Practical Workshops and Fashion Show

The two practical workshops in Alto Perú began on the 23rd and 24th of October. The knitting and jewellery workshops started with a total of 16 and 25 participants respectively. SOLAC decided to implement strict rules for participating to the workshops to ensure the smooth running of the courses. A 5 PEN fine was charged to any participant arriving 15 minutes late or more to class, and a 10 PEN fine for missing a session. The workshops were extremely successful throughout the six weeks. Both Vilma and Gloria were very happy with the enthusiasm and the results achieved by the participants of the course.

At the end of the six weeks SOLAC, together with the participants and the teachers, organised a fashion show to give the participants the opportunity to show their families and the rest of the community the amazing work they accomplished throughout the course. A lot of people also took advantage of this opportunity to sell their products to other people in Alto Perú and to start making a name for themselves with their new activity in the community. The event was entirely financed by the fines collected from people arriving late to or missing the workshops sessions. One group was in charge of preparing food for the event, another to organise all the logistics (chairs, sound system, etc) and finally one woman decided to prepare small Christmas baskets (mainly food such as pasta, milk, etc) and to organise a raffle at the event for all the participants of the two courses. We invited the two teachers to present the different items to the audience. The participants of the knitting workshop presented a summer collection for babies and kids. The colours of the collection were pink, magenta and purple, and each participant designed and made one to three items for the collection (mainly a combination of top, hat and a bag). Each participant invited one kid from their family to model the item for the fashion show. For the jewellery workshop, the participants learnt a different ensemble (necklace, bracelet and earings) every week as well as several models of key rings. Each person brought some items they had done in class with the teachers as well as many others they had made by themselves. Many of them designed and made new models especially for the fashion show. We also had one man participating in the workshop who made jewellery for both men and women.

The event was a huge success; the audience was extremely impressed by the amazing work accomplished by the participants in terms of quality and creativity. All the participants received a diploma that certified the completion of a basic course. Out of the sixteen people who signed-up for the knitting workshop only ten completed the course due to time restrictions and other commitments. All the participants from the jewellery workshop completed the course, some of which were children of the beneficiaries of the microfinance project. The feedback from the participants was extremely positive, and we have had since then a lot of demand to continue with the courses.