Learning to Run Our Business

Of course trying to earn a living from our textiles is not just about weaving, sewing, and embroidery! We have to learn about running our business. And, because working in a cooperative is very important to us, we also have to learn how to have a successful cooperative. On the business end of things we are learning about product development, planning, how to calculate the cost of our products, how to sell (we are trying to develop a market here in Guatemala as well as in the U.S.) -- among other things. The photo shows us learning how to use the internet. Our teachers were some students visiting us from
Ramapo College!

On the cooperative side, in the photo below we are learning how to write minutes of a meeting. It may not sound so difficult to you, but most of us have not been to school and have had to learn to read and write as adults. (We do have literacy classes at work four days a week.) And the majority of us have not been given a chance to lead in groups, so we need to learn practical things such as how to write minutes.