Mis Mujeres (My Ladies)

As I wind down my Peace Corps experience I figure now that I only have a month and a half left that it is time to do a recap of the work I have done and my experiences here.
One of the groups I focused on in my town, San Pedro de Vilcabamba, was the women´s Association 23 of June. This group of women was started over 20 years ago as a way for the ladies of my town to make a living by selling toasted and ground coffee. Then about 15 years ago a Peace Corps volunteer was able to convince them to start making cards and books out of recycled paper. These days they still make a small amount of coffee but their main focus is on the recycled paper products.
Many of you reading this have probably seen their products. They are beautifully decorated cards, books, boxes, bookmarks, and picture frames that have all been made and decorated by hand.
When I got to San Pedro I first noticed that these ladies have a great product and that there is a market for their goods in both Ecuador and the US. So my first course of action was to create a small ¨marketing plan¨ for them to help them get their name out to the local tourists coming into Vilcabamba and the in the city of Loja which is about an hour away. The first thing I did with them was gave them a little workshop on what marketing is and how it is essential to a business like theirs. After the workshop, the other volunteer in my site, Lindsay and I created some pamphlets, business cards, mini-posters and ultimately a website as marketing collateral. Then we went around with a couple members of the women´s association to all of the different hostels here in Vilcabamba and left the posters and pamphlets in an effort to get tourists to make 20 minute hike up the hill to San Pedro to check out the women´s group.
Another problem I saw with the women was that they were very content with just sitting in their office and making the recycled paper products and did not want to leave. But if they could make the effort at least once every couple of months they could have some great success selling to local artesenia shops in both Vilcabamba and Loja. So I spoke with the women and we elected two of the more outgoing ladies to become the association´s Sales team. Armed with a catalog of all their products and business cards I had made for them we hit the streets first in Loja and then in Vilcabamba. Who would´ve guessed but it was a great success and just about every store we went into placed orders of $50 and more of their products. I then created a contact list of all the stores for the women in hopes that they would continue to stay in contact with these stores for future business.
Unfortunately I cannot lie and say that working with the women´s group has been super easy. They definitely are a very fun and upbeat group of ladies who are always up for improving their business with my help but once I stepped away and left it their hands to continue with these marketing and sales activities everything immediately stopped. This was definitely a huge frustration for me as it seemed like all the work I had done for them had been for nothing. I had to ask myself ¨Do these ladies really want the business?¨ or are they content with just sitting around, laughing and gossiping with the other members and making less than minimum wage. The conclusion I came to is this: these women do want to work and will work hard but only if it lands on their doorstep. They need some type of fulltime salesperson who will just call them once a week with orders. Which lead me to another barrier seeing as the ladies are very reluctant to let anyone else into their little ¨club.¨
So going forward I have decided that, after seeing the success these products have in the US, I will be that outlet for them. My plan is to create a website and to work with local card/artesenia shops in order to continue selling their products in the US. The biggest problem with this is getting the products to the US for a somewhat reasonable price, something that I am happy to say I think I have figured out!
Looking back on my work with the women has definitely been an amazing experience. Some of the highlights of my past two years with them have been first and foremost just sitting around with them and drinking coffee and chatting it up. I am also happy to say that my efforts did have some success for them. They went from selling their products in only two stores in Loja to now selling them in 6 and in Vilcabamba went from one store to four stores (And already have two selling their stuff in the US). Also when I arrived they were only making about $15-20 per week selling their items in a local market. Now, with the help from some large orders in the US and one for Christmas gift bags by the US Embassy in Ecuador, I would say their average weekly income as an organization has gone up to about $100-150. Most recently, I was able to use some extra money made from a large Christmas order to take the entire group on a weekend long ¨field trip¨ to do an intercultural exchange with the Ecuadorian Indigenous Tribe named the Tsachilas. A trip that was very important for them in understanding the other cultures of Ecuador as well as a rare opportunity for them to leave their little town of San Pedro de Vilcabamba.
Working with these ladies has been truly an amazing experience filled with its ups and downs but one thing I will tell you is that they have always been very appreciative of any help I gave them. They are truly a special bunch of ladies and I am looking forward to the possibility of continuing to work with them in the future.