oven.
With this tool, they now sell bread to their community on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and they continue to prepare to continue marketing their bamboo products when the health emergency ends.
