Eco-Friendly Metalized Wrapper Cosmetic Bag with Red Accents 'Ecological Awareness' Item ID: 2671769251

"I was born in a village in Chiquimula, Guatemala. My mother was a homemaker, my father a bricklayer, and I'm the eldest daughter. I am forever thankful to my parents for the way they brought us up: always with love, they taught us good values, they sent us to school and always gave us what they could.

Unfortunately, when I was 10 years old my mother contracted a chronic illness and I had to take over looking after the house and my siblings. I still do, because given our economic situation mom has not been able to get any better. I have seen three of my siblings die from malnutrition, illness, and lack of resources to buy medication.

"We always lived with financial constraints, below the minimum standard which meant we didn’t even have much for food. That’s why I grew up a vegetarian, not as a personal choice, but because the situation forced us to. I remember when my 15th birthday was coming and as a quinceañera I really didn't care for a party or a dress, like custom dictates. All I wanted was a pair of shoes because I had never had one.

"I got married when I was 15 years old and now I have four beautiful children. Thanks be to God, my husband let me continue going to school. When we married we moved to one of the poorest municipalities in the country, where we still live and I work as a teacher.

"In 2008 I began an undergrad course in pedagogy, specializing in environmental education. This has opened the doors for me to learn, and to teach, about recycling solid waste. Along with some students, we decided to research some techniques and got very interested in weaving potato chip packages, so we began to work on this project.

"However, since they worked during the day, most of them began deserting little by little. That's when I decided to form a group in the village where I live. I've been offering environmental education to a group of women, most of them homemakers, who seem excited about learning this technique.

"We decided to call our group 'Enchanted Wings' because we want to fly, improve, and charm clients with our products and history. Other than designing and crafting, I also do the quality checks of the products by other women.

"The first item I ever did was my own bag, which I've shown with pride morning, noon and night, winter or fall. I still use it – I keep as my first and most valuable work. It has some imperfections, after all it was the first one I ever did, but I look after it and use it with pride.

"People see me picking up wrappers in the street and they ask what I want that 'garbage' for. I tell them it isn't garbage, it's my prime material and let them see my bag. They immediately like it and that's how I've received many orders for more!

"I love my craft and its inspiring to see the quantity of material that can be recycled. There are many families in need in my community, and female unemployment is 90%, and yet there is a general desire to get ahead and improve our quality of life.

"That's why I got together with other women from my village and venture into the design of items woven with palm leaves. It is still a big part of my focus on recycling and eco-friendly products since palm is a natural and sustainable material. Weaving boxes and other items has been a challenge for me since it requires different weaving techniques and materials and that's always complicated. However, in as much as it is a project that helps many women improve their income, it has been a success.