Partner Artisans


Andrea Chiyal Cali

Andrea lives in the aldea of Chacaya, which sits on the far outskirts of Santiago. Left by her husband, she is the mother of three and also cares for two orphans. Andrea is forty-one years old.

Andrea Ratzan Sapulu

Andrea lives in a reclaimed high-risk area of Panabaj with her husband's family. When she was a child, her mother passed away of an unknown illness. Later, in her teens, when her sister died in childbirth, she was forced to give up her nephew to a distant relative. She is thirty and married, with a baby daughter named Maria.

Candelaria Chicajau Ixan

Candelaria is twenty-five. She lives in the displaced persons camp. Although she is single, she has helped her parents care for three orphans (ages eleven, thirteen, and nineteen) since her sister, the children's mother, passed away following an undiagnosed illness. Candelaria's father, now old and frail, still works as he always has carrying fuel wood from the mountains to the town of Santiago, but he does not earn enough income to support his wife, children, and orphaned grandchildren. To help her family, Candelaria has worked with handicraft since she was a young girl.

Candelaria Tzina Ajuchun

Candelaria, also known as Candy, is twenty-nine. She is single and lives in the displaced persons camp with her elderly mother. Candy has worked with handicraft since she was a young girl, when the military murdered her father as he worked in the countryside near Santiago and her older siblings left to find work on the coast. In 2006 she and her mother endured the loss of Candy's disabled brother, who never recovered from the trauma he suffered during the October 2005 when he was trapped in the falling earth.

Carmen Ajcot Chicajau

Carmen is a widow and the mother of five. After her house was destroyed in the mudslide, the family spent three years in the displaced persons camp and recently moved to the new housing development. Her three youngest children are in school, and she says that the extra income from Just Apparel allows her kids to focus more on their studies and less on putting food on the table.

Concepción Mendoza Chávez

Concepecion is twenty-one years old and single. She has one brother. Her family also lost their house in Hurricane Stan but began living in a rented space for which her father accumulated much debt. They recently lost their father to an unknown illness, and the family has suffered with a significant amount of debt in addition to the daily struggles of earning enough simply to feed and clothe the family.

Concepción Petzey Ajcot

Concepción is a twenty-seven-year-old mother of two who lives in the displaced persons camp next to her mother, Juana. Her father was kidnapped and presumably killed during Guatemala's civil war. Her two sons are named Diego and Pedro.

Concepción Reanda Sojuel

Concepcion is thirty-four years old and single. Since she is the only one of her siblings without children, it is her responsibility to care for her elderly mother. “Sometimes,” she says, “when there wasn't any work for me, my mom would complain about stomach pains, and I knew it was because she was hungry. I could handle going hungry, but she's so old, she can't.” Concpecion and her mother are victims of the mudslide. They live in the displaced persons camp.

Concepción Sapalu Sol

Concepción lives in the aldea of Chacaya on the outskirts of Santiago. She is twenty-nine, has two children (ages fourteen and four) and lives with her husband, who does low-paying agricultural work.

Elena Pablo Ixtulul

Elena is twenty-nineyears old. She has one thirteen-year old daughter whose studies she says she supports through her income with Just Apparel. Elena's first husband was an abusive man with substance abuse problems. Her current husband collects wood to earn a small amount each day. She lost her home in the 2005 mudslide and, after three years in the displaced persons camp, has finally moved to new government-built housing.

Josefa Cali Men

Josefa is thirty-one years old and single. She is the caretaker of her elderly parents, who still go every day to the mountainside to bring back wood to sell. “Sometimes my parents get sick,” she says, “and I am responsible to provide for them, but Just Apparel will give me advance pay in these kinds of tough times.” Josefa also lost her home in the mudslide.

Josefa Choy

Josefa is forty-one years old with six children ages twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, nine, and seven. The oldest children work in the fields or in handicraft, and the youngest are in school. The family also lives in Chacaya on the far outskirts of Santiago.

Juana Ajcot Chicajau

Juana is a forty-eight-year-old mother of four and a widow from Guatemala's civil war. Her husband disappeared while on his way to work and is presumed to have been assassinated by the Guatemalan military. A year later, her father suffered the same fate. She lost her home in the October 2005 mudslide that destroyed most of the neighborhood of Santiago known as Panabaj. She now lives next door to her daughter Concepción in the displaced persons camp on the outskirts of the area devastated by the mudslide.

Juana Chiyal Cali

Juana, thirty-six, is Andrea Chiyal's younger sister. She lives next door to Andrea in Chacaya. Juana's husband left her and her two children, now thirteen and fifteen. She helps Andrea care for two young orphans.

Juana Reanda Pacach

Juana is twenty-six. She lives in a small family compound of a few houses in a reclaimed area of Panabaj with her six brothers and sisters, including until recently Maria (see below), and her parents.

Luisa Sojel Reanda

Luisa is thirty-seven and the mother of six children ages eighteen, seventeen, fourteen, eleven, ten and seven. Her husband is an alchoholic, but when he does work, he earns a simple day laborer's wage of less than $3 a day. So, of course, much of the burden of providing for her children falls on Luisa, whose best skill is her embroidery. Luisa and her family are also victims of the mudslide, and after three years of living in a dug out house, they have recently moved to the new government housing.

Margarita Vásquez Ixtamul

Margarita is thirty-six years old. She lives in Chacaya on the outskirts of Santiago with her eight children, ages eighteen, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen, nine, eight, seven, and six. Her oldest children and her husband all work as farmers earning $2-3 a day. They were never able to study because of the constant need to provide food for the family. The three youngest are studying now, but it is a constant struggle to provide for them. Their house does not have access to running water or electricity, which creates an even bigger obstacle to study. Margarita has joined many projects over the years in attempts to find sustainable support for her family, but exclaims that she is content because with Just Apparel, there is pay which means food, happiness, and laughter for her children.

María Pospoy Cacain

María is a twenty-seven-year-old single mother. She and her ten-year-old son lived in the displaced persons camp until they were able to move into a new government-sponsored house on the other side of town.

María Reanda Pacach

María lived with her sister Juana and the other five siblings in Panabaj until her recent marriage. She was divorced from her first husband, who left her. She has one son, who lives mostly with his father. She has tried to contest this arrangement, but has been unsuccessful.

María Vicente Petzey

María is thirty-four years old with four kids, ages ten, seven, five, and four. One of her children was trapped in the mud when their house was destroyed and couldn't be saved. She worries about providing for her remaining children because of the increasingly high food prices and her desire for them to go to school.

Micaela Petzey Ixbalan

Micaela is twenty-six. She lives in Panabaj, in a high-risk area that she and others have reclaimed after the mudslide buried most of their houses. She and her husband have four children, ages five, six, nine, and eleven.

Natalia Tacaxoy Ratzan

Natalia is twenty-five. She lives in the displaced persons camp with her parents and siblings.

Petronila Chichon Reanda

Petronila is a twenty-three-year-old resident of the displaced persons camp in Santiago. She lost her home in Panabaj in the mudslide. She lives with her husband, who works in fields around Santiago, her three-year-old son, and her one-year-old daughter, Heidi.



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