As we leave 2011, new horizons and new help

Up date on the Rancheritas

1. Bonifacia Tovar, the group leader, will be a special invitee to the 2013 biannual ATHA Conference.

2. Shows in Austin in Dec were good. Sales around $2000.

3. We have a new angel on board. I women here in Austin with energy, intelligents and savvy is delighted by the project and wants to help. She has all the rugs for the month of Jan while I am gone and will be selling them around Texas. She has great ideas on possible avenues for sales and shares my dream of Las Rancheritas being the next Grenfell. She also has a freind who will help with the website, Yeh!!  The idea is to put certain items like the bags and pillows for direct sales. The women are now producing at least 4 of each pattern so we will have a small stalk to sell from. Poco a poco.

4. Kate Kiely of Rochester, a long time supporter, has a big shippment of wool to send to me in Feb. 

5. We will see about getting started on the remodeling of the shop this winter as well.

So we enter the new year with hope and plans. 

I'm off to Mexico tomorrow to see the women, send some up dated photos and get more rugs!!

Regards,

Charlotte

Happy New Year

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New Rugs in the USA

Hi Everyone. I have been absent from posting for a while but I'm back. And I have some wonderful new products for you to see. Las Rancheritas have made pillows and tote bags using the wonderful hand dyed wool from this summer. We are hoping that we can find catalogues or other sites that can carry our products. They are for sale now on etsy. Check the website since all the rugs listed are in the USA and available. They just keep getting better. 

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Holiday gifts. I am also attaching a Holiday letter with the suggestion of giving Rancherita rugs as gifts this year. You will also note donations for an exciting new venture: a store!![[posterous-content:pid___1]]The village has given Las Rancheritas a building. It is sound construction but ruff on details. The plan is to remodel it and create a store and mini restaurant. The location is stunning with views of the mountains and San Miguel to the NW.  Agustin Gonzales is on the road and only 3 miles from a 1000 year old pyramid that opened in Feb. http://www.tourist-a.com/canada-de-la-virgen/ this is an amazing draw for tourism and to get there you must drive right through Agustin Gonzales. That plus the many adventure tours in the area make the concept of a successful store a real possibility. 
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Next blog will be about our meeting with the villagers where we obtained permission to remodel the building. 

Check out the website. www.rughookproject.com. The rugs are great and available now.

A fancy luncheon in the country to benefit girls education

Mujeres en Cambio is the umbrella organization that began the Rug Hook Project. Their mission is to provide scholarships for girls so they can continue their education. It does cost money to attend school. They focus on girls 13 and up. One of the ways the raise the funds is through monthly luncheons and a few times of the year have special events like the one shown here. Patsy Dubois has this charming restaurant/event center about 1/2 hour from San Miguel. Every summer she makes a scrumptious luncheon at her mini hacienda. All the money for the tickets goes to scholarships. She donates the food and labor. 

Our Rancheritas sell their rugs at these luncheons as well. For many years this was the only way they sold their rugs. 

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Sewing and Dying lessons with Las Rancheritas

I've been waiting for this day since spring. The 45 yards of natural wool has been stored way ready to be transformed into color and Sunday was the day. We created a day dying a sewing.  Judy Christoffersen with her sisters Mary Beth and Becky where on hand help with the process plus teach sewing. Becky has taught sewing to Junior high kids for years. We brought the sewing machine they donated and Jennifer Phillips, Mujeres en Cambio president, translated the first sewing lessons. The general opinion was they are natural seamstresses. We are now looking for more machines so they can make bags and pillows to attach their rugs to. We are on the trail of products that can be repeated and placed in catalogues and on etsy. And now we are well on the way. These photos will say it all.  Everyone had so much fun and the out come was excellent. The kids were helping and the enthusiastism was contagious.. Check out the photos.   

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Here are the sewing lessons. 

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Woman having fun, soccer in the campo

This soccer game happened just down the hill from Agustin Gonzales. To get there I have to travel on a dirt road for about 5 miles. Actually I parked my car by the side of the road part way and walked the last 15 minutes since the road carrened down a river bank and traveled awhile down the gravel riverbed before turning back into the path. But what a beautiful walk along the river and through the green fields where sheep and horses were grazing. Corn is looking pretty good considering the rains arrived late. As you will see in the photos the game was held on a grassy field between two corn fields. This is their community soccer field. Several pick up trucks with the husbands, boyfriends, brothers and other family members were parked at the side lines watching these very tough competitive women run their buts off, bouncing balls off their heads and generally having a great time. Also watching was one man and his horse who had been in the field cutting corn. He dumped his bundle, sat down in the grass and proceeded to watch the game. Afterward they posed for a team photo and we all piled in the back of a pickup truck and headed back to the road and my car. As I bumped along in the back of that truck I though "boy is this living". I have had this thought in several Mexican pickup trucks. You can see in one of those photos the river bed we had to drive in.

