History

And this is how everything started.....

"It was a fall afternoon and a friend and I were waiting for our children at the school door, and exchanging ideas about what each one of us was trying to do in the different rural zones in which we were settled.  Olga S. de Artagaveytia at the Rincón de la Urbana, Department of Cerro Largo, and I (Manila Ch. de Vivo) in Paso de los Mellizos, Department of Río Negro.  This meeting marked for me the beginning of Manos del Uruguay.  Next day, we met at Olgas house, with her, her mother, and Beatriz de María who, during her life, was a very-difficult-to-replace leading light for Manos.

 

Shortly after, three other friends joined the group:  Sara Beisso, Dora Muñoz, and María del Carmen Bocking.  We all had as a goal to find income sources for the hundreds of craftswomen in the provinces.  We thought about future cooperatives, but we started to outline a project that would operate under cooperative principles only eight years later.  When the groups themselves assumed the responsibility, the 17 existing cooperatives were regularized. The fact is that we were looking for an organization not only for craftswomen, but belonging to craftswomen.  To reach the place Manos del Uruguay occupies today, a lot of work, faith and enthusiasm were needed; as well as a lot of training and support from the Uruguayan Cooperative Center, from ACDE [Christian Association of Company Directors], the Bank of the Republic of Uruguay, the IDB, presided by Enrique Iglesias, and from so many others." (Manilla Ch. de Vivo Manos del Uruguay Founder).

 

 

The beginnings

The founders, and at the same time the first members of Manos Board of Directors, conceived the idea of helping to commercialize the crafts of women and men of the rural zones of the provinces, the manual skills and creative potential of whom was completely wasted. 

 

The founders, or their families, were the owners of agricultural and livestock establishments and had contacts with the rural schools of the area, where the teachers usually organized groups to perform different activities.  Among those groups there appeared sometimes those who made crafts in wool, leather, for example, leather-tanning, horse blankets and ponchos [wool blankets used by the gauchos in South America to keep themselves warm in cold weather], products that were impossible to place at remunerative prices in the rural zones or in small towns, due to the populations low purchasing power.

 

"When school was over, some pupils that wanted to do more were always hanging around...and then they started to make handicrafts.  The bookshelves started to fill up with handicrafts that, as they were gradually being covered with dust, so were peoples illusions." (Founder)

 

From the business as much as from the promotional point of view, these groups were the germ of the idea of Manos creation.  In this sense, it is important to highlight here that the founders that were subsequently the managers- of Manos del Uruguay belonged to high social strata, whose families were connected by a friendly relationship; and, simultaneously, they were connected with the countrys most influential social, political and business sectors.  This fact facilitated the free use of premises, vehicles and raw materials, as well as the contacts necessary to obtain social contributions, bank loans for which, many times, the families of the founders acted as guarantors- as well as the access to people traveling abroad.  In this way, these travelers, showing the garments and trying to open new markets, became Manos del Uruguay honorary representatives abroad.

 

The founders, as much as many other volunteers, generously dedicated their time to Manos, and they still do so at present.  In the locations where the groups were formed, also teachers, professors of the Labor University, nuns, as well as the people in the area, gave Manos their disinterested support, which, in one way or another, helped to achieve this project.

 

It means that Manos del Uruguay was born and grew as a genuine collective effort.  And, without the influence of all the above-mentioned factors, it would have been very difficult not only to conceive the creation and development of the company, but also its productive as well as promotional success.

 

It was in the summer of 1968, in Punta del Este, when Manos del Uruguay sold its first garments; the same happens in Montevideo, in the Prado neighborhood in the winter of that same year, at the Rural del Prado [the industrial and stockbreeders fairground that takes place every year] organized by the Rural Association of Uruguay; both are places that traditionally concentrate people with high purchasing power. After the notorious success of these sales, the founders understood the need of creating an organization, for which they needed specialized advice as well as a long-term planning regarding the type of enterprise they wanted to create.  And this is how a closer connection with the Uruguayan Cooperative Center [CCU for its acronym in Spanish] was born.  They not only wanted to do something for craftswomen, but also to face the work with them, to gradually get the workers to make their own decisions in all aspects.

