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Caryn Maxim, US liaison and interpreter
My name is Caryn Maxim and I have been working with a group of Maya Mam women in the western highlands of Guatemala for the past several years. (The Mam people are one of the 21 different ethnic Maya groups that live in Guatemala today, with their own language and culture and beautiful clothing.) We started on a process to enable them to take more control over their lives. (Their town has daunting statistics of poverty, more than 90% are poor and nearly 65% don't have enough to eat each day.) Some of them learned to sew on foot looms, others learned to sew on pedal-driven sewing machines. Many of them already knew how to weave on the traditional backstrap loom, and they all know how to embroider beautifully.
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| The Backstrap Loom Weavers |
We decided they should enter the U.S. market. Why? Because they need to earn a living wage, and the Guatemala market doesn't offer one. But we couldn't enter into the market of Wal-Mart or Target or even most department or specialty stores where U.S. consumers are looking for low prices. Since the route from Guatemala to the US includes a lot of shipping and other cost, there has been enormous downward pressure, especially with the so-called Free Trade Treaties, on the wages paid to the workers outside of the US. Although some may say that poorly paid work is better than no work, in the end poorly paid workers don't earn enough money to provide the minimum necessities to their families, especially education or adequate health care.
Therefore, we had to enter the "Fair Trade Market." And what does that mean? It means a market that has been created through educating consumers that there are more things to consider when you are buying something than the design and the price. It means taking into consideration the whole story of the product, especially the workers who made it. It means a commitment that those workers earn a living wage and work under healthy conditions. This does add to the cost of the item, but we can think about this as a commitment to human values rather than valuing money above all else. We can agree to pay more for the products we buy but we can be confident that there has been no exploitation that the workers have been paid a fair wage and work under safe conditions. Fair Trade also includes a commitment to environmentally sustainable practices and community development.
For the women of MayaMam Weavers, they are the owners of their own business, though they are still learning the skills with which to manage it. Importantly, they are working and providing for their families with their earnings. That seems fair to me!
Check out MayaMam Weavers products at their Etsy shop.
