Interview with Adam Foster Collins – a founder of Threads of Peru

1) What has been your most culture shocking moment whilst in the communities?

The most culture-shocking moment for me was when we were received in Rumira Sondormayo in the cold rain with a welcome dinner which consisted of a plastic laundry basket filled with about 20 types of potato; boiled and whole, accompanied with one hard-boiled egg; warm and still in the shell. As a special treat, we were also offered a dish of salt to add to the food. So there we all were, cold and wet. Eleven of us sat huddled in the darkened interior of a mud brick hut munching on the potatoes and eggs. And honestly, I have to admit, it was one of the greatest tasting and most memorable meals of my life.

A picture of Adam at Machu Picchu

2) What inspires you to work for Threads of Peru?

As a designer, I’m inspired by the idea that design thinking can be applied to any set of problems to the benefit of the situation – not only that, it MUST be applied. Even if the people involved are not “designers” as a profession. Design is the key to human beings figuring out how to move from a situation that they’re not satisfied with, to one that does satisfy them. Threads of Peru requires that we think about everything from human dynamics, to business management, to marketing and graphic design. The range of issues and the challenges they present – all aimed at the preservation and promotion of indigenous culture in Peru – is what I find so interesting.

3) What’s your favourite Peruvian food?

I really enjoy the fresh salsa that often accompanies meals in Peru. I also really love coca tea with mint.

4) And your least favourite Peruvian food (and why?)

Not so much a food, but a drink – coffee. It’s very difficult to find coffee prepared the way I am accustomed to (and addicted to) at home.

5) In your opinion where is the best spot in Cusco for visiting?

The restaurants and Churches surrounding the Plaza de Armas (Central Square) in Cusco are nice to visit, and I love the square at night; the way the city lights of the residential area are visible on the mountainsides above – like stars. Also the San Blas area, which is within walking distance of the Plaza, is full of interesting shops and local art and crafts.

The Plaza at night, lit up with the Christmas decorations!

6) Describe the happiest/most touching moment you have experienced in the communities?

For me, it was the first time we went to the communities, which the culmination of a design class project in Canada. Eleven students made the journey, and to finally find ourselves there with the weavers in the mountains for the first time was an experience I’ll never forget. It was snowing heavily for a while, and it was beautiful.

7) Your strangest/funniest moment from living in Peru?

Trying really hard to communicate in Spanish to an elderly woman at the market about spices I was looking for, and having her suddenly get exasperated with me and huff, “No Ingles! No entiendo!” (Until then, I thought I was doing pretty well…)

8) Biggest achievement so far?

For me, it has been to see the whole structure set up; from weaving workshops and buying in the communities, to the online store and the vast internet information site,  shipping and positive customer feedback from all over the world. It has required an incredible amount of work and creative energy to set up all of this infrastructure, and to see the structure finally functioning end-to-end is a great achievement for so few people to have built.

9) Finally, whats the main thing you wish to achieve in the next five years?

To be a fully self-sustaining organisation. To see the women’s sewing skills improve so that we can introduce more contemporary product design to our inventory, which will require more complex sewing.

Adam is a Graphic and Communication Designer, living and working in Halifax, Canada. Besides working as a professional Designer, he has been a teacher of Design for almost ten years. His interest in bringing Design thinking to bear on socioeconomic issues led to the creation of Project Peru, and to the collaborative development of Threads of Peru.

Our Christmas Chocolatada 2011

Every year in December Threads organizes a Chocolatada in Chaullacocha, the remoter of the two communities we work with, along with Apus Peru, a responsible trekking company which helps to fund our project.

A Chocolatada, as you might be able to guess from the name involves preparing a large amount of hot chocolate, which is shared out amongst everyone along with fresh bread buns. This is a form of spreading a little Christmas cheer to everyone in the community!

When we set out in the morning (3.30am!) for the long drive up through the Sacred Valley we don’t know what kind of conditions to expect, although I heard so much about the rainy season in Cuzco before arriving, this year has been extremely dry so we are hoping that we will be able to drive all the way to Chaullacocha.

However the combination of 11 people in one two-wheel drive van carrying enough hot chocolate and bread for 60 people along with the mud roads means that we have to stop around a two hour walk from Chaullacocha. Although we all get out and push, the edges of the road are literally falling off and rolling down the hill side so we decide walking is probably the smarter option.

We set off on the hike and although the weather is wet and windy the scenery more than makes up for it, it’s quite eerie walking through the deserted and silent landscape but then you turn a corner to find yourself face to face with a llama! The llamas themselves are utterly unmoved by these encounters.

