New Year's Resolutions with Puente Inca

Some of the knitters of the Puente Inca cooperative have already set goals for the new year. Read their resolutions below to find out what they personally and professionally want to achieve in 2017.

Maritza Baca Espinoza:
Maritza hopes that in 2017 the Puente Inca group will be able to work independently with a business in the Cusco region. She wants the group to finish their artisan center, especially the second floor, so that they can host visitors to their cooperative and have a permanent place to meet and work. Personally, Maritza aims to save enough to finish building her house, which still needs to be painted and furnished well. By making these improvements, she will be able to host tourists and use her extra income to buy more animals for farming.

Claudia Ccahua Huaman:
In 2017, Claudia wants to spend more time with her family, including her two younger brothers who have recently been away from home. Her favorite part of 2016 was working with the cooperative on knitting orders, and she hopes that there will be more work in 2017. She knows a big part of this is to keep improving the quality of her knitting, so she looks forward to participating in more Awamaki workshops next year.

Silvia Escobedo Alvarez:
Silvia aspires to a 2017 where her work benefits her children. To do this, she wants to work more as a team with her fellow cooperative members. She believes that if they have more group training sessions, then they will continue to advance as a group. Silvia looks forward to the completion of the Puente Inca artisan center next year because it will facilitate greater teamwork.

Gabina Sarcca Choque:
Gabina’s goal for next year is to work enough to pay for her daughter’s studies. She also sees the need for the group to have more trainings to improve the individual quality and collective organization of the group. By doing this, she is confident the Puente Inca cooperative will get more knitwear orders. Gabina also wants to branch out and add weaving to her workload in addition to knitting.

About Awamaki

Awamaki is a nonprofit fair trade social enterprise dedicated to connecting Andean artisan weavers with global markets. We collaborate with women artisans to support their efforts towards educational and financial independence by co-creating beautifully handcrafted knit and woven accessories using hertiage techniques.