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 Just to clarify this particular game was not with the rug hookers or their daughters, although those young women also play the game. One of the team members is the mother of my god daughter. Part of the reason for this blog is to acquaint you with live in this part of Mexico.

Wool distribution and new rugs

Last week I brought the donated wool to the village. As you can see from the photos also included were 2 bolts of fabric: one red one blue. I also brought down the 45 yards of white wool financed by Gene Shepherds group, Kate Kiely's group and the prize money from the San Antonio show. We are saving that white wool for dying purposes, which will take place this weekend. I got a great price on the red and blue wool so I purchased that as well since these are some of their most used colors.
You will note that they are now making little piles of all the donated wool. This is a new process. They place all the wool into color groupings and divided each color evenly between all the piles. This is a more democratic way to share the colors. I have no idea how this came about but I imagine some of the women were feeling they were not getting the best choice of colors. I find these small changes a good sign of their developing organizational skills. Also women are asking for what they want which is not traditional. There is an old tradition of women having no voice.

Also note photos of new rugs and a lovely photo of Boni. She had the big non-malignant tumor removed from her eyelid thanks to donations from some of you all.

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I have a meeting tomorrow with Marisposa, http://mariposassanmiguel.com/home.html, an embroidry project, and the Lavendar Project. These groups also help people in the villages. More on that later in the week.

Also note this link. http://mapaverdesanmiguel.org/directory/social.php?locale=en

 

Return to Mexico a hear warming story

Well, I've been caught in my capitalist life in the USA and not posted for a while. But get ready because I just returned to Mexico and there is lots of news here. What makes this trip special is I brought Felipe back to Mexico. If this is new to you check back on the blog about him. Basically he has worked illegally in the USA on and off for many years. The most recent started in January. As you can imagine it is tough working without papers. They have no US identification no divers license, no bank account, no recourse if the are not paid and basically are dependent solely on temporary work as they compete with thousands of others. He decided, after working in San Antonio in the 100+ heat reroofing a house, that it was time to return home. Since I was driving down and needed a rider he came with me. I learned a lot about crossing the border and living in the USA as an illegal. I also had a great opportunity to practice my Spanish with a patient teacher. 

These pictures are of Felipe and his family when we arrived. They were so pleased to have their daddy back.

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I am now teaching him how to find work using gringo methods in San Miguel. Part of the problem is that most Mexicans don't realize there are ways to advertise with little money to find work. He speaks some English so little by little I hope he can establish himself here and not need to go back to the states. Although, just in case, I have told him to apply for working papers. It may take some time but eventually he should get those papers. Then he can come back and forth easily. The bus is cheap and fast so he can work for a couple of months and then come home. Illegasl want to stay for extended periods because it is expensive, sometimes dangerous and time consuming to cross illegally. 
So I wanted to share with you a real story abouta  Mexican working in the USA.

Next blog will be on the white wool coming to Las Rancheritas.  

Meet Leonor Negrete

Leonor is a power house. She is always busy in the fields or with the animals. Frequently when I visit the rancho Leonor brings me some of her fresh homemade goat cheese. I understand that she makes some of the best salsa mole in the village so expect her receipt this summer when I return. She has a large and very successful family.

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Her daughters and sons are all educated and the girls have jobs working in San Miguel. Her husband was the president of the village for a 6 year term which just ended. It appears that all the family work as a team to help each other out. They also work as a team on some of the rugs. Her daughter, Gaby, is one of the group secretaries. I will write about her in another blog. 
In the photo we see her with her stately mother who is showing her embroidery work. She would love to sell these if anyone is interested.

Leonora Negrete Hernandez     1963     4th grade  edu.
Venacio Ramirez Rameriz, husband   1962     work/farmer and construction, president of the village  Has never left Mexico to work in the USA

Adriana          1983          works as a maid           jr high

Jorge              1985        works in Arkansa illegally  jr high

Leopoldo         1986          farming with family          jr high

Anarosa          1989          maid                              high school

Gabriella         1990          maid                             high school 

Lorena            1993          maid                              high school

Beatric           1996          student

 Animals: 9 cows, 3 burros, 4 horses, 25 goats, 8 sheep