La capacitación, part III – flashbacks to 8th grade gym

The final day of the capacitación was focused more on logistical details and team-building between the artisans themselves, as well as between the artisans and the staff of Manos Amigas. 

Dieuwe and Giuseppe were also at the capacitación, so Simon thankfully had playmates all morning. Sam and I were able to participate more fully in the training without worrying about him being too much of a distraction (for others as well for ourselves!).

I was stationed at the door, greeting everyone as they arrived and handing out surveys for the artisans to complete – anonymously – so that Manos Amigas could get a better handle on their work and how it is perceived. 

Handing out encuestas at the door

Of the 75 people who attended on Saturday, Yannina gave special consideration and kudos to the 15 or so who had traveled from outside of Lima, inviting them up to introduce themselves to the rest of the group. 

A special welcome for the artisans who traveled from outside of Lima to attend

As each had traveled somewhere between 8 and 30 hours by bus, one way, to participate, the applause for each was much deserved. My favorite was an elegant gentleman, Juan Cardenas, who is a jeweler: “I come from the most beautiful city in the world, Cuzco.”

Cuzco artisans chat during a break; Juan Cardenas is in the middle.

Many of the artisans thanked Manos Amigas for something during their brief introductions: “Thank you for the orders, but also thank you for helping to pay for my child’s education.” “Thank you for forgiving a loan after the death of my mother.” One artisan thanked Manos Amigas for the training, saying that none of the other exporters he works with gives him this type of opportunity.

The morning was mostly spent on logistics. Yannina has a really easygoing, friendly manner and was able to say some potentially offensive items to the group without being perceived in a negative manner. “It’s not a surprise to you if you are running late with an order, right? Just let us know too. We need to let our clients know.” “Read your emails! But don’t just read them; respond to them! Do you know how many of you responded to my email about RSVPing for today? Two! I had to call every single one of you as a result!” Artisans laughed.

Roberto reviews payment issues and questions

Yannina did a good job of being the mediator between the group of artisans and the group consisting of their clients, explaining, for example, why the clients might need a fixed cost for a product for one year since they are, in turn, advertising that product and specific price to their own customers.

We enjoyed listening to the information covered as well as looking over the crowd. Sam leaned over and whispered at one point, “I recognize that guy from a Ten Thousand Villages catalog!” Funny how we have our own superstars. We were hoping to meet Rosa, a woman whose heartbreaking and inspiring story we’ve heard several times. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there.

After getting through all of the morning’s topics, door prizes were awarded. Yannina let all the kids take turns drawing numbers out of the bag.

Finally, the moment everyone (at least, all of the artisans) had been waiting for arrived: soccer and volleyball. There had been significant trash talk during the last 24 hours about the soccer games, and some Lima artisans skipped all the training sessions yet showed up to play soccer!

We walked to the park down the street and played for a couple of hours. I say “we”…. I played one game of volleyball, to officially say that I played, all the while reliving the horror of 8th grade gym. And surprise, surprise: time once again slowed down to a crawl. Sam knew how much I had been dreading this game and gave me little pep talks between points. Once our game ended, I made some lame excuse about needing to watch Simon and skedaddled. Sam, however, was all over the soccer games, scoring goals and helping his team get to the championship round.

Giuseppe, Simon, and Dieuwe on their way to the games

Resting after a game while watching another one

Sam's team, en route to victory!

The capacitación ended with lunch, awards, and gifts at our favorite pollería, which Simon slept through. It was a very jovial atmosphere. Yannina was constantly thanking everyone for something. It was clear that people felt valued and respected.

This came through, too, on the anonymous evaluations artisans completed. 79% of the artisans work with other exporters or buyers, yet only 39% of them receive any sort of capacity building training from other sources. Typical comments made at the end of the survey were things like: please keep being the same kind people you are, treating us well and paying us on time.

Everyone walked back to Manos Amigas to pick up a panetón, a special Christmastime treat. And then, mid-afternoon on Saturday, la capacitación was done – whew!

Later we realized that a lot of the work we’d done on Thursday at the last minute – the questionnaires, the additional questions for the anonymous survey, the cds – hadn’t been used. We were a little frustrated that all that effort was wasted. But, to paraphrase Sam, “it seemed like all the artisans had a good time and felt like it was a worthwhile investment of their time. So perhaps we shouldn’t be too annoyed.” But I felt justified in being a little annoyed.

That annoyance was tempered a bit when I remembered all those artisans who traveled to the training by bus. By the time the group from Cuzco reached their homes late Sunday night, they had spent five days on this two-day workshop. What dedication!

I would be remiss if I did not give kudos to Simon, an incredible traveler. On Friday especially, he was in and out of presentations all day, didn’t have a lot of time to play and run around, and took a nap on the fly in the sling as we walked around Lima. And all this without much complaining! We are lucky!

With all the effort and logistics that went into this training, I can see why it is only offered once every two years. But what a valuable experience it was for everyone: so much discussion, learning, and fun. I’m sure that fits in perfectly with the World Fair Trade Organization’s fair trade principles!