 Introducing Doña Rosa
Group Tzanjuyu
Complete name: María del Rosario Salazar de Cuxil (known as Rosa)
Age: 37
Date of birth: October 5, 1969
Place of birth: San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Rosa’s father who is still alive is a carpenter and farmer
Her mother who is still alive is a housewife
Her parents had 8 children, 5 girls and 3 boys. Rosa is number 5
Rosa grew up taking care of her little brothers and sisters and helping her mother with household matters. When Rosa was old enough to start school, her parents signed her up to attend school, but she only studied 2 years (only 1st and 2nd) due to economic limitations that the family faced. Her father thought that since she had now learned to read and write that she could stop attending school. When she quit school she learned to weave.
When Rosa was 9 yrs. old she started taking care of other people’s children, and she remembers that they paid her 25 centavos for every day she took care of their children. Her mother thought this would be a good job for her since many people sought someone to care for their children.
At age 12, her mother decided that she was not making enough money taking care of other people’s children, so she began to look for a new job for Rosa. She wanted her daughter to have a more formal job working in other people’s homes. Rosa remembers that when she left Comalapa they went to a place called Mixco, which was close to Guatemala City, and there were several families who lived there for whom she would soon work. Her work entailed helping in all aspects of the home (nanny) including taking care of the kids, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and cooking and working in the kitchen.
Before her 15th birthday, she returned to Comalapa to work there, always helping with other people’s families. But she never found a family that treated her well, they would not give her 3 meals a day; they limited her meals and she often found herself hungry. It was at this time that she and her mother together decided that it would be better if she found different work.
And that is how she began working with weavings, first working with making the banners (like the MayaWorks Peace/Paz/Shalom banners), and this was something that was very traditional for Comalapa. Almost all of the mothers, daughters and teenagers made the banners although they did not know was buying them or where the market for these products was. But they knew there was a demand for them. The price they received, however, was not good.
Rosa realized that she was not making much weaving the banners, and so she decided to start work weaving on the foot-loom. This was not something she could do on her own; she had to work with another woman who owned several looms. She made straps, coin purses and Christmas trees.
On August 15th 1992, when Rosa was 22 years old, Rosa married Luis Francisco Cuxil, to whom she has been married to for 15 years. |
When Rosa married she decided to only work in the home, doing backstrap weaving on the side, such as huipiles and napkins, all for her and her family’s own use. Her husband worked in an office and he was the one responsible for supporting the family.
As time passed Rosa realized that her husband liked to drink liquor and little by little he started drinking more frequently.
It was about 7 years ago when her husband was not in control of his drinking habit and he was drinking all weekend long and this is when Rosa realized that she needed to find a way to generate income for the sustainability of her family. She started with making typical weavings to sell. The price she received was not good but every little bit helped.
When she heard from her mother-in-law that there was a group of women forming to make weavings for a group in the U.S., she went to speak with the leader to see if it would be possible for her to join. The leader said yes but that there were no secure orders yet, just samples that needed to be made. Rosa said she understood and this is how she began working with the Taanjuyu group with the vision to improve her future.
Little by little several women left the group, but Rosa was patient and stayed in the group. She remembers that the first order that she made were cushions with a black background with colored figures in the center of the cushion. She remembers that after that order she made other types of cushions as well.
Rosa says that thanks to God, after having very few orders from the group, there came a time when there was constant work with the orders. It was at this time that she decided that she would use only the smallest amount that she earned to pay her expenses and the rest of the money she would save. This was important since her husband, due to his drinking habit, was still having a hard time earning enough money to support the family.
Rosa and Luis have 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls they are:
Maritza de Lourdes 11 years old, Ronald Luis Angel 10 years old, Kelvin Anderson 8 years old, Evelin del Rosario 5 years old, Eddie Emmanuel 3 years old.
The 3 oldest children study and the 2 youngest are not yet old enough to attend school. |
She was saving, because her dream was to buy a plot of land for the future of her children.
In November of 2003, her husband lost his job due to his drinking. When he lost his job he forgot about his family and Rosa did not receive any support from him, neither economically nor help with all the work that needed to be done in the home, since he decided to spend all of his time drinking alcohol all day long everyday.
It was at this time that Rosa let go of her dream to buy land for her children and started to use the money she earned to support her 5 children. She tried to give all the necessary things to her children since she did not know if her husband would one day come back to help or not.
Rosa expressed that during this time, it was important for her to receive moral support from someone because there were so many times when she was disappointed with her situation. When she had her meetings with the Tzanjuyu weaving group she felt that she could talk to them. They were not an economic help but they were a very important moral support. In the group you could tell them your problems and you could also laugh.
It is for this reason that Rosa says that being part of the MayaWorks group has been the best thing that has happened to her in these past few years, because it has given her both economic and moral benefits that have been very important in this stage of her life.
A few months ago her husband realized he had a problem and found help in a religious group where he received a lot of support and of course the unconditional support of his family. Thanks to God Rosa’s husband realized that he needed to stop drinking and now he no longer drinks.
At the beginning of January of this year, her husband found a new job in the municipality of San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango. He realized that he needed to be responsible in regards to his work and that this is very important in order to look after and win back his family.
Rosa is very happy with her husband working again, but she is still struggling with expenses for all of her children, primarily the costs of schooling.
She appreciates the work that MayaWorks has provided as well as the school bags full of supplies that are provided for her children, since this is a great help with the school costs.
Rosa’s dream is to save money and buy a piece of land for the future of her children and that they all continue studying so that she can one day watch them graduate.
Written by: Mirian Otzín; translated by Sarah Cunningham
January 2005 |
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