Dear Friends,

A lot has been happening this winter! Jennifer Lemire, our Boston Associate, came to Oaxaca in February and drove home with me after a week of visits to Miramar, a fundraiser with Oaxaca’s Canadian and American community and a very successful sale of weavings.

The weaving sale was especially sweet as we are working to develop markets were the weavers can play a more active role in managing and marketing. This time, three weavers, Sofia, Reyna and Edith, came to Oaxaca to demonstrate backstrap weaving and sell weavings.  Additionally, Sofia did the “ask” and expressed beautifully all that this project means for the abuelitas in Miramar. The Circle of Women’s house/office is a great place for an event. We accommodated about 40 people comfortably and still had room for the looms. Our next step will be to try to engage with tour guides who work with tourists especially interested in crafts.

In the meantime, back in the U.S., the weavings will be available for purchase this Sunday, March 9th at Trinity Church-Copley Square in Boston from 10:00am-12:30pm.

Pia Scognamiglio, the Co-Founder of the Circle of Women, is back managing the Oaxaca side of things for the short term while we decide how to structure the work and what is needed in a Oaxaca Coordinator. She will stay through autumn and we will conduct a search for a new person. Many thanks to Rosa Dominguez for stepping in during the time that Pia was away.

The literacy project-year two launched this week. Patty Tovar says the students will all be reading by the end of the year. She is developing a manual for use with other indigenous, elderly women. The village has appointed a Librarian (hurrah!), and she is a bright young woman who is volunteering her time.

Tom Feher, who has been working with us to develop a book documenting the lives of the women and the work with The Circle of Women, has visited Miramar a number of times and has beautiful pictures of the women and their families. We are looking forward to continuing our work with him and seeing this project progress.

It is an exciting time and we need your support to keep all this work happening. Please consider making a gift to The Circle of Women. We appreciate your help!

Judith and The Circle of Women-Boston, Oaxaca and Miramar