 

In this way, Manos del Uruguay Partnership, a non-profit organization, was created, having their first by-laws approved by the end of 1968.  In August of that same year, 281 craftswomen were brought together in 12 groups located in different zones of the country.  By the end of 1969, the number of members had increased to 750 and the groups to 49.

 

On the other hand, in addition to connecting to the CCU, the founders looked for advice.

 

"Volunteers, absolutely volunteers.  There were a lot of advisers all of them were volunteers, just as the founders.  At that time the number of hired personnel was very low, we were 7 or 8, since what we precisely pretended was to have very low fixed costs.  And there were a lot of voluntary working hours in all the areas:  in the administrative area, in the commercial area, in the advice to given to the managers.  The expenses were minimal.  No rent was paid because it operated in a lent house, in the cellar.  No electricity bills were paid either because everything was lent or donated.  There were no vehicle-related expenses, because the vehicles also belonged to the families of the founders (...) The help and support were huge, and, as there were a lot of people who contributed, it is a little bit difficult to mention them all, and the things that were made for the development of Manos del Uruguay at its beginnings." (Head Office employee).

 

Without that real communion of efforts, Manos wouldnt have become what it is today...  Nevertheless, the true characters of this history are the craftswomen.                        

 

We transcribe here below some fragments of testimonies of craftswomen who worked in Manos del Uruguay at its beginnings.

 

 

Our point of departure

 

".....I went to school up to Third grade.  But when I turned eleven, one day they told me Well, you are not going to be a teacher, or a doctor, or anything else, you already know how to read and write, so youre not going to school any more and that really hurt me..." (Rufina Craftswoman of Egaña Town)

 

"I never went to school.  Never.  Because the school was very far away, and my mother never sent us to school.  She never sent her girls to school."   (Alejandrina Craftswoman of Picada de Salomé Town and Río Branco City  )

 

"...There were many people who were not from the zone, but from the countryside, and there are places in the countryside where there were no schools.  Thats what happened to me.  I went to school here, in Río Branco, but my father had a farm land far away from the city and he didnt have anyone to look after him, so we had to leave the city when I was in 3rd grade.  And then, school was over, because it was so, so far away that we couldnt travel even on horseback.  It was impossible to travel more than two and a half leagues every day." ( Nair Craftswoman of Río Branco City and  Dragón Town) [1 league = 2.6 miles]

 

 

Our life before joining Manos

 

"I lived in a small shack.  Yes, at first I lived at my mothers house, for a long time, and then we built a small shack.  I washed the clothes of people who worked in the fields, but washing was really a hard task.  As I didnt have running water, we had to carry it in from the wells, which were three blocks away... my children were small.  They helped me, because I also made pies and cakes for sale, and they kids went out to sell them....I also sewed, or washed, or anything else...I sewed for all the people in town.  I had a lot of sewing work before.  The problem was that...here...in town...sometimes it took a long time to get paid....It is very different, besides I was not entitled to family allowances, or social security, or anything." (Marina Craftswoman of Rodó Town and  Egaña Town)

 

"I used to work as a maid....and a neighbor once asked me if I would like to work forI Manos del Uruguay.  Because, maybe, I would be better paid, and it was a lighter work, wasnt it?  And then I went and I spoke."   (Gregoria Craftswoman of Guichón Town)

 

"...And, when I joined Manos del Uruguay all my children were small and I lived in a shack.  I lived up there, much farther away than now.  The shack was long, divided in two by a piece of nylon.  My bedroom, and then the gurises [South Cone: familiar term for kids] bedroom.  The boys slept in the kitchen, and during summertime, they slept outdoors.  The kitchen was separated from the house.  Yes...the kitchen was separated because as I used wood fire sticks to cook, and as we had no flue, all the smoke went inside, so the kitchen was separated from the house. There was no chimney...I only had a small range.  But it was made of straw, a range against the wall, and on top it had a metal sheet, so as not to smudge so much the outside of the pots, but it didnt have a flue. (...) Yes, before things were much more difficult, we were much poorer than now... (with my husband), the biggest argument was when I joined Manos  Oh, yes!  He wanted to leave me.  But I, with the help of my people, I continued to work, because in the old days things were very difficult...only poverty and misery to bring up the kids."   ( Morena Craftswoman of Piñera Town )

