HISTORY OF MAYAN FAMILIES WOMEN'S GROUP

HISTORY .

In 2004 the Women’s group, “Mujeres de Bahia de San Jorge de la Laguna” was formed.  Initially with 150 women but it has since grown to 212.  

These are indigenous women from the department of Sololá.  Most of them do not speak Spanish, they speak a Mayan dialect.

  Most of them have never been to school or at the best have received a few years schooling.  A few can sign their own names, most use thumbprints and ink.  

The usual source of employment for them is weaving or making beaded jewelry. 

 There are many women wanting to join but unfortunately due to limited resources we are restricting the group to this number.

FIRST PROJECT. CLOTHING DISTRIBUTION.

Our first project with this group was the distribution of clothing and household goods.  This group demonstrated a willingness to work together and was very organized.

SECOND PROJECT.  CHICKEN PROJECT.

The women presented a proposal that they would like a chicken project.  We were fortunate to receive funding and 200 women each received 10 chickens. These chickens cost us $1.86 each and were fully vaccinated.

 We did not distribute them all at once. We did a lottery the first week of the month, 20 women who won would then have until the next week to build their chicken coops and have food and water waiting for the chickens which would be delivered the following week.   There was a lot of pressure on the participants because if they failed to look after their chickens then the program would be suspended and the rest of the group would not receive their chickens.

We are pleased to say that it was a very successful program. There was a very low death rate amongst the chickens and the women were able to sell their chickens for between $6 and $7.33.  Most of the women chose to sell one, buy two more and increase their flock of chickens and their wealth. Some women due to lack of space decided to sell them all at once and invest the money either in materials for weaving or beads for jewelry.  Both are primary means of support for women in San Jorge.

The families usually killed at least one chicken per 10 to eat thus increasing the protein in their diets.

Now one year later the majority of women still are breeding and selling chickens, increasing the income and diet of their families.

THIRD PROJECT.   MICRO LOANS. 

We started this with $3,000 and have used the same principles of the chicken project.

We had a lottery and chose 15 women. They received Q1,000. each ( $133.) We now have 45 women who have received loans. We have had a 100% repayment on all loans.  The women are responsible for making their $13.50 payment each month to the bank and then giving the deposit slip to one of the four directors of the group. When they have collected all the deposit slips they bring them to us in Panajachel.

We have only one time had two women who were late on payments and the women quickly went to the homes of these women, and made sure that they would be making their payment the next day.  The continuance of the loans depends on everyone making their payments.  The Directors of the group have signed a paper saying that they will be responsible for anyone who does not make their payments. Therefore there is a lot of pressure from within the group to make sure the payments are met.

This is an interest free loan with a Q10 ($1.33) charge to cover administration costs.

Most of these women had never been to a bank and one of the aims we had was to make these women feel comfortable to use a bank and to know how to fill out deposit slips etc.   They each receive a booklet with the dates and amounts of their payments and so far this has worked very well.

We have recently had a survey done on the group which is available to you on the submission.

We have had one woman open a store; she is also selling beaded jewelry with the profits she made from her chickens.

Another woman bought an ice machine that grinds ice and then they put flavor and fruit on it. This is very popular on a hot day.   She bought her first machine with proceeds from the chicken project. She received a micro loan for the second machine and from profits from sales of these two machines she has since bought a third machine and now employs people to run the other two machines.

Another woman bought two blenders with the micro loans and now has a small business selling blended drinks (liquados) from the window of her kitchen.

Many took the loan to increase an already existing business.

One woman bought a stove top to increase her tortilla business.

Yet another woman used it to buy more food supplies for her cart where she sells

cooked food in the street.

A lot of women have used the micro loans to be able to buy thread and beads wholesale thus increasing their profits on their weavings and beaded jewelry.

Another woman’s family was renting a house and had already constructed their own home but could not move in because they had no money for the doors and windows.  She took the micro loan to be able to buy the doors and windows thus increasing the family income by not having to pay rent.

The women in this group are very motivated to do anything that they can to increase the income for their families.

FOURTH PROJECT.  SEWING PROJECT.

We were fortunate to have 11 sewing machines donated.
The majority of women wanted to learn to sew.  Part of their traditional clothing includes aprons that have machine embroidery on it plus their traditional skirts (cortes) also includes machine embroidery.  The women really wanted to learn to sew to be able to make these items for themselves but also are able to then make money buying sewing these items for other women.    The eleven women have done four months of classes twice a week. They are very excited about learning this skill. They now can sew purses, shorts, blouses and the traditional clothing.  This class is now about to graduate and we are trying to get funding to buy them their own machines.  We are doing the classes by lottery and the next group of eleven women have already been chosen and are waiting to start.   We have a professional tailor who teaches the women and he also repairs the machines.         

OTHER EVENTS.

 

With this group we have coordinated a medical team to San Jorge la Laguna who attended to the general population.

We have had the group “Wings” come to San Jorge to talk to the group about birth control.

Last Christmas we held a Christmas party, had Santa Claus distribute gifts to the children. The women organized the party, collected funds from the group, cooked the food and organized the games for the women to play. For most of them it was the first time that they had ever had a Christmas party.

We have also been fortunate to construct three houses for widows who were unable to fix their dilapidated houses.

This group of women is highly organized and very motivated to improve their lives and the lives of their families and the community in general.