Sustaining a World Through Knitting…

MINKHA members discuss a sweater in process

In Bolivia, the Quechua and Aymara Indian women don’t lounge in hot tubs. They don’t turn their TVs to Desperate Housewives or Lost. They don’t get pedicures. What they do is struggle…for food, for warmth, for clothing, for life’s daily needs. Yet one group of these women has considerably improved their way of life. How? Knitting.

The MINKA cooperative is a micro industry composed of indigenous Bolivian Quechua and Aymara Indian woman. They are landless peasants whose amazing Incan heritage of textile artistry and skills is raising them up from the poorest of the poor.

Their amazing sucess story began with Save the Children Canada. (What follows is excerpted from the MINKHA Web site. You can find more info here, too.)

The MINKHA knitting micro-industry is a Save the Children Canada success story. This project is an outstanding example of how a program initially subsidized by Save The Children Canada has grown into a successful business that is owned and run entirely by indigenous Bolivian women.

Some fifteen years ago, a small group of Quechua and Aymara women were organized by Save the Children – Bolivia into a co-operative knitting group. These women hand knit beautiful alpaca sweaters that are sold in North America. All profits are returned to the Bolivian women throught the efforts of Canadian volunteers.

A MINKHA member ouside her home.

These women were desperate to earn a living to support and care for their extended families. It is customary to have an extended family that may include parents, grandparents and other relatives, as well as children. In many cases a woman is the sole income earner for her family.

In addition to the financial rewards of the program, the women also enjoy a very positive social experience. They thrive on the customer feedback they receive for the superior quality of their knitting. The quality of life for these women and their families has improved significantly because of MINKHA. The number of share-holding knitters has tripled: now Artesanias Minkha essentially sustains 45 families. In 2004, the Cochabamba Chamber of Commerce honoured Artesanias Minkha with a plaque celebrating 15 years of business success… this is surely a first for native women.

In the early 1990′s, under the leadership of Calgarian Kathleen Gleeson, a group of Canadian volunteers began marketing the MINKHA sweaters. The Calgary volunteers co-ordinate sweater sales, compile and send the orders, keep accounts and transfer funds to MINKHA through Save the Children Canada. Volunteers distribute the sweaters to customers approximately three months later. The volunteers replace the traditional middleman between the producer and the buyer. They receive a double reward for their efforts; grateful Bolivian women and delighted North American customers.

The women do beautiful, colorful work

Annual sweater sales have increased from 30 to 40 sweaters in the first year to a current average of 250 sweaters each year. Over the years marketing operations have expanded to include Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, Fernie in British Columbia, and Detroit, Michigan in the U.S.A.

Orgins Of Minkha

Artesanias MINKHA, originates in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Bolivia is a landlocked country in the South America.  United Nations states that 70 percent of the population is desperately poor.

In Quechuan MINKHA means women working together. It is a name well-chosen for the Bolivian knitting co-operative. Hand knitting has historically been an Andean life skill. For centuries the South American people have created unique textiles with their traditional knitting. Their knitting expertise is demonstrated today in the exquisite hand-knit alpaca sweaters of the MINKHA knitting co-operative in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

A knitter

MINKHA has established itself as a successful knitting co-op thanks to the hard work and talent of the Bolivian women. At this time, the income derived from the knitting co-op supports more than 30 Bolivian families and supplements the income for another 15 families.

Members of the knitting co-op elect a board of six directors, a president, vice president, and four other members from within the co-op to operate the business. The part-time office administrator is the only paid employee of MINKHA. Members get paid for each sweater and at the end of the year they receive a dividend based upon the profits.

Most of the sweater is knitted in the knitter’s home where she continues to fulfull her other responsibilities. Finishing, such as buttons, buttonholes, and washing the sweater are completed in the office, where quality control inspection and preparation for delivery are completed.

The members also operate their own credit union providing low-cost loans. As an extra service to members, the women can purchase food such as rice and beans at an affordable price from bulk food orders.

Most importantly, the MINKHA co-operative enables the women to live with dignity and pride. They are rewarded with the satisfaction of supporting their children and other family members.

The Knitters

The women of Minkha are either Aymara or Quechua Indians. They are landless peasants driven from the Bolivian highlands by the closing of the mines and the effects of drought. They were the poorest of the poor in a devastatingly disadvantaged country. With little or no education, these people bring a proud heritage of textile skills handed down from their Inca ancestors. This remarkable group of women are the proud members of MINKHA – a debt-free company owned and operated entirely by the knitting co-op.

Yarn for sweaters

Each member of the knitting co-op earns $30 (Cdn / sweater) Canadian per sweater. In their rural villages, thirty dollars provides enough to feed their family of five for a week.

As owners of their own company, each knitter receives a Christmas bonus per knitted sweater and a share of dividends

The women confer about sweaters

calculated at years end in March. These bonuses and dividends could amount to another $30, thus doubling the amount earned for each sweater.