 

"I worked in Rausa....and, for instance, we picked up sorghum seeds, they put us in the storehouse, by groups, to classify the seeds...Well, it was a very rustic job.  It was a seasonal job."   (Laura Craftswoman of Solís Grande Town)

 

 

..And thus, the groups were formed

 

"....as she realized I needed to work she asked me, and I said yes, I wanted to work.  Then I went to the Nuns house, and there they taught me.  I didnt know how to spin, they taught me how to spin and I started to spin.....The Nuns helped me, they bought me a spinning wheel, and, later, I paid them for it.  When I got a job, I paid it back to them."   (Elba Craftswoman of Guichón Town)

 

"I went to the Industrial School, and from there Mr. Odriozola sent me to talk to Mrs. Ema, who was the person that was assigning the jobs.  But he was the pioneer, the one who organized.  We had to talk to him first, and then he sent us and there we talked to Mrs. Ema, and Mrs. Ema evaluated whether she could give us a job or not, according to the situation of the person.  Because it was not that jobs were assigned just like that, it was according to the situation of the person.  If the person had a good salary, her husband had a good job, then she said no, she said that jobs were only for people in need.  And there I enrolled, and said, look, Mrs. Ema, I dont know how to spin.  And she told me:  no problem, come on, Ill teach you.  And I learned."   ( Ema Craftswoman of Río Branco Town)

 

"...One day, there, I remember...I woke up early and I saw those people at school, all of them sitting at the school door.  What are those women out there? And I realized they were not from the town. I said:  ha! these must be the wool women that were about to come over.  And I went over there to see if there was anything they needed.  Right then I didnt have this house...And I went there and they were precisely those women from Manos del Uruguay. And I brought them over, and we went out to show them the town, and everything, and then to my shack..."   ( Jurandy Craftswoman of Dragón Town)

 

 

And there was a certain division of labor

 

"Do you know?  One day, while I was cleaning some drawers there, I found the notebooks where we noted down the wool.  We made small sewn notebooks, because now, they give each one of us an individual form.  Before they didnt give us anything, the one in charge of the form filled it up, and that was it.  She filled it up, and we didnt know anything about it.  We produced and noted down:  four kilograms of wool rovings, two and a half kilograms of basic wool, basic as we called it. And there we had what we had made per month, for later, when they came over to pay us.  Of course, so that everything was right, you know..."   (Teresa Craftswoman of Dragón Town)

 

"I was the one in charge of filling in the form.  It was a hard work.  I didnt know anything, I had only finished third grade at school.  It was such a hard work!!  And there was a butcher at the corner, and the butchers wife did understand, because she worked with him.  And I thought:  lets say that one kilogram of wool costs ten pesos. And I said, if one kilogram of wool costs ten pesos, I must know how 100 grams would cost.  And I didnt know.  Well, then I went to the butchers to ask:  if one kilogram of wool costs ten pesos, how much do 100 grams cost?  And she taught me, the butchers wife taught me.  And also when I had trouble to fill in the forms, because I made mistakes and couldnt fix them, and then she helped me to fix them.  And I learned a lot, much more than I did at school, because today I know how to do calculations and everything."   (Zulema Craftswoman of Poblado Uruguay Town)

 

 

Continuous training became necessary

 

"Before, when I joined Manos del Uruguay, I considered myself a poor speaker.  I was not much of a speaker, no, but I dont know, I was not fluent or self-confident.  And with the courses in Montevideo, I began to adjust, I speak more now.  Even during the courses down there, I talked quite a lot.  But I dont know.  The courses in Montevideo have helped me a lot."   ( Sonia Craftswoman of Dragón Town)

 

 

"...it was hard.  I dont know, we learned a lot of things, we did quite well, and we went out a little bit, didnt we?  At least now we are not ashamed of going out here or there, talk a little bit more, or whatever.  Because at that time, one had that resentment."   ( Miguelina Craftswoman of Poblado Uruguay Town )

 

"The classes were very nice, we learned tons of things, because we didnt know anything....It was very hard to me, because as I am very backward in everything, it was very hard to me.  But learning, one learns right away!"

