Daily Intentions: Lema

This morning we took a boat ride across Lago Atilan which is a lake within a dormant volcano. It was a spectacular morning with a clear sky and a perfect temperature. We decided to just visit the one town of San Juan but around the lake there are multiple great destinations I have visited in the past.

Lago de Atilan

Boat ride in the volcanoe lake

SolCom (the social entrepreneurship NGO we are with) supports San Juan's entrepreneurial women's group and so we decided to first visit their production site and store. Lema is a textile co-op composed of approximately 8 women that do everything from collecting the plants to dying the cotton and selling their beautiful finished handmade products - all within the compounds of Maria's back yard!

I was completely mesmerized by the whole process and amazed that such an organic method could produce such intricate designs.

Currently the women have to buy their cotton from the city but prior to the tropical storm a few years ago, they had cotton plants in San Juan. The wipe out of their local cotton supply and the overall global increase in cotton prices have both contributed to higher procurement costs and tighter profit margins. The women also struggle finding a consistent supply of the herbs needed to create the dyes and therefore, they have started saving to invest in seeds for a garden.

Our group discussed other ways to help the business such as moving their finished products to more accessible and profitable locations beyond San Juan and Antigua. There is a website promoting Lema but it needs to be updated and a marketing plan could really help the women sell more for a greater profit. However, the logistics are very complicated since the town is on a volcanic lake within a country lacking infrastructure.

I could see a business student camping out in San Juan for months working with these talented women. Part of me wanted to volunteer myself but I can't quit school with 3/4 of an MBA!

Anyway, the visit was probably my favorite part of the whole trip and I gained so much respect for the women and the art of fabric making. I even tried to use the weave and was shocked by the amount of concentration and labor that goes into each purse, scarf or table cloth. I bought a few gifts after the demo and felt guilty that I had been bargaining so hard earlier in the week for my souvenirs.

The experience helped me see the benefits of working closely with the local talent to help them organize, operate and market their goods so they get the money they deserve! It was a real fair trade lesson far more impactful than any text reading on fair pay in the developing world.