back to the lake. I was going to meet up with two other Nest Fellows based in the town of Panajachel (Pana to most) and also venture to Santiago to administer more surveys. The lake is no more than a 3 hour drive from Antigua, but our shuttle ride was a bit delayed by a large boulder blocking the road to Pana. Due to rainy season, there have been a lot of mud and rock slides, which tend to be exaggerated by the slash and burn farming techniques that really enable erosion. Luckily it didn't delay us for long, and in short seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. Pana is a great little town. The shuttle dropped me right on the main street of the town, lined with small cafes, artisan booths, street food, and the like. I had really took to the lake culture in San Pedro during my visit a couple weeks back - so many interesting, relaxed people that come to visit for a few days or so and end up staying years - so I was glad to be back exploring another town around Atitlán.
I found my way to the office of Oxlajuj B'atz' (Thirteen Threads - La Casa's sister organization), where Nikki and Darcy have been working (HI GIRLS!). The office was really impressive; upstairs they had a fair trade store displaying products from many of the groups they work with - coffee, chocolate, jewelry, bags, scarves, rugs. The girls explained some of the projects they've been working on and introduced me to Andrea, the director of development, monitoring, and evaluation and who has been supervising them. I was most impressed by both the structure of OB and the variety of workshops offered to the artisans they work with. OB currently is association with 20 groups of artisan women based around the lake and surrounding regions. Andrea works with a group of indigenous women who are each a contact person for a couple groups. These women manage the communication between the OB headquarters and the artisans and facilitate the relationship between the two parties in terms of products and workshops. OB offers a variety of workshops under four main categories: health and well-being, artisan and product development, democracy and team building, and small business.
Each of these go-to women meet often to create a workshop, measure how to evaluate its effectiveness, and then teach it to their prospective artisan groups. Later that afternoon, Andrea and the women were having a meeting about how to monitor and evaluate a new workshop they were in the process of creating about catalogue design, so the three of us Nest fellows sat in on it. Rather than directing the meeting, Andrea would simply keep it organized, throw out some ideas, but let the women do the majority of the brainstorming and talking. It was a really inspiring process to watch. These women were so smart, constructive, and compassionate about helping other women like them develop their skills, expand their output, and reach a more sustainable and independent way of living. I appreciated that everyone in the meeting was treated as equally important. There was structure and organization, but no one person leading the meeting or lecturing. It was a very progressive and positive experience to witness. Wednesday I left Pana early via boat (the best way to travel from town to town due to efficiency and safety) and headed towards Santiago. Cristobal, who does beading work and facilitation for La Casa, met me at the dock. The native language and race of Santiago is Tzutuhil. Although probably the biggest town on the lake, it seemed to me to be one of the poorest and is hardly touristic. The main economies are commerce of basket goods (sugar, corn, beans, etc.) and artisan crafts, primarily bead work.
Nest has provided work to Cristobal's workshops through a partnership with bead sandal appliques for Reef, so I came to evaluate the impact of Nest on these women. I was also to assess how production worked so Nest, Cristobal, and the artisans could be prepared for a potential visit from Reef to the area in the fall. Cristobal explained to me that the headquarters of his corporation, also called Tzutuhil, is based out of a workshop next to his home. Here there is the main office, raw materials, administration, and storage of designs. The women work in satellite workshops out of their own homes, so when there is work and orders they come to the headquarters, learn the designs, take raw materials back and work from home, bring their work back to Cristobal when they're done, and then get paid by the product. While in Santiago, I was able to administer 4 surveys. Although they didn't take longer than normal (they usually take about an hour), they were fairly tedious because Spanish is the second
language of almost everyone in Santiago and Cristobal had to translate many of the questions. Because Cristobal has been working with these artisans for years, he knows so much about the women, their capabilities, their families, homes, and financial situations, so he was very helpful and assisted the women during the survey. He seemed to know about some of their experiences (like the terms of loan for example) more than they did. If Nest were to facilitate loans or start a business curriculum program in Santiago, Cristobal would be a very good resource to use, especially considering his connection with each of the women and his fluency in both Spanish and Tzutuhil. He seemed to make the women very comfortable and important, which was very helpful during the surveys. The rest of my time at the lake I spent reviewing the survey, watching the happenings at the OB office, and playing bilingual Scrabble at a little cafe with a mixed group of Guatemalans and volunteers like Nikki, Darcy, and me.
Because I've spent so much time with the survey, I've gotten to understand the importance of having an effective tool to measure Nest's impact on each of the artisans and their life at home. Although some artisans don't see how Nest has impacted them directly, 
due to the fact they're working with Cristobal who works through La Casa who then works with Nest, it is obvious that they appreciate having a stable income. I sent an email to Rachel with suggestions on how to better organize the survey to make it easier for the women to understand and also hopefully make it easier to evaluate each person's connection with Nest, how it's impacted them, and how they feel it's changed their life. The surveys are to remain constant for the rest of the year so data across countries can be compared, but hopefully she'll implement some of my advice in future surveys! Well, today is Tuesday, meaning tomorrow is my last full day in Antigua! My flight is at 8:15 Thursday morning from the city, about an hour away, so I'll have to take a very early shuttle :) I still need to write testimonials of people I've surveyed, which Nest will use as marketing collateral and also get in contact with Elmy, who I visited a while ago, to let her know that Nest has interest in meeting up with her again. It's so amazing how quickly time has gone by. Seems like just yesterday I was meeting MaJo at the airport and walking around the city for the first time. Not like I'm a pro now, but it's been nice to meet people coming and going from the hostel and being able to recommend to them things to do and places to eat. Can't wait to come back and visit.