 

"...I even had to ask my children for the multiplication tables.  Because I had to learn all that again, because I didnt remember anything.  And Berta!!  I was so nervous on those days when she came over that I didnt want anything else.  I had a terrible nervous stress due to those forms!  I always thought they were perfect, and she always found some mistakes.  Blessed be God, I will never learn to do that job!  She left and I started to practice alone.  That was the way I figured things out. And with Rose.  Rose knows.  Until eleven oclock at night with Berta, fighting against those forms, me and Rose.  Then Rose began to fill in the loom form, and I filled in the yarn form and the monthly controls."   ( Nair Craftswoman of  Río Branco City and Dragón Town).

 

"....I felt very isolated.  And besides people laugh when I tell them- but its true:  not only did I feel isolated, but also incompetent, I was shy.  No, it wasnt shyness, it was a question of lack of contact with people, lack of opportunity to express myself and say what I felt.  Then, I came to talk to my sons teacher, of any thing, and I didnt say anything, I blushed, my voice faltered.  And then I wondered:  how come that a mother with seven children, who will have to face life so many times, can be in this situation.  Its not possible, and well....Today I dont say I was shy, because, otherwise, I would still be shy.  It was a lack of opportunities and of learning how to express oneself."   ( Rufina Craftswoman of Egaña Town)

 

 

Our families

 

To be able to work, many of us had to face family problems

 

"It took me two months to join, after they had brought the loom.  The loom was brought in February, and I joined in April.  It was so hard, so hard with husbands! It was so hard to join!  But it was same with all husbands.  In the countryside, women did not work."   (Elida Craftswoman of Solís Grande Town)

 

"..in the interior, in the countryside, I know of craftswomen that have attended a production meeting, for example, and their husbands have left them out, with the doors, closed, they wouldnt let them in.  Sometimes you have to argue with your husband; sometimes you have to kind of quarrel.  Because husbands do not want their wives to work, they dont believe its correct, they are not used to it, their mothers did not work.  Its different nowadays with young women, because when they get married they are already working.  So, the men who marry them already know they work, or that they travel, all those things, its an all-inclusive package.  While with us it was different, it was not an all-inclusive package.  Then, of course, some of us have been able to do many things, others couldnt."   (Dora Craftswoman of Rodó Town)

 

"For him it was horrible when I spun, he said it was dirty, or whatever; that wool was dirty, he didnt want me to spin.  And later I told him I was going to join the knitting group, because you know....the fields were very, very poor, and we didnt have anything.  And I had two kids.  And then I said, ok, I will join the knitting group.  And he didnt like it very much either.  But when he saw that I was doing well in the knitting group, and that I was happy, he started to help me out with the kids."  ( Graziella Craftswoman of Solís Grande Town)

 

Now we dont, but before we worked all Saturdays.  And Sundays were to do the laundry of the whole week, and to clean.  And the problem is that on Sundays sometimes people dropped in on us, and you didnt know whether to attend to the visitors or to cry. But I never wanted to quit until I retired.  (Pitica Craftswoman of Guichón Town)

 

"...I have changed in everything, in everything Im going to tell you, in my house, in everything, I have changed in everything since the beginning until now...And everything, even the things at home.  Because before I didnt have anything, and now I have everything, thanks to my job, you know.  I have ten children.  And from the younger to the eldest, they look after the youngest and do all the housework. Now the youngest is five years old, and she has already started to go to school....I make them understand that Mummy is working, and that if you want things and want to eat such or such foods, or you want to get dressed with such or such clothes, you have to help Mummy, because otherwise Mummy wont be able to make it."  (Elba Craftswoman of Guichón Town)

 

"Now he even cooks for me!  The problem is that here, in the countryside, the only available job is the cooperative.  There is nothing else.  At the beginning, its like everything else; he believed that I couldnt go on working here.  But now, he has already got used to it. When the teacher asked my youngest kid at school to draw the cooperative, he drew a loom, with the all the wool colors."  (Graziella Craftswoman of Solís Grande Town)

 

 

We got to know the world

 

Little by little we got to know other places, other people.

