The Basket Women of Los Amadores, La Concha

This story is from Lisa Lippay in Managua. Thank you Lisa! For more information , please contact Lisa at llipay@hotmail.com.

ARTISAN COOPERATIVE IN LOS AMADORES, LA CONCHA, NICARAGUA

"Los Amadores is a rural community located a mere 20 miles from Nicaragua´s capital, Managua. It is a primarily agricultural community made up of 500 people, nestled in the foothills of Masaya Volcano, near Managua. The families who live here are mainly subsistence farmers whose only source of disposable income is from sales of pineapple and the colorful and unusual fruit, pitahaya, which resembles a cross between beets and kiwi fruit. The sulfuric emissions from the nearby volcano leaves the soil relatively poor for even subsistence agriculture.

This community first came to the attention of the group Asociación de Damas Diplomaticas in 2003, when the primarily social group, made up of spouses of foreign diplomats posted in Managua and other members of the international community, decided to support the construction of a “comedor”, or community kitchen, for the purpose of feeding the 105 school children in the area. The Association finances the purchase of basic food commodities through donations from private enterprise, a monthly quote of every member and the occasional sale of tickets to musical concerts and other cultural events.

In 2006, a Brazilian member of the Association began to visit the community. She was impressed that the women of Los Amadores, in between caring for their children and making arduous trek to the community´s distant water source activities, sought other activities that might bring in extra income. Because the families of Los Amadores live in extreme poverty, the women asked for help in identifying an activity that would bring in some income. She began in May 2006 to teach a small group of the women how to make baskets out of newspaper, a craft popular in Brazil. The technique involves rolling the newspaper into extremely tight but flexible tubes, from which baskets could be fashioned, then painted, then treated with a type of varnish. The typical reaction of everyone who sees these baskets is one of incredulity: this can´t really be made out of paper! The end product indeed resembles something made out of plant or tree fiber such as rattan or bamboo.

The women of Los Amadores were naturally curious about this type of craftwork and saw that this was something they could do in their homes alone, or in groups. Since then several members of the Association have gone each Thursday to the small church at Los Amadores, that was transformed into a busy artist´s studio, with women from the community learning how to weave the baskets, and apply the varnish and paint, all the while improving their technique.

Soon, many of the women simply took wing, and discovered the creativity within themselves. From baskets, several made beautiful (and practical) sous-plats, and even ladies´ handbags. Additionally the Association convinced the mayor of La Concha, which englobes the Los Amadores community, to donate land for the construction of a building where the ladies could continue their craft. The mayor went even further and sent teams of educators to teach the adults of Los Amadores to read and write (illiteracy in the community approaches 100%.)


The International Diplomatic Women Association (Asociación de Damas Diplomaticas y Misiones Internacionales), whose main priority is the feeding of the school children in the area, financed the construction of a new community kitchen and is feeding 220 children nowadays. The old kitchen was converted into a workshop, where the ladies of Los Amadores continue to create things of beauty for the area shops and the crafts fairs that regularly take place in Managua and nearby Granada and Masaya. While all this has opened the eyes of the ladies of Los Amadores to a world of possibilities, the next goal is to firm up what has become a defacto artist´s cooperative.

Seventeen families of Los Amadores are the main beneficiaries of the project. The project has already served to provide some income to the women who participate and has provided a needed boost to their self-esteem. The art they create is all from recycled material that would otherwise be thrown away and thus is ecologically healthy."