Art in a Guatemalan Village

I've just watched the light fade on my first tulips (orange, three days ago) as the snow falls. Typical Chicago in April.

We have so many ways of defining beauty. When I spoke on WBEZ's Worldview last August, I surprised myself by voicing a desire to work with art once basic needs are stabilized in the Guatemalan villages where Earthways helps support AFOPADI's work. But of course it's a matter of art existing in different forms. People have long recognized the artistry of the weavings. To bridge her shyness, I compared the woman's huipil with the color of her gladiolus. Below (Judette's photo), we got a demonstration of the intricate backstrap weaving process. Shortly afterwards, the weaver gave us samples of the natural shampoo (mostly aloe) she and 15 other woman have begun to manufacture. People did not use shampoo in the village before. This is one of the few successful micro-finance projects in the villages we visited. Another involves women who have learned how to slaughter their own pigs. Go local!