
Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war left not only many orphans but many widows. Today we visited a co-op a group of widows founded in this nearby town to produce goods to sell to support themselves.
They began with traditional weavings, then added smaller items like purses, coin purses and hacky sacks. Later they opened a small bakery and store.
We were told that it takes three months to set up the loom. On the right in the photo, the loops of blue yarn you see tied to the vertical threads program the loom to add a design within the fabric, such as a row of cats in a Mayan style. This programmed loom doubles the productivity of the weaver compared to the traditional back loom which requires adding the design by hand.
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