 

"For me, it has been a different stage in life, the stage before Manos, and this one, with Manos.  Because before joining Manos del Uruguay, I didnt feel like I do right now, I felt completely dependent on others, first on my parents, afterwards on my husband.  Buy what I wanted?  Impossible!  Now I dont buy what I want either, because I cant afford it.  But sometimes I do buy what I want, I pay in installments, because now I can do it.  Besides, how many things Ive learned, how many places Ive been to.  I, for example, the furthest I had ever traveled before joining Manos del Uruguay was to Mercedes, the capital of the Department, because there they issued the identity card, and the electoral card.  I have an aunt there; I had reached that far, from Cardona to Mercedes.  When I joined Manos del Uruguay I went to Montevideo for the first time."  (Dora Craftswoman of Rodó Town)

 

"Well, it was hard for me to go.  I didnt like to go either.  I went there and I spent the days in Montevideo wishing and counting the days and the minutes to come back.  Besides, I couldnt, everything was so hard to me.  Now I go, I spend the days at ease, I eat, I sleep, and I have no problem.  Before, I woke up with each car that passed by.  You can realize that I spent the whole night awake, of course.  It was the habit, I arrived here and at night everything was completely silent.  The only thing that could bother you at night was a dogs bark." ( Tona Craftswoman of Solís Grande Town )

 

 

The poncheras, the women of Manos del Uruguay

 

[ponchera = women who manufactured ponchos, a large wool blanket used by the gauchos, name given to the men who rode the Pampa, the plains of Argentina, Uruguay and parts of southern Brazil, earning their living on cattle farms Collins Dictionary definition],

 

"Well, when Manos was not a cooperative yet, when we just worked in groups, we had the idea to go out and start selling ponchos in cattle shows, and in some other places, in other departments.  We went to the department of Treinta y Tres, to Zapicán, Vergara, José Pedro Varela, Nico Pérez, José Batlle y Ordóñez.  Besides, you see, when there were no shows, or when it was raining, we went selling ponchos door-to-door in towns.  We sold ponchos, quilted jackets, sweaters (...).  We went to the fairs; everybody was in uniform, with ponchos...all in uniform.  And thats the way it began to take shape."  ( Lidia Craftswoman of Río Branco City)

 

"We went willy-nilly, proud of ourselves, bold, because we didnt even have a place to stay overnight.  We always traveled by train, which was the cheapest.  At three oclock in the morning I remember, the train departed Río Branco, every day, now it doesnt any more.  We stayed at the station until dawn, sleeping on the benches, on top of the ponchos, and covered with some poncho. When traveling there we were not cold, the problem was when we came back.  Because as it always happens, you see...as we had to carry many bags with ponchos, everything we could carry it was better this way, the more we carried, the more we sold.  On some occasions we came back with some ponchos, and then we could cover ourselves.  But when we came back with no ponchos at all, we were definitely cold, and that was it.  Because, no, we hadnt taken any warm clothes.  Going with the ponchos, being among the wool, and coming back with cold."  ( Delcira Craftswoman of Río Branco City)

 

 

Creation and consolidation of the cooperatives

 

"I joined Manos del Uruguay practically when Manos was born.  Therefore I know all the difficulties Manos del Uruguay has had.  And how positive cooperatives are nowadays.  At present the administration employees are the ones in charge of making payments, of performing all the proceedings regarding social laws, of having insurances up-to-date, of taking care of all the administration for the Head Office.  Because it requires a lot of information, and it is being performed by the ladies themselves, who, in one way or another have had a training trajectory that has enabled them to do all that.  To me, I say, this is the most important and what I always highlight when Im asked, because I lived the whole process."

 

"I think that one of the most important achievements of Manos del Uruguay is having trained a group of people in the manufacturing technical aspect on one side, and, in the technical aspect of how to administer, how to manage and how to organize a company on the other side.  Because cooperatives are companies, and that is not easy."  (Head Office employee).

 

 

How could I explain to you what a Cooperative is?

 

"Well, a cooperative means to work all for the same objective. Lets say, I will not take this because its mine, because, if the cooperative is mine, Im not going to take that table and take it home.  It belongs to all of us, we have to understand that, what we have here belongs to all of us, and all of us are working for the same goal."

