Having decided to settle for Puno as Socialpaca’s primary centre of operations in Peru, we met in Cuzco for the weekend, as this was on my way from Ayacucho. Delightfully, this happened to be the weekend of ‘carnaval’, and we were excited to see what that meant to Peruvians.
After sampling the famous Pizza Cusqueña – yum! – while waiting for Gabriel, we headed towards the central plaza to see how carnival is celebrated here. Once we reached the plaza we discovered that Peruvians, aside from performing traditional dances and other customs, celebrate carnival by attacking each other with spray foam and water balloons! Unfortunately, there is little footage of this due to the obvious risk this tradition poses to electrical equipment. But let it be said we had a uniquely exciting experience in this foam and water frenzy.
At the end of a great weekend in the old Inca capital, we took a night bus to Puno, where Gabriel introduced me to Cleida, a promising future partner. The experience and the competence she demonstrated during our meeting left us both convinced that she is an ideal partner for Socialpaca. Like our other partners so far, she is very capable in her field (mostly knit products) and offers high transparency, while sharing our core belief that all work deserves fair pay. So, after a joint visit to an alpaca farm in Conduriri, we agreed to work out some designs for knitwear in April, and send them to her so she can arrange the first samples together with her network of artisans and alpaqueros. (See Update 8.2 for more about Cleida.)
In the same time period, we also continued looking for other potential partners. By sheer luck, we stumbled upon an interesting government agency named CITÉ, tasked with helping artisans and farmers to form union-like groups in order to improve their bargaining power. Essentially, the agency grew out of the same recognition as Socialpaca, namely that unfair pay is widespread and often caused by big industrial actors strong-arming small producers into selling their produce at dismal prices. After a promising conversation with the head of the agency, we agreed to meet again to get to know some of the artisans involved in person.
When we met again a few days later, we were amazed to see that there were more artisans present than we had expected. After meeting each of them and seeing their various strengths and special skills, we together enjoyed an excellent presentation given by a government expert on the global alpaca market and Peru’s position in it. Fascinated by how accommodating these people had been, we happily accepted an invitation by one of the artisans to visit his booth.
Situated by the docks, the artisan and his equally skilled wife showed us their products, and taught us how to spin wool to yarn – an interesting and extremely challenging experience. After seeing how difficult it is to spin, let alone produce a yarn of even thickness, our already immense respect for the artisans we work with grew only greater. Delighted that we had found a second partner in Peru, we agreed to send some designs for mostly woven products in April, so that CITÉ could prepare some first samples.
Having found two excellent partner networks for Socialpaca in Peru, we finally concluded this first challenging, thrilling and satisfying first phase of the project. Feeling elevated, we started bussing back to the capital, this time in shorter sections, visiting towns and enjoying the coast line along the way. We knew that the brunt of the work still lay ahead of us. But still, we felt a sense of calm and accomplishment as we travelled back, and a confidence that the inspiring people we met would drive Socialpaca’s success without fail.
This concludes phase 1 of our project, the setting up of an intimate network of people for every part of the supply chain, from shepherd to weaver. In the next phase, we will share our designs with you, as well as the process by which Socialpaca’s partners will make these designs reality. Once produced, we will introduce a small sample of products to the market, exploring how potential clients like you respond, what you like, and what you believe should be done differently.