Artisans

Esperanza en Acción works with 31 groups of artisans located throughout Nicaragua. In total, we serve 275 individuals. Ninety-five percent are women who come from rural and economically disadvantaged parts of the country. In many cases they lack access to basic services such as education, health services, reliable transportation, potable water, sanitation, and electricity.

To learn more about each artisan group click on the photos below.
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• Our Artisans
• Maria's Story

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Meet Maria Marta Muñoz, one of the wonderful artisans we work with. After one of our trainings, we asked her if we could do a short interview to find out more about her and the work she does. 

Marta is 59 Years old and lives up high in the mountains near the northern city of Somoto, Nicaragua (http://g.co/maps/ud9jh). More specifically, her home and cooperative is located in the municipality of San Luca, in Loma Panda, where she has lived since she was born. Her entire family continues to live there as well, as they have in the past. Nobody in her family has ever left to live somewhere else. She has 5 brothers and 3 sisters, all of whom get along with each other very well.

She likes where she lives. Many people ask her why she lives so high up the mountain and far away from the nearest town or if she would consider moving down the mountain to another place. But she says she has everything she needs where she is, as well as a love for her home. 
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​When we asked her about her childhood she says she remembers walking, even when they were very small, the whole family. She also told us she was in elementary school for only one year. “I didn’t learn anything,” she said with a laugh. To get to school was a very far walk when she was younger, but now there is an elementary school located much closer to their community. However, the high school is still a far walk!

Marta’s mother knew how to work in ceramics, as well as both of her grandmothers. In passing down the tradition, Marta and her sisters also learned how to work in ceramics. Marta is part of the Loma Panda Cooperative, along with all 3 of her sisters and one of her nieces.  It is a close family cooperative that was formed by her mother and father, with the intentions that the children would be able to take over. They decided to build a little house on their property that would serve as their workspace and contain their products, and it continues to have that purpose today!  The products made by Loma Panda are extremely unique. Marta told us that they choose their designs based on ideas they get from magazines!

The first thing Marta does when she gets up in the morning is bring water from the well to the house. She then feeds and takes care of the animals. After doing this she begins work. But bringing water and caring for the animals takes quite a long time so she can only begin working on her ceramics in the afternoon. Sometimes she works until 11:00 at night because she started so late.

The oldest sister in the cooperative takes care of the food. She makes the tortillas, rice, beans and all of the food for everyone. They all help out with preparing the corn, but she is the one who makes the majority of the food.

On the days that Marta or one of her sisters have to travel to Somoto to do their shopping, it takes up the entire day. If they leave in the morning, they only arrive in Somoto by noon. And they have to carry everything on their backs; the sugar, the oil, the rice, etc. This is the most difficult thing for them, as there is no other access to their community. There is no other way for them to get these things other than taking the 3 hour (one way) hike to San Luca and then the 20 minute bus to Somoto. Sometimes there are cars or trucks that drop them off near at the river, but they are not always reliable. In order to get to their house though, they have to cross through the river, as there is no bridge. Crossing this river is not easy, especially during the rainy season and while carrying all of their food, ceramics, or other items. In addition to this, it is still a 20-30 minute walk straight up the mountain to their house. 

Marta hopes to one day see a road that leads up to her community, as well as some sort of transportation between her place and the nearest town of San Luca.