 

"Besides, they have to understand that, to be a cooperative, there must be someone, there must be a Managing Committee, because otherwise, everybody would do whatever they want, they have to understand that there must be someone from the members themselves- that make up the committee, which is the one that orders, and, how can I say, the one that runs the cooperative.  Because if there werent one, if I refuse to be a member of the committee, the other one refuses too, and the other one refuses too again, then, good-bye cooperative...people have to contribute with cooperative hours."   (Dora Craftswoman of Rodó Town)

 

"Well, you see, first of all I consider it a source of employment, but then, when you join you discover many more things, dont you?  And even when you start you think there is going to be an employer who is going to boss you around, afterwards, during everyday work trajectory, I started to discover that there were many things I expected to be done, but then I realized that it was me who had to do them.  Then you find out that it is something completely different from a job.  And you like it even better, because, whatever you can achieve, you achieve it yourself, or through the group of people who are working with you."

 

"It is achieved because we are a number of people working for the same goal.  And, I dont know, you develop yourself as a person, it gives you a lot...this same management...Because I aimed to do something else, I aimed to be able to study, and I liked that very much.  And well, I left everything for family reasons.  Then I always felt that I lacked something, something that I hadnt achieved.  I was always dissatisfied, I even tell you, I felt useless, because, what was I good for?  Those questions that you sometimes pose yourself.... Then when I first started to knit, I didnt like it very much because I didnt know anything at all.  There they taught me everything, even to cast on stitches.  But afterwards....today...I feel much calmer and happier with what I am doing.  Even if I couldnt achieve much, no formal studies or anything, I can manage, because one thinks that to manage yourself in such or such job, you must have some basic studies.  Its logical, but this is different, because when you are inside you dont know how far you can reach."  (Marita Craftswoman of Algorta Town)

 

"When you start to claim for your rights, they put you aside and I had to quit....they fired me.  Here this has nothing to do, because here you work...you work and you know you are working for something you own, for something thats yours, and at the bakery the job was very different.  It is beyond compare, because you earned what your employer wanted to pay you, and nothing else, not what you were entitled to.  You dont have to sign any forms, as in the bakery, where you signed a form, but you were paid half of what appeared on the form, and you had to sign it anyway, otherwise they fired you.  They fired you and they found someone else, because everybody wanted to work.  You couldnt say anything; you had to stay calm, quiet.  Whereas, here its different, you earn what you have worked for."  (Delcira Craftswoman of Río Branco City)

 

"Im one of those persons that believe that it is an enterprise, but different from the others, it is very different from the others.  Before, I always said that Manos del Uruguay was a family; to me it is still a family.  With certain changes, of course.  It is really different from the other companies, and it is everybodys support that keeps it going.  I believe it is a machine, but that every one of us is part of that machine.  Besides, I dont know, I dont see anything that keeps the Head Office apart.  Its a whole, integrated, because I, for example, I see the part of the coordinators, who give everything, because they spend their lives in the cooperative, dont they? But theres where all parts are, the instructors, the coordinators, the craftswomen, the Head Office, they are all brought together and work together so that we can get ahead, because all this belongs to the cooperative, and right now we are the craftswomens employees.  And besides, craftswomen are increasingly making up the managing committee.  Before they didnt, because they werent prepared yet, either the cooperatives or the craftswomen, to be in charge of an organization as Manos del Uruguay is today.  And today they are, because there is a majority of craftswomen, and there will be an increasing number of them, and there will come a time when craftswomen will be the ones who will be running Manos.  It is really very important to me and the fairest thing too!" (Head Office employee).

 

"Well, I believe that whenever I have to talk about Manos del Uruguay Im going to talk about that:  Manos del Uruguay is like that...but why?  Because there were people who came up with an idea, there were people who trusted, there were people who had the ability to have other people develop themselves...Everything on the move...and besides, producing, producing to sell.  Then I think of the huge mission Manos del Uruguay has achieved in this country, through peoples integration, participation, and training...it means to assume responsibilities, but in addition to demand them to think about tomorrow, about tomorrow."  (Rufina Craftswoman of Egaña Town )

 

Translators comment:  The translation into English of the above personal testimonies has tried to capture as much as possible the local color, as well as their simple and colloquial language, and the very essence of these craftswomen feelings.