A New Home

A New Home
For a week, Awamaki was host to six students from the World Leadership School in San Diego, California as they came down to volunteer with us. They were tasked with interviewing local women about their role as leaders in the community, and to write corresponding blog posts about their experiences, this is one of their finished pieces.

By Stella and MaiaJust one and a half years ago, a small arepa and ceviche restaurant opened up in an alleyway on a hidden corner of Ollantaytambo, the owner, a Venezuelan woman, named Lilli.

Born and raised in Valencia, Venezuela, she came to Ollantaytambo back on July 4th of 2017. While she does miss her mother, sister, aunts and uncles a lot, she is sure to tell us how much she has loved living here so far.

The culture is very different in Venezuela than in Ollanta. Also, it is much colder here in Ollanta, when asked, the woman said that she works all day, but in her free time she likes to explore Ollanta.

Although she was very shy, this gorgeous Venezuelan agreed to take a picture if we were both in it. She didn’t speak any english but communicated very well with us. She was very comfortable speaking with us and asked questions of us as well. It was interesting experience considering the fact that she had a very different accent than we were used to.

It amazes us that someone could pick up their entire life and move it to a completely new place. This just goes to show how strong this woman is and that she’s not afraid to try something new and take risks.

About Awamaki

Awamaki is a nonprofit fair trade social enterprise dedicated to connecting Andean artisan weavers with global markets. We collaborate with women artisans to support their efforts towards educational and financial independence by co-creating beautifully handcrafted knit and woven accessories using hertiage techniques.