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A tight knit

In Uruguay, women weavers start a business and form a community

March 29^th, 2018

Wraps, ponchos and scarves in warm colours and soft textures. They are unique garments, handmade by a tight-knit group Uruguayan women with uncommon care and top quality materials.

Raquel Fernández is one of the eight members of Flordelana, a sustainable enterprise run by rural women who transform local wool into pieces of wearable art.

“In a short time, I learned a trade, I found partners, we formed a company,” says Raquel. “We started to earn our own money and visited places that I never thought I would see. I did not dream that this would happen to me.”

Flordelana uses local wool to create one-of-a-kind garments.

Raquel prepares the loom before weaving the natural wool threads.

Flordelana clothes are wearable works of art.

Flordelana is a model initiative making use of a plentiful natural resource such as wool to generate opportunities for the women while protecting the environment.

Blanca learned to shear 28 years ago when she moved to the region.

But Raquel is not satisfied with these early achievements. Each day, very early, she sweeps the store and organizes the clothes before clients arrive. In the window, the landscape of the Lunarejo Valley stretches out, the place where she was born and raised. This area has been part of the Uruguay's National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) since 2009.

Andrea hangs a beautiful wool poncho in the window while waiting for customers to arrive.

Flordelana has become a successful business, with a workshop and a sales outlet.

More and more, the area is attracting tourists who seek tranquillity and contact with nature. It is a protected landscape located in the northwest of Rivera, one of the poorest regions in the country.

The large white heron is one of the numerous animal species that inhabit the protected area.

Starting a business here wasn’t easy, Raquel recalls. Like many rural women in Uruguay, the members of Flordelana devoted most of their time to housework and caring for their children.

“We lived isolated, with little contact between us,” she says.

Raquel prepares to spin the wool on the spinning wheel.

OPPORTUNITIES AND RIGHTS

With the incorporation of the Lunarejo Valley into the SNAP protected area, opportunities appeared, and these enterprising women did not waste them.

The SNAP is a legal instrument focused not only on protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the country but also on promoting sustainable local development.

Together with the regional Government of Rivera and with the support of UNDP, the SNAP launched a project to support women from the Lunarejo Valley and nearby areas to develop their own productive enterprises, subject to one condition: caring for the environment.

“The objective was to provide support at all stages,” SNAP regional coordinator Alda Rodríguez says. “This would allow them, in addition to having an income, to work as a team and be integrated into the community. In short, to improve their quality of life.”

Blanca is an expert shearer with more than 28 years of experience.

Processing the wool involves shearing, washing and combing the wool before spinning it on a distaff.

For two years, with the support of specialists and other institutions, 30 women completed training in the carding and spinning of rustic wool, use of the loom, clothing design and business development.

The project also provided transportation and equipment – carding machines, looms, racks, etc. – to use both in the workshop and at home.

The training transcended the teaching of a trade.

“I learned a lot about women´s rights,” says Andrea Olivera, another member of the group. “That gave even more meaning to what I was doing and brought us together as a group.”

Andrea Olivera spins wool on an electric spinning wheel.

FROM LUNAREJO TO THE WORLD

Today, Flordelana is a point of reference in the area and a leading company in its field. It has a workshop and a sales outlet where its members make garments and cater to tourists, neighbours and businesses.

A sweater for sale at the Flordelana store.

The artisan women make woven garments, sometimes with embroidery.

Flordelana makes garments for children and adults.

In the store window are exhibited ponchos, pashminas, handbags and small accessories. The garments include embroidery and textures inspired by the native fauna and flora and, in many cases, inks extracted from the vegetation of the area. Each creation features a label detailing how it was produced and who made it.

Flordelana’s main sales channels are its store in the Lunarejo Valley, its Facebook page and local and regional fairs.

Over the years, Flordelana has gained ground in the artisanal market. Today, its products are beginning to be sought after by stores across the country.

It has also received ample recognition: in 2014 Flordelana won the National Handicraft Award in the craft production category, awarded by the National Handicrafts, Small and Medium Enterprises Directorate of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining.

THE RAW MATERIAL

Blanca Cáceres is responsible for shearing, a task she learned 28 years ago when she arrived in the Lunarejo Valley.

It´s shearing season and Blanca goes into action. With determination, she enters the pen outsid her home and chooses a sheep from the flock. She speaks slowly and handles the scissors with dexterity.

Without losing concentration, she says that Flordelana garments are made with the wool of sheep belonging to the collective, from neighbours’ donations and from other raw materials purchased from small producers in the area.

Blanca takes the sheep out of the corral to shear it, a task that is carried out once a year.

Her mother-in-law, Enriqueta Madera, is 75 years old and has lived in the area for more than 50 years. She helps with the shearing and takes care of the sheep while Blanca and her daughters are working in the shop.

Blanca's mother-in-law, 75-year-old Enriqueta Madera, helps care for the sheep.

For its members, Flordelana is much more than a company - it is a community. It brings together families, friends, neighbours and institutions that all support the group in one way or another.

Blanca´s daughters also support the collective by helping out in the shop.

Community cooperation is part of their day-to-day life. It is common for members of the collective to cook for the students of the nearby school or participate in the organization of their annual events.

So far sales aren’t enough to fully support the women and their families, but they hope to continue increasing sales and reach more people and places with their clothes.

“We have achieved many things, but we shouldn’t be satisfied with that,” Raquel says. “We have the raw material and the tools, and our workshop is open to anyone who wants to join us to learn. It depends on us, to stay together, to be constant and to always think about improving."

The natural beauty that surrounds Flordelana.

Footnote: Flordelana also receives support from the following initiatives and institutions:

Urban agglomerates in protected areas –URB-AL III (European Union and the Departmental Government of Rivera);
The art of wool in garments –Uruguay más cerca (Office of Planning and Budget and the Rural Development Society of Masoller);
Value chains and governance in Protected Areas of the SNAP (SNAP and French fund for the Global Environment).