In week three, the rhythm continues. The mountain views continue to delight us, Nelly's cooking keeps unfurling new facets, and we have started to feel quite at home. Even the unbelievably loud sound of strong rains on our aluminium roofing has begun to feel familiar, almost cosy. Also, we surprisingly found an Environmental Technology graduate-turned-baker from Germany, who makes some of the nicest mother dough breads we have ever tried, giving us a tasty piece of home abroad.
Excitingly, after last week's phone call with Kun Eco Fibras, week three saw our first ever face to face encounter with a potential partner! At breakfast on Tuesday morning, our host Nelly suggested we join her to pick up her daughter from part-time school and visit a local artisan who goes by the name of Matico. We were filled with anticipation, especially after we were explained that this lady tried to provide her co-workers with as much of a fair pay as she can. Matilde 'Matico' Lema, founder of expert weavers’ house Huarmi Maqui, did not disappoint. Inside a house looking like it came straight out of a fairy tale, with its intense colours and charmingly quirky architecture, we were cordially welcomed by a charismatic, elderly, and somewhat mysterious lady: Matico. When she invited us to enter inside, we were flabbergasted: vast amounts of fibre, wool and finished products, unfamiliar machinery, and a man working a weaving chair - Matico's home is nothing short of an authentic, active and fascinating textile workshop.
Matico enthusiastically gave us a full tour of the place. She explained that they process only three materials: cotton, linen and alpaca fibre. These are died naturally and often combined. While showing us different ways of spinning fibre into yarn, she nostalgically says how she and her friends would chat and reminisce, while spinning away for hours on end. Our eyes widen as we witness her craftsmanship, turning fluffy, vague fibre into a surprisingly even, luxurious yarn, without interrupting her introduction. Next she took us to the weaving chair where we witnessed a beautiful display while the man operating the chair created a stunning pattern, slowly unfolding before our very eyes. In theory, none of this was new to us. But seeing it in practice put a glow in our gaze, filled with curiosity, fascination, and admiration.
Then, finally, Matico presented us with some of her finished products, many of which were missing after a successful fare the previous week. But no matter. Beautiful, lush, high quality products greeted us, with their natural, soothing colours pleasing the eye, subtle unevenness telling a story of carefully handmade products, while their beauty and meticulous fabrication stood testimony of excellent craftsmanship. To the touch, the products feel silky-smooth, soft and warm. Amazingly, Matico explains, these are not even 100% Alpaca. Most are at least 50% cotton or linen, though she assures us we can commission pure alpaca products without a problem, and that those will be far more soft on the skin - hard to imagine, as even these mixed products feel absolutely lovely.
This week, we met a potential partner face to face for the first time. It was an exhilarating experience to meet someone who shares our vision of creating a value chain free of unscrupulous intermediaries who abuse their leverage to compress prices, depriving hard-working artisans of the fair pay and recognition they deserve. And it is with individuals like Matico that Socialpaca will build this vision into solid reality.