Llamas on the trail to Chaullacocha

When we reach Chaullacocha bedraggled and hungry we set to work straight away cooking up the Chocolate in HUGE pots over little portable stoves, I can’t see how it’s going to work but pretty soon there are chocolatey fumes in the air and all the children are running around in excitement, their cups clean and ready in one hand. To try and distract their attention, Willy, one of the guides from Apus Peru organizes games for them, even though I can’t understand the Quechua instructions I can recognize the games from my own experience, cat and mouse and then later oranges and apples.

The children playing cat & mouse in the schoolyardPlaying oranges and apples!

All games stop when two enormous steaming pots are brought out filled with the creamy hot chocolate. A line quickly forms, all the children jostling each other to try and see the pots, even the grown men and women look excited although they hide it a little better than the children! It’s a hectic next thirty minutes ensuring that everyone gets a cup and a bread bun to eat, luckily we have brought plenty so we can satisfy even the children coming back for thirds, and there’s still enough to spare when curious people from the neighbouring villages drop in.

Fely cooks the hot chocolate

Handing out the hot chocolate to the kids

Everyone gets a big bread roll to eat too!

You can see the boys here enjoying their hot chocolate and bread roll

Thanks to the generous donations we receive, we were able to buy a Christmas present for every boy & girl in the village this year, trucks for the boys and dolls for the girls. The children have all seen the large sacks being carried in and are waiting excitedly to see what’s inside them.

The children line up to receive their presents

A guide from Apus Peru Willy hands out the trucks to the boys

From the point of view of an outsider it’s quite difficult not to compare my normal Christmas at home to the one we try to provide here. At home my nieces and nephews normally get around 10 presents each year, they unwrap one, say ‘cool!’ and then put it down so they can concentrate on opening the next present, compared to their blasé attitude its really heartwarming to watch the reaction of each child in this community. They approach with a concerned look, then a shy smile as the present is brought to them, then when they hold the present and know it’s truly theirs the massive smile breaks out and they run off shouting to their friends and holding their present close to them. The other volunteers get involved with handing out the presents and the shouts and yells are deafening!

Erika hands out the dolls to the girls

The kids sing a Quechuan song to say thank you

As a special gift this year, thanks to Tianna Meriage-Reiter and her husband Yuri we were able to give clothes to everyone in the community, for the young mothers especially this was a wonderful gift and I liked that we were able to give something to everyone in the community, even if it was a hat for their baby or just a hot drink on a cold day.

Every crams in to collect their new clothes!

As we set off on the long hike back to the car we were all exhausted, cold and dirty, however for the first time this year I felt that elusive Christmas spirit and excitement which as an adult is so hard to recapture, I think we all felt it as we had done something, something which Christmas is really all about – sharing what you have with others, and making other people happy.

A picture of me with the women as they line up to collect their clothes

Happy Holidays everyone!

Apus Peru & Threads of Peru would like to thank all the participants in this years Chocolatada, special thanks to Jerzy family for their contribution, again to Tianna Meriage-Reiter and her husband Yuri for donating the much needed clothes, to the Apus Peru clients who generously donated their time on the day and from year-round donations to Threads of Peru.

10 Questions for Ariana S, one of the founders of Threads of Peru, on Cuzco, learning Spanish and working in the communities!

1)      What has been your most culture shocking moment whilst in the communities?

I am used to the communities now, I don’t feel culture shocked too often. I feel instead that I am returning somewhere familiar.  However, I remember one of my first visits sitting in one of the stone houses, and the smoke filling up the room.  It was freezing cold and I was hungry, tired and alone.  The smoke was choking me so badly that I had to run outside and took deep breaths until the cold forced me back into the smoke.  The other shocking moment that comes to mind was doing a nits (head lice) check and pulling off the chullo (beanie) of a small girl and her head literally seething with lice.

Maria Quispe carries Molly on her back. (July 2010)

2) What inspires you to work for Threads of Peru?

I started this project when I was about to finish my Masters of Arts degree in Development studies, with a specalisation in Third World nations.  At first, I was inspired by putting my studies into practice, and the women and their remote circumstances.  The women, their environment and their weavings are very inspiring.

Now, I have not progressed any further with the Masters and don’t seem likely to in the next few years…because there is just simply too much to do with Threads of Peru! So now I am inspired by what we have achieved so far, and the things that we might be able to achieve in the future!

3) Favourite Peruvian food?

