We saw a wide variety of tiny tetras, angel fish, arawanas, pirañas, electric eels, spotted stingrays, striped catfish, beautiful discus and other popular ornamental species. They also had sabalo whose export for the aquarium trade is banned since it is a vital source of protein and income for fishing families in the region.
The Marca Loreto gives Garza Viva the right to use the brand for two years. Its benefits include officially recognizing the quality of our products and certifies they were genuinely made in Loreto. This seal can increase their appeal and prestige at local, national, and international levels and create opportunities to participate in national and international events and fairs to increase visibility and sales.
"I had heard about marketing before, but didn't I didn't quite understand what it meant. Now I know how it can help us share the story behind our crafts and reach more people." - Angelica - artisan from Ancon Colonia
One of the very talented workshop participants was 24-year old Bora native artisan Morelia who is a mother and leader in her community that hosted the training. She said, "This workshop was an incredible opportunity for me to learn and improve. While I am still learning, I feel motivated to innovate and keep working with this art, as it helps us economically. I want to encourage others to continue learning and perfecting their skills. That's why I enjoy attending these kinds of workshops."
Emily bought a bluebird ornament since she and her mother had a strong connection to this flying friend. I enjoyed Jhoti's kirtan group for a while before packing up. After everything was loaded into the car and trailer, I played a few sea shanties and my whale song accompanied by Michael and Emily slapping the stage. It was a much smaller event than the music festivals I usually vend at, but it left me with a spiritually enriched heart.
I went online and found a wide variety of nice ornament trees. A few resembling trees with twisted metal branches seemed interesting, but they were expensive and I could never make them. I could buy one I could bring to a festival or trade show in my car, but if I wanted to give our store customers an attractive and cost-effective way to display our birds and butterflies, I would need to design something they could receive in the mail and easily assemble.
When everyone else had left, Yuri, Judith and I spent a few hours packing up all of the crafts and display materials and loaded them into my car. I was happy we had sold far more crafts this weekend than any previous year. I also brought home with me so much gratitude that so many Friends wanted to support our work.
One touching moment was a comment from artisan Marilia was an accomplished weaver. She told us with a smile, "I enjoyed making the bird and want to keep practicing. It was the first time I had woven something like this. I didn’t think I could do it at first, but I liked it and while it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t too difficult. I felt very supported by the facilitators and my companions, which made it very comfortable and fun. I learned a lot and am motivated to keep improving."
Andrea spent months working with this designer and four artisans to make dozens of colorful balsa wood birds and giant chambira butterflies. The birds included an egret, tiger heron, toucan, macaws and a kingfisher. When we stopped at the mall after visiting the aquarium, I loved seeing these creatures twirl around in a mild breeze.
I was most happy to hear the Chino artisans wanted to resume attending our bird ornament workshops. Half of them have made some birds based on what they learned five years ago, but they were eager to improve the quality of these woven animals they could sell to their visitors and have secure sales to us.
I selected a few baskets laid out on benches and placed an order for elegant two-color models. Lindy reported good progress making lady bug ornaments and planned to attend our artisan facilitator training. We were happy the group looked forward to hosting a bird-making workshop in July with artisans from 3 Tahuayo communities.
When I started attending their annual meetings in different parts of the US, I knew I had found an important new tribe. Many of these enterprises were started by former Peace Corp volunteers, mission oriented people from churches and others like me who had had a life-changing experience meeting traditional artisans.
One artisan set up an iconic shot with artisan hands surrounding a rainbow of colored chambira. The workshop leaders then chose 15 of the hundreds of images taken during the workshop for an exhibition hosted by the Ministry of Culture Amazon Museum in Iquitos.
The artisan leader Francisca said the Days for Girls kits were much appreciated because they were more comfortable and cleaner than the rags they used to use during their periods, saved them time and money to buy paper sanitary products in Nauta and reduced the disposal of these items in their communities.
"While concepts like punctuality, mutual respect, no put downs of self or others, and listening when someone else is speaking may seem like obvious guidelines to form a positive community, a commitment to actually practice and hold each other accountable to observe these agreements is profound in a culture where showing up late, malicious gossip, and interrupting a speaker are painfully common."
