Trama Textiles

Today, I started my first day of volunteer work and a local Mayan women's cooperative called Trama Textiles.

After the Civil War ended here, a group of indigenous women from different villages began to collaborate to sell their goods communally (to put it simply, it is kind of a huge deal here when people from different villages get together for a common purpose). They now own one of the most dominant textile cooperatives in Xela, and they market and ship their fair trade goods internationally.

I will be helping them design a new catalog for their merchandise and build a website. In return, the women have offered to teach me to weave their garments (or at least begin to), and also help me with my Spanish.

As I left the weaving co-op today, one of the women got up from her loom to kiss me goodbye on the cheek (the customary salutation in Central America) and to thank me for my projected work. She also uttered a phrase in Spanish which, when translated directly to English, says: "Here, we will always wait for you."