Anticuchos! I was non-flesh eating vegetarian for 8 years and lived happily for a year in Cusco before the mouth watering aromas of anticuchos on street corners at night finally got the better of me!  (I had sincerely not ever wanted to eat meat for such a long time, until the smell of anticuchos lured me!)   My second favourite is ceviche… also a strange choice for an ex vego.  Oh, and Chicharon!  (Deep fried pork)

The women take care of Molly in Rumira Sondormayo

It’s still one of my favourite things about Cusco, huddling with others around an anticucho seller and her hot coals, on a crisp winter night!

4) Least favourite Peruvian food (and why?)

Chuño.   I think it must be an acquired taste.

5) Best spot in Cuzco for visiting?

San Pedro market.  While the main market is OK, you need to get off into the back streets to feel the true market vibe.  San Pedro used to be crazy, with stall holders illegally squatted on the sidewalks, rubbish, litter and pick pockets.  I cried when the Municipality rounded them up and pushed all those vendors without permits onto cattle trucks.

6) Happiest/most touching moment in the communities?

Watching the women’s delight in playing with my baby.   I had never realized that while we, as foreigners are curious and interested in them, they are also fascinated by us.  As soon as we arrive in the communities the women take Molly from me, and play with her, inspect her, look at her skin and hands, discuss her clothe s and do all the things that I think that they would like to do with us!  (as adults).

7) Strangest/funniest moment from living in Peru?

I guess the longer I stay in Cusco the more it feels part of me…   it’s certainly a second home.  So as I go about my day to day business, I forget that to the Cusqueños I am just another gringa face, one of the thousands that fly in and fly out of Cusco every day.

I was recently in the market with my 8 year old god-daughter, who I have known since she was a babe in arms and shared much of her childhood.   We were shopping, asking prices, and trying to get an idea of some things that we wanted to buy.  We got a few extremely high “gringo” prices in a row and she turned to me solemnly and said, “Aunty, I think it’s time that I started to ask for the prices.”  Perhaps it was a little girl growing up, but it was also her recognizing the gringa in me.

Ariana visiting the communities & feeding Molly while she was a tiny baby.

8) Most embarrassing faux-pas when communicating in Spanish?

I used to teach English in exchange for Spanish lessons, at a local English institute.  I asked my class if they were excited about the class we were going to have.  They all looked at me blankly, so I asked them at the top of my voice: “Estan excitados?”  (Excitement in Spanish has a very strong sexual connotation…) I was literally asking them if they were turned on!

There are also lots of easy to make mistakes in Quechua, my most common being asking the taxi drivers to take me to Koo-che- punku (door of the pig) instead of the correct pronunciation, Koo-i-che- punku (door of the rainbow). That often makes them laugh.

9) Biggest achievement so far?

Everything we have done in Threads of Peru is a big achievement.  Taking indigenous women and getting them to weave items to specification has been very challenging… but then the marketing and sales aspects of the project have been big too. It’s an achievement not only because of how much has been done, but also because we’ve done it with a skeleton budget.   Every step of the way has been a massive learning curve.

Ariana and Molly in Palqaq

10) Main thing you wish to achieve in the next five years?

I’d like to see the project fully sustainable.

The first phase of the sustainability would be to have the project not rely on volunteer hours. The founders currently put in excess of 2000 volunteer hours a year, combined.  That’s a crazy amount of work!

The second phase would be to have the women taking control of the orders, quality control and delivery so that we can focus on the sales.   (and indeed have some of the women involved in sales and marketing as well.)

To watch a short interview with Ariana created by the LATA foundation please click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbcXLVlEgpE

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad! Here is our 2011 Christmas card to you all. We’d like to thank everyone for their kindness and support to us this past year. Warm wishes to everyone this holiday season. May you eat, drink and be merry!

It’s Christmas in Cusco…

Hi all,

We’ve been a bit quiet on the blog front this last week or so, because we are all preparing for the holiday period!

The lights are all up in the Plaza and even though the sun is blazing outside, everyone is still in a Christmassy mood…

Christmas in the Plaza

This Wednesday, we are going to one of the weaving communities, Chaullacocha, for our annual Chocolatada. We will be preparing hot chocolate with bread for all the children and hopefully spreading a bit of Christmas cheer! Photos and a report of this to come in the New Year…

Weaver Profile – Paulina Sicos Huaman

Name: Paulina Sicos Huaman

Community: Rumira Sondormayo

Position: I am the Treasurer of the community’s weaving assocation.

Age: 56+ – I am not completely sure.

Marital Status: I am married.

Children: I have six children, three girls and three boys.

