In 2009, Marietta, Claudia, and I packed the car with a sewing machine, scrap cloth, and an interest in a place only Claudia knew well. An hour later, a group of goats welcomed us to Tanivet, Oaxaca. Their elderly keeper pointed us to the schoolhouse. Soon, we pulled up and unloaded our supplies.

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Inside, a dozen women with little ones awaited. After introductions, we dug into the piles of cloth and hurt the ladies were experiencing. The men and boys had moved North after a series of political and climatic changes had razed their crops and hopes here. These women were eager to express their pain through cut fabric and start reaping the fruits of their own labor.

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They have done just that. That one seed of a workshop led to the formation of a cooperative called Las Homigas Bordadoras. Check out the amazing work they continue to sew today here.