For all the women behind our handmade pieces…
Today I commemorate all the women behind our handmade pieces, workingwomen, mothers and the guardians of ancestral textile knowledge that are part of our cultural identity. Unfortunately this knowledge runs the risk of being forgotten, if serious action is not taken.
Weaving, spinning, dyeing … it’s like life itself!
Dreams are woven, moments are spun and the life you want to lead is dyed with colors! But this story is not the same for everyone, it depends on where you were born, your environment and culture, to be able to earn a space where you are treated with dignity and respect that every person deserves.
65% of the weavers I work with are illiterate. They did not have the opportunity to study as children, not because they did not want to, but because where they live in their high Andean community, the nearest school is 5 hours by car. And of course they had other domestic work to attend to, between helping to raise their siblings, taking care of the cattle, planting and surviving amid intense climatic conditions without light or adequate infrastructure to protect them…. pure survival and great internal strength.
Some of them are my age and they are my friends. Through our bond I was able to learn to develop patience, to value nature more, to contemplate the beauty of the simple things, to see myself through their eyes and that they can also see themselves through mine … without prejudice, without differences, simply as we are and generate that space called “trust” that means that even if we do not speak the same language, we can communicate, thanks to the desire we have to do things together.
May more steps be taken for the women of the world with every day that comes!
Wherever they may be, in a company, on a mountain, at home, in any corner of planet earth … that our rights and our voices are not silenced, but rather strengthened to promote an evolutionary leap towards a more just, more dignified, more inclusive, more respectful world between human beings.
We still have a lot of work to do! Here is some referential data:
UN Source – BBC News Publication
- 2.7 billion women do not have access to the same job opportunities as men.
- One in three women continues to suffer gender violence.
- Of the 500 people in executive leadership positions who lead the world's highest-earning companies, less than 7% are women.
- The wage gap will not be closed until 2086 if the current trend is not counteracted.