Paulina sitting outside her house in Rumira Sondormayo

Favourite Article to weave: I like to weave the challina because it is less difficult to create.

What is your favourite pallay: I like to weave pallays of animals, I have a lot of experience weaving these so now I can do them more quickly and easily than other pallays.

Favourite Animal: My favourite animal is the alpaca, to eat.

What are your favourite colours for weaving: I have always liked red and white.

Do you prefer to work at home or outside: I prefer to work outside because it is calmer.

What hopes and dreams do you have for your children, will they go to school: I have two sons studying in Lima, the other is working as a labourer in the jungle. The others all have families.

What is your favourite thing about your village: I like the freedom of the countryside.

What is the biggest change to happen in your village in the last few years: There is more education, even for the girls. There is now a medical centre and roads.

N.B These interviews were conducted in Quechua and then translated into Spanish and then English so although we try and keep as close to the weavers responses as possible there will undoubtedly be some disparity.

Shelter needed!

The famous images of indigenous women weaving against a stunning mountain backdrop are very eye catching and appealing. However the reality is working outside is not that enjoyable, especially in the wet season, which lasts 4 -5 months of the year starting in November and continuing through with greater intensity to peak in February.

The wet season months are also typically low season for tourists, and so as most of the supplementary income for the communities which comes from the men working as muleteers or porters dries up.

Threads of Peru would like to continue to work with the craftswomen during these months, but if the weavings get wet, they stretch and warp.  Also, if we make orders during these months we know that the women weave in their houses, which are very dark even during the day. There is no electricity so weaving during the night is out of the question. It is so dark in the houses that their eyes suffer significant strain, and as most houses do not have a chimney they fill up quickly with smoke damaging the quality of the weaving and, more importantly, the health of the weaver.

The shelter will be constructed on similar lines to the one shown in this photo.

Weaving houses, which are relatively simple to construct and provide multiple benefits:

-          Shelter from elements while weaving or meeting in the long wet season

-          A meeting place for women

-          Place to host visitors to the community and put weavings on display.

-          It has potential to be a sheltered campsite for visitors to the community.

There is a temptation amongst foreigners working with these remote villagers to do everything for the community, so we have been waiting for the communities to take the lead on this project and so to encourage sustainability from within.

We are currently working with the community in Rumira Sondormayo who have now organised some land by the river for their weaving house, and fenced it off.

The land in Rumira Sondormayo currently fenced off and ready to be built upon.

Furthermore, we have secured funding from some generous Canadian donors (who have trekked with our partners Apus Peru two years running) who will assist in the purchase of materials needed and which cannot be obtained in the community.

All manual labour needed to construct the Rumira Sondormayo weaving house will be from the community, in keeping with the traditional principle of ayni.

We hope to post pictures of this shelter very soon!

Quickfire interview with – Fani Karaivanova, Textile Project Assistant and Community Liaison for Threads of Peru

Name: Fani Karaivanova, Textile Project Assistant and Community Liaison for Threads of Peru since July 2011

1)      What inspires you to work for Threads of Peru?

I am inspired from the results that ToP has achieved in these years of working with the communities. The weavers value their textile tradition and conserve it. Their weavings have considerably improved since the beginning of the project and now even more community members as willing to be part of the weaver’s associations.

I am also inspired by the philosophy of the project and its continuity. While other NGOs have also analyzed the textile culture in the communities and trained the weavers in improved textile techniques and natural dying, most of them did not give importance to the commercialization of the textiles and as a consequence have failed in the economic sustainability of their projects. ToP have achieved an economical sustainability until the moment by assuring a constant commercialization the community’s weaving.

2)      Favourite Peruvian food?

It is hard to name one meal as a favorite. It is even more difficult as I am a Vegetarian and most Peruvian dishes are based on meat or fish. However, I love the variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year, as well as the variety of herbs and their common use everywhere.

I like a lot the hot and spicy sauces in the Peruvian cuisine based on aji (hot pepper) and huacatay (Andean aromatic herb), as well as the variety of fresh fruit juices and cakes. I also love the Peruvian street breakfast based on hot quinua (Andean cereal) and maca (high-Andean medical root plant with similar properties to Ghin-Seng) juice and soya milk, as well as the emoliente (medical hot drink sold on the street in early mornings and late evenings made of a variety of fresh herbs and medical plants).

3)      Best spot in Cusco for visiting?

Qariqancha, ICPNA, Paraninfo, Cusco municipality for cultural events

Wachuma, The Frogs, 7 Angelitos for night-life

Sacsayhuaman, Tambomachay and surroundings for one-day nature hikes

4)      Happiest/most touching moment in the communities?

