Monday May 3rd
As the sun was slowly rising over Cuzco everyone was fast asleep catching some well needed rest. Little did we all know our wake up calls would come early and from the residence of Cuzco — in the form of fire crackers. This 6am wake up call was the start of their Festival of Crosses and we found numerous parades and celebrations around the town once we were out and about.
Our first stop of the day was at Remigio Gutierrez’s house up on the mountain side over looking Cuzco. Remigio has been working with Manos Amigas for 18 years and was very happy to welcome us into his workshop and home. At the age of 15 and 17 Remigio and his wife Marjua were pregnant with their first child and neither parents were willing to support them anymore. Marjua took jobs wherever she could find work just to put food on the table, including selling terracotta whistles to tourists at the local archaeological site. One day she was looking at the whistle and wondered if she could make one herself and avoid the middleman she was currently working for. She and Remigo went to the hills to gather some clay and then came home to create some whistles. Using a make shift kiln and teaspoon to mix the clay they had created their first piece for firing, unfortunately it was not successful. After firing the first batch of pieces came out broken and so they tried again. The second batch was more successful with the pieces in tact but burnt black. Marjua cleaned off the pieces and went off to sell them returning home with none left, “they were selling like hot bread” she told us. They were very happy with their success and continued to perfect their work. Manos Amigos came across the two and quickly helped them receive their first order from Ten Thousand Villages USA and Canada a few years later. Now with consistent orders from Ten Thousand Villages and product development from Manos Amigos, they are successful in their work. They have been able to build a new two floor home with workshop and all their four children attend school, two of which are in University.
Their story was truly wonderful and lifted all our spirits as we made our way to catch the plane back to Lima.
