Dana poses with the young weavers in Huilloc
By chance, I was walking through the plaza in Ollantaytambo to place an order with the ladies from Chaullacocha on April 25th, 2015 and was approached by 2 young girls from Huilloc who began telling me about the weaving association that they were recently forming. With the entregas in Chaullacocha and Rumira Sondormayo coming the week after, I scheduled a visit to Huilloc on the way to learn more about them, tell them more about Threads of Peru, and hear about their work goals.
On May 2nd, I and volunteer Claire Heath were greeted with incredible hospitality - lunch was SO yummy - by a group of 18 young girls aged 13-18 who are already progressing with their official registration as an association. Read more about our first visit in Claire's blog about The Next Generation of Weavers. They seemed to have an older woman from the community, as well as a young man named Daniel supporting and guiding them in their efforts but they did not have any connections or contacts and seem very hopeful that TOP would be their outlet.
Dana checks out a sample weaving - already so accomplished!
For their age, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of weaving they showed me (just a few table runners and scarves): the designs are well-executed, the colors very vibrant, straight edges and a nice finish. Already so accomplished!
Master Weaver Daniel Sonqo leads a workshop for the young Huilloc women
Little by little, we began working with them, testing out their abilities by bringing small orders at first and also engaging Master Weaver Daniel Sonqo to come and do a workshop with them. These girls, who are absolutely lovely, are the embodiment of what TOP is working for - the next generation taking pride in their communities and culture by continuing to weave traditional textiles.
Handwoven textiles still on the loom, ready to be transformed into change purses!
Want to support this up-and-coming group of young weavers? Check out their KANTU keychains, made exclusively by them! Or, peruse our selection of QOLQE change purses which are made by a variety of weaving communities, including Huilloc.