ANDEAN COLORS

1. THE HISTORY

It is impossible to talk about Anden Colors without first knowing Hilda's life story.

Hilda Mayta

Hilda was born, like her 4 siblings, in Racchi – Cusco. When she was 12 years old, her mother died and being the older sister, she had no choice but to assume the role of mother at this young age. Life did not get easier and while she did everything she could to care for her siblings, she suffered domestic abuse from her father. His life became more difficult as his childhood was taken away from him, which is why he decided to run away from home after finishing high school. Hilda