Today we would like to introduce you to Blanca, a member of our cooperative who is in charge of quality control along with washing and ironing our products. Blanca has a keen eye and carefully checks every product we make for any flaws before shipping them out.
My name is Blanca Angelita Huinil Velasquez. I am a single mother to 2 and 4 year old daughters. My four year old attends school at XNQ preschool while I work. I am very happy that she can go, because I didn’t have the opportunity to go to preschool. I am also happy that the school is in the same place where I work.
Before I began to work with Mayamam Weavers, I didn’t have any money and my daughters and I were living with my parents. My sister Rosemery talked to Grupo Cajola (where she works as a cook in the preschool) to see if there was any kind of work for me. Eduardo, the coordinator, offered me work washing and ironing Mayamam Weavers products. When I received my first pay, I was able to buy many things that I needed for my daughters. Before, I didn’t even have enough money for milk for my daughters or enough food.
When I started to work I didn’t know anything about ironing as I had never used an iron. Our cortes (skirts) and güipils (traditional blouses) don’t need ironing. I also didn’t know how to fold, much less how to check the quality of the products. During my training with the cooperative, I learned these skills along with the importance of having a product of high quality. I feel very proud to be working in this group that gave me this opportunity.
I would like to continue my studies to be a teacher because right now I only completed 8th grade. When I got married I couldn’t keep studying. I think that next year I will return to school on the weekends. I would like to be a professional to be able to earn more, to be an example for my daughters and the community so that people see that if you struggle to keep on studying you can graduate.
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