They Are Official

This past week the MNINI group of women reached an important milestone; they are now officially recognized as the first indigenous cooperative in the state of Jalisco. In celebration and to honor their supporters they held a ceremony and cooked a great meal. They also found out that they have been bestowed a grant to buy sewing machines in order to speed up tedious tasks such as sewing zippers and seams.
Among those given thanks were Danielle Strickland, the founder of CODENI and large mover and shaker behind this group, as well as Meghan Collins Sullivan who wrote the grant proposal for the sewing machines, and Kevin Kovaleski, a photographer who was here this past week focusing on documenting these Otomí women. We arrived to find Felipa grinding fresh cumin...

Bernadita and Alberta making corn tortillas...


and Maura and Nicasia stirring mole in an enormous ceramic bowl.

Above Danielle is speaking with Juana, one of the leaders of MNINI and owner of the house where we meet every other Thursday.

Edith

Rosa and Francisca joking with each other after dressing in their traditional clothes

Sofía, Rosa and Maura waiting to begin their ceremony

Meghan, Sofía and her son Jorge

Preparation of food

Ruth (who has been a large supporter of MNINI and offers literacy classes for the women three times a week), Rosa, Francisca and Bernadita

The lawyer who helped the group become recognized by the state, handing over the official papers to Rosa. This lawyer is indigenous as well and left Chiapas as a 13-year-old to seek out a better life for himself.



With official recognition, the promise of sewing machines and their first big order for Twisted Goods in Canada nearing completion, we are full of hope that success will continue for these women.

Literacy / Alfabetización

Beginning in January a group of women in the cooperative began taking literacy classes three mornings a week. Ruth Martinez Lopez of UACI (Unit of Support for Indigenous Communities) and Pia Aubert, a student at the University of Guadalajara head up to Cerro del Cuatro each Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning to run classes out of Rosa Gonzalez's home from 8am until 9:30am. The women are at different stages of learning; from those who are forming the shapes and sounds of letters, to those who are a bit further along and are learning to read simple sentences and solve math equations. This is just one more step to enabling the cooperative members to become more independent, and is empowering the MNINI Cooperative as an organization.

Empezaba en enero, una grupo de mujeres de la cooperativa estan aprendiendo a leer y escribir en Español. Ruth Martinez Lopez de UACI Unidad de Apoyo a las Comunidades Indígenas y Pia Aubert, una estudiante de Universidad de Guadalajara van a Cerro del Cuatro cada lunes, miercoles y viernes por la mañana y enseñan clases en la casa de Rosa Gonzalez Gomez de 8 hasta 9:30. Las mujeres estan a niveles differentes; de aquéllas estan tratando a escribir formas de letras y sondear palabras, a aquéllas estan leyendo oraciónes sencillas, y resolver ecuaciónes matemáticas. Este es una mas ejemplo de mas independencia y confianza para los miembros de MNINI.

Bienvenidos a la Organización/ Welcome to MNINI

The meeting place
Lugar para las reuniónes

Modesta

Francisca Felix Ceveriano

Juana, Adriana and Maura

The women and their designs
Las mujeres y sus diseños

The cooperativa kids
Las niñas de MNINI

Preparing potato chips to sell in the city center
Preparando papas fritas a vender en la cuidad

View from Cerro del Cuatro, Guadalajara, México
Vista de Cerro del Cuatro