Playing with the children and looking at the smiley faces of the weavers.

Fani showing the children in Chaullacocha the pictures she has taken.

5)      Strangest/funniest moment from living in Peru?

Ohhh they are sooooooo many!

My favourite one is when my Mom was visiting and we went to the jungle and stayed in a lodge, my Moms phone went missing and it turned out a monkey had stolen it! My Mom chased it around the lodge before it jumped up onto the roof, luckily the monkey evenutally threw the phone back down to her.

Fani is a volunteer with Threads of Peru, if you would like to volunteer with us and experience life in Cusco check out our website www.threadsofperu.com  for more information and contact details.

A Day in the life of a Weaver

It is a sunny summer day in Rumira Sondormayo, an Andean village in the highlands of Ollantaytambo, Cusco, surrounded by high mountain peaks and glaciers. Rumira is a typical high-Andean agricultural village with long weaving traditions. In the last years it has taken advantage of the increasing tourism in the region and has diversified its economic activities. Now, most of the men and grown boys in the village work as porters or cooks on the Inca Trail. This has significantly changed the local life style.

During the 6 months of the high tourism season, while most men are away from home for days, the women and older children have to take responsibility for all the house and field works – taking the animals for pasture, working on the chakras (agricultural fields), taking care of the house and the smaller children. In addition, the women help improve the financial stability of the household by weaving traditional cloths and selling them directly to the tourists visiting the village occasionally or on the international market through the support of a NGO.

But let´s take a closer look into the daily life of a woman in Rumira Sondormayo.

Justina is married and has three children, two girls aged  5 and 2 and a one-year old boy. The older girl attends school.  Justina herself is 25 years old and never went to school. She wakes up with the rising of the sun, at about 4:30-5:00 am. The first thing she does in the morning is to pray to God. Then, she starts cooking the meal for the day, which usually consists of potatoes or lisa (Andean legume), sometimes she will make a chuño soup (soup of ice dried potatoes).

Cooking the evening meal

After breakfast she sends her daughter to school and goes to the fields with the animals and her two other children. If her husband isn’t working on the Inca Trail, he would be helping out in the potatoes fields, Justina would bring him the lunch and they would eat together. She is always spinning or preparing the yarn for weaving while taking out the animals for pasture, working on the field or at home. Sometimes, Justina even brings her weaving to the fields to finish it.

The women often weave outside in the summertime.

After lunch, Justina´s daughter comes back from school and goes to help her mother with the animals or do her homework. Justina goes back home at dusk, brings the animals to their corral and starts to prepare the evening meal. After the family has their dinner together, Justina cleans up the kitchen and goes to bed at around 8 pm.

A scarf is for life, not just for Christmas.

“Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches.”

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.

 

When we buy clothes nowadays it’s rarely with the idea that they will last us for years to come. It’s happened more than once: I take a look in my wardrobe, sigh over the fact I have nothing to wear for some party tonight, go to the shops and buy a new shirt. The same night someone spills red wine over the shirt, another sigh ‘oh well’ the next day the shirt is in the rubbish bin. The very idea of taking the time and money to take the shirt to get dry cleaned is ridiculous, primarily because it will cost more than the shirt did in the first place…

In a society where you can buy an outfit for less than a warm meal have clothes become so disposable to us that at the first sign of flaw or at the end of the fashion season we simply discard them like so much rubbish? The above quote is from a futuristic novel which describes a society so bent on consumerism that mending clothes is unheard of, and as such clothes no longer have any value.

Our ethos is just the opposite of this; the pieces that are created for Threads of Peru are handcrafted by Andean women to be well made, individual and from a fashion point of view, timeless. Our products are designed to last for years to come and are not gimmicky or faddy.

One of our scarves with its classic design and good quality which is designed to last a lifetime.

We feel that when our customers buy a piece from us they are making an investment, both in a beautiful piece of apparel for the future but also in the lives of the craftswomen who created it.

The piece is 100% organic, soft, and warm. Particularly the natural alpaca pieces are in soft browns, grays and hues that are classic colours that can complement the look of the season.

We realize that when it comes to clothes, people are going to buy something because it appeals to them and they feel attractive wearing it.  However, we do encourage you to think of a Threads of Peru purchase as something that will last for much longer than a season.  It was not mass produced, but created using an ancient tradition and purchased fairly to ensure the continuity of this rare craft.

Frankie Ginnett, Project Assistant and Volunteer Co-ordinator