Dec-Feb 2007-2008

Our November 2007 trip seemed a real success. The women were cranking out skirts and dresses quickly while we were there. We had already secured a store in Newton to sell the children's wear, Healthy Baby Boutique. But we started getting a lot of questions from the women in Guatemala during January. They were a little overwhelmed by the new tasks and insecure about their skills. The woman that was coming to instruct them had different ideas about how to make things. So they became confused about which way to hem the garments among other things. I decided to return as soon as I could to reassure them and to put to rest any confusion about how the garment were to be made. I was nervous that the clothes they had made would not be suitable for sale at the Healthy Baby Boutique.
When I arrived, there was a lot of confusion. They had been hemming the garments with a single turn, leaving the zig-zag stitch showing. Most of the skirt hems were not straight and the stripes didn't match up. It was very difficult, but I asked them to remove all the hand hemming and rehem every piece over. It took them 3 days to fix the mistakes. Some of the garments were not salvagable. Since then, the quality of the garments has continued to improve. It was a hard lesson and a difficult thing to ask of them, but they are better for it. I returned with suitcases full of children's clothing to be sold.