Today I thought I would have the privilege to sleep in. I stayed the night at the Morelia caracol and I slept in a hammock in a cabin shared with the DESMI staff. The DESMI staff had to wake up early as their workshops were going to start at 6am. I watched them all leave from my hammock.
Then Rosaluz came in and said, "I tried to come last night to talk to you but the lights were out."
"Yes, that's right. The DESMI staff wanted to sleep because they had to wake up early today," I responded as I snuggled in my hammock.
"Well, I wanted to tell you that the Junta would like you to talk to the women artisans."
"Oh, that's great. When would they like to get together?"
"The women decided they want to talk to you before the DESMI workshop."
"Oh, that workshop starts at 6am." Then it suddenly sunk in. "That means they want to talk to me now?"
"Um... yes."
So much for sleeping in!
When I entered the training hall, the women artisans were already waiting for me. They started the meeting by welcoming me and asked me to talk about my visit.
All these women are representatives, chosen by their communities to be responsible for coming to the trainings and then inform the rest on how the cooperative is coming about. In fact, the women have just started this process and after talking to me, they will continue their training on what constitutes a cooperative.
This group is unique as they are the first group of artisans who have decided to become an autonomous cooperative. This means that they don't have to go through the long legal process that is required when registering with the governmental system. Instead, they need to be recognized by the Junta (Good Governance Council). Nevertheless, they want to create a cooperative that is legitimate, so they are taking the positive parts of what is usually required to have a cooperative.
I asked them what was their dream of having this cooperative, why did they want to form it. After some silence, one artisan spoke out:
"Our dream to have a cooperative is to be united. We are all trying to sell our products in the market to earn some money but we don't want to compete with each other. We don't want one municipality to sell more than the other. (The cooperative has members from 7 municipalities and 4 regions.) Instead, we want to unite so that the money can be distributed to everyone."
I could tell that not all the women were jumping to talk openly, except the coordinator who was doing a great job leading and encouraging the group while she tried to comfort her baby at the same time. But the fact that they are all participating in this workshop speaks a thousand words.
The women are here because they want to be here. This is a workshop that they have asked to have and not because it is being offered by an organization. You can tell the difference as I can see that even the quiet ones are paying close attention.
This cooperative is ambitious, trying to include indigenous women who speak different Mayan languages and Spanish. But it is their decision as a group to create this cooperative and apparently that communication among them has been very clear!
Kat
Then Rosaluz came in and said, "I tried to come last night to talk to you but the lights were out."
"Yes, that's right. The DESMI staff wanted to sleep because they had to wake up early today," I responded as I snuggled in my hammock.
"Well, I wanted to tell you that the Junta would like you to talk to the women artisans."
"Oh, that's great. When would they like to get together?"
"The women decided they want to talk to you before the DESMI workshop."
"Oh, that workshop starts at 6am." Then it suddenly sunk in. "That means they want to talk to me now?"
"Um... yes."
So much for sleeping in!
When I entered the training hall, the women artisans were already waiting for me. They started the meeting by welcoming me and asked me to talk about my visit.
All these women are representatives, chosen by their communities to be responsible for coming to the trainings and then inform the rest on how the cooperative is coming about. In fact, the women have just started this process and after talking to me, they will continue their training on what constitutes a cooperative.
This group is unique as they are the first group of artisans who have decided to become an autonomous cooperative. This means that they don't have to go through the long legal process that is required when registering with the governmental system. Instead, they need to be recognized by the Junta (Good Governance Council). Nevertheless, they want to create a cooperative that is legitimate, so they are taking the positive parts of what is usually required to have a cooperative.
I asked them what was their dream of having this cooperative, why did they want to form it. After some silence, one artisan spoke out:
"Our dream to have a cooperative is to be united. We are all trying to sell our products in the market to earn some money but we don't want to compete with each other. We don't want one municipality to sell more than the other. (The cooperative has members from 7 municipalities and 4 regions.) Instead, we want to unite so that the money can be distributed to everyone."
I could tell that not all the women were jumping to talk openly, except the coordinator who was doing a great job leading and encouraging the group while she tried to comfort her baby at the same time. But the fact that they are all participating in this workshop speaks a thousand words.
The women are here because they want to be here. This is a workshop that they have asked to have and not because it is being offered by an organization. You can tell the difference as I can see that even the quiet ones are paying close attention.
This cooperative is ambitious, trying to include indigenous women who speak different Mayan languages and Spanish. But it is their decision as a group to create this cooperative and apparently that communication among them has been very clear!
Kat
Labels: cooperatives, DESMI, Morelia
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