Weaving as the wise men

Santiago Lux Chacaj is one of the founding members of The 12 Wise Men weaving cooperative in Chiquimula [Marcella Haddad]

The Twelve Wise Men weaving co-operative in Guatemala was so named because it was started by just a dozen men, but has grown so much that its wares are now sold all over the country

Just 12 men and four looms were needed to start off The Twelve Wise Men weaving cooperative - but today it has 49 members and 24 looms.

The group sells its wares in the capital, Guatemala City, and other big cities like Chimaltenango and San Francisco, home to one of the biggest markets in Guatemala as well as smaller local markets.

United by CAFOD partner the parish of Santa Maria de Chiquimula, the weavers all work together to boost their profits. And, to buy more looms and the products they need for making cloth, it is cheaper for them to buy in bulk.

One of the weavers is Juan Joj Mejia, who says: ”We are a small community but among us there are people who are not Catholics, from other churches and religions. We don’t see religion, we see the need in our community and population.”

Santa Maria de Chiquimula is one of several parishes within the Archdiocese of Los Altos - where the population is mainly indigenous Mayan communities - to be working on recovering and disseminating knowledge of Mayan spirituality, traditions and values to help build a more integrated and inclusive church.

Parishes have also brought together community members to work for the common good, for example, raising living standards to an acceptable level.

Jorgé Sarsanedas has been working for the parish for eight years as a priest: “The price of petrol has doubled in recent years. The cost of living is expensive so poverty has increased and people are having trouble affording to feed their families.”

Santiago Lux Chacaj, one of the founder members of the association, explains: “We all work in our own homes as we don’t have space to put all the looms together as a factory.

"We have to attach the looms to the roof to keep them still when we’re weaving so one roof wouldn’t take the weight of so many looms.

“Before, I was working in the fields, not earning much, 15 Quetzales – that’s £1.30 – a month. It was nearly impossible for the family to survive on this. Now we can afford to look after our families. We put our money together.

“Now we can make our own clothes too, and it’s cheaper than buying them.”

Shared costs, shared benefits

As a co-operative the weavers buy thread every two months. They put all their money together and have a shared bank account.

Two people go and buy as much thread as they can in one visit and collect it in a pick-up truck. One trip every two months is a great saving rather than each of them making the journey every week.

Two founder members of The Twelve Wise Men weaving cooperative - Santiago Lux Chacaj and Marcelino Sapon Casto - with their certificate providing legal recognition of their association. [Marcella Haddad]

The company is registered as Twelve Wise Men ("Kab’la Juj Noj” in the native language of K’iche), and the original 12 members take it in turns to sell the cloth each month in Chimaltenango, each going one month every year.

“We also sell them in the community and in San Francisco. We don’t have cars so we go by bus. It’s a two-hour journey to San Francisco and it costs a lot because if we take the cloth sometimes we have to pay a lorry to take us,” says Santiago.

Schooling for the kids

Santiago didn’t study at school but he can now afford to send his children. They also help with the weaving when they get home.

“The older children, the ones over 15, study in the afternoons,” he says. “We have to pay for the books and an annual subscription of 600 or 700 Quetzales – that’s between £40-£50 - per year for each child. According to the state it’s free but we always have to pay something.

“It’s nice to work at home with the family. Some people do other work during the day so they get home around 8pm or later and can continue to work at home. The younger children come home from school and can work in the afternoons.”

“Before, we didn’t have food. We just ate tortillas. Now we have something to eat. We can go to the shops. We have seeds and we now have time to grow our own vegetables for the family too.

"Now we are starting other work – we are able to breed rabbits and feed our children well.

“We thank God and CAFOD for this achievement. Before we were a small group, we didn’t meet up. Now we are very thankful because we have just received our papers to say we are registered as a company, we have legal status and are working."

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