We have provided 60 women artisans constant monthly jobs for the last 10 years. This means that every woman in our textile program can depend on receiving at least one knitting job every month and sometimes every 2 weeks. With the work they receive from the social enterprise of our Association, each woman earns Q200-800 per month, depending on the type of textile she weaves. 100% of women use this money to buy food for their families and also to pay for their children's studies.
In this area, most men only earn up to Q800 a month and many times, their jobs are temporary and they have no fixed income. The contributions that women have made to their communities and families by working with Yabal have greatly improved their standard of living and access to food for their families.
Education is also a great achievement for these families to provide for their children, so the monthly money they can earn with Yabal is important for them to provide an education to the next generation of communities. Also, the changes in self-esteem and empowerment of women in the communities where we work is impressive.
The women who participate in our programs, including the weaving cooperative, share with us that their husbands are already helping them with household chores when they have an order from Yabal. This change in gender roles is something very shocking that rarely happened before in these communities. Also, in 2019 two women from the Yabal textile cooperative managed to join the COCODE (community leadership board) of their community - the first time in their history that they have allowed women to be part of the community leadership. The women say they felt able to demand their inclusion because of the trust they have gained from their work at the textile cooperative and from other Yabal trainings and programs. There are many challenges in the communities where we work and for this reason, sometimes the changes seem small, but really these two examples show a big change in the background.