Huancavelica

After my trip to Huancavelica this week the idea of fair trade has developed a new solidity and meaning in my mind.  Huancavelica is the poorest region in Peru and home to four artisan groups with which Bridge of Hope works: Sumacc Ruraq, Tupac Yupanki, Huayanay, and El Mercurio.  After a nauseating bus ride that took us 11,000 feet above sea level, Imke, Maribel, and I arrived on a chilly morning in the city of Huancavelica.  I never felt queasy or sick but the altitude was definitely noticeable in every vaguely unsatisfying breath I took.

A street in Huancavelica

The city itself is small and really charming, and its history is evident from its many Spanish missionary churches, the quaint balconied buildings surrounding the Plaza de Armas, and the language (Quechua) and clothing of people walking through the streets. I think the most striking show of Huancavelica’s history and culture is the women.  Most of them, especially the older women, wore thick leggings underneath several layers of skirts, alpaca and wool sweaters, and manta blankets tied around their shoulders that generally held either babies or bread.  Imke and I were clearly out of place and were often followed with stares and whispers of “Mira a las gringas!”  In fact, one ancient little woman passing us on the street happily pointed to me and loudly chanted, “Gringa gringa gringa gringa!” 

Driving to Yauli and seeing our first alpaca of the week

Our first task of the trip was to meet with the group Sumacc Ruraq in the little town of Yauli that was a half hour’s drive away.  The road to Yauli follows a river several hundred feet below in a deep canyon and was an incredible, breath-taking sight for Imke and me.  Once we reached the tiny plaza of Yauli we walked down a street and crossed a creek to reach the complex of homes where the members of Sumacc Ruraq lived and worked.  Most of the artisans were at a workshop in another town when we arrived but we met with Lorenzo Taype, son of the leader of the group, and Benita Pavear.  We showed them videos and pictures of a design that a new client had asked for and talked with them about new products they have designed.  When I was listening to Benita and Lorenzo toss ideas and observations about the new designs back and forth I was doubting my Spanish skills because I couldn’t understand anything they were saying—but then I realized they were speaking Quechua!  Even though I couldn’t talk much with Benita it was wonderful to watch her knit and carefully sort through the beautiful products that she and the other women had designed and created.

Benita sorting through colorful necklaces

After a quick trip back to Huancavelica for an exciting lunch (the server spilled soup on Maribel’s only pair of pants) we made the drive to Yauli once more and headed up the hills above it to meet with Tupac Yupanki.  The families of Tupac Yupanki raise animals as well as knit and they live in the middle of steep fields.  Most of the women were at a meeting when we arrived so we waited with the wife of the leader of the group until they were finished.  This woman spoke only Quechua and for all intents and purposes we could not communicate with her.  When the other women arrived, each of them toting a baby on their back, they showed us their new designs and gave us the prices for each.  The wonderful thing about fair trade that many people don’t realize is the power and confidence that producers have when they can evaluate their own businesses, name their own prices, and innovate their own designs.  One can easily be fooled by the humble homes and lack of education of many of the artisans and say, “This isn’t helping at all! There’s no difference here.”  But we can’t underestimate the huge effects and enormous power of the less noticeable changes wrought in the artisans’ lives by fair trade.

The women of Tupac Yupanki

When Maribel asked the women if their lives had improved since working with Bridge of Hope they all said yes without hesitation.  When she asked if their homes were better and more comfortable they said yes again.  Perhaps the most emphatic yes was when Maribel asked if their husbands liked that they brought in an income often bigger than theirs.  I could see, then, how fair trade was affecting fundamental cultural ideas; having their own business gives these women confidence and is ultimately going to change the way their daughters’ think about themselves and the way their sons’ view women.  Fair trade slowly but effectively moves communities toward equality and sustainability, but more than this it inspires very real and meaningful hope in the opportunities of the future.  I gotta say, I’m sold.

After many cheek kisses goodbye we began trudging down the road to Yauli, hoping a taxi would come by and pick us up (which it finally did).  After dark we made it back to Huancavelica and walked through crowds of people gathered in the square to watch Peru play in the Copa Americana on a big screen.  Our hotel was freezing so I snuggled in my sleeping bag and was out immediately—less than two hours of sleep on a bus ride doesn’t really prepare you for a day in the Andean countryside. 

Two members of Huayanay looking over their products

Driving to see Huayanay

The next morning we sat in the square to wait for our ride up to visit grupo Huayanay.  The hour and a half drive up into the mountains took us past huge hillsides, deep valleys, and countless alpaca, sheep, and llamas.  Imke and I gave up trying not to look like typical gringos and snapped photos left and right.  Between the two of us there must be several hundred landscape photos (and probably just as many llama pics too).   Grupo Huayanay lives in a small community in the middle of hilly farmland nearly 15,000 feet above sea level.  They are mostly men, which makes this group unique, and they weave beautiful scarves, shawls, blankets, and bedspreads.  Leoncio, the leader, gave us an interview with some trepidation (since we were pointing a camera at him) and told us his story of learning to weave in Huancayo but never being able to make enough money until he met “Señorita Ruth,” who began the fair trade project with La Red Uniendo Manos, and gained access to the fair trade market and formed a group that created new products and designs.  He told us how special it was to have a steady income from the weaving because otherwise he and the other men in the group would be forced to leave their homes everyday, maybe for days at a time, to try to find short-term labor work.  He said he was thankful to be able to stay with his family.  Huayanay was an incredible and welcoming group of people who eloquently described to us the benefits they have experienced since working with Bridge of Hope and I was thankful to meet with them and hear their own stories.

As a side note, they had a pen of guinea pigs in their kitchen which I thought was awesome and Imke thought was horrifying (hint: they weren't pets). 

The women of Mercurio knitting together

Back in Huancavelica that afternoon we hiked up the steep stairs that lead to the homes on the edge of the city where Grupo Mercurio lives and works.  The city is set in a bowl-like valley and the outskirts of the city swoosh up the bottoms of the mountains.  The women of El Mercurio were gathered in a small room lined with benches and were rapidly speaking Spanish and Quechua and knitting toys out of colorful cotton yarn.   This group of women is from Santa Barbara, the location of the famous and centuries-old Spanish mercury mine.  They fled to the outskirts of Huancavelica during the violence and terrorism in the 80’s and 90’s, and Maribel hinted to me that many of these women were themselves hurt and violated during that period.  I think perhaps their story is most indicative of the positive changes brought about by fair trade.  Once these women left their homes they eked out a living washing clothes in the river or cleaning for families but couldn’t support their families that way and couldn’t return to Santa Barbara because the community was so badly torn apart.  They formed a group and began making unique sets of finger puppets and slowly their incomes grew.  When we sat and talked with them while they knit they laughed and chattered and their bond was very evident.  Mercurio is obviously not just a means of earning an income but a group of friends who support one another as well.  This particular week had been stressful for them because they had been dealing with strikes and protests in Huancavelica because people were demanding another university.  Protests were scheduled to begin again the next morning and since the women had described bombs, riots, and police coming in on helicopters I was glad we were leaving before then. 

I have finally seen the raw beginnings of the fair trade process, the creation of the products that Bridge of Hope offers, and the process of distributing those products to the world, thus allowing the artisans to earn the income they deserve and to control the business in which they work.  More than that I had a rare opportunity to see part of Peru that still rings with the authentic and often horrifying history of Peru and its various stages of peace and turmoil.  

Soon I'll be posting videos of the artisans telling us about what they do and how they feel about fair trade, and there are more pictures up on my facebook of the whole trip, and more pics will be up on the Bridge of Hope facebook page too.
Thank you for reading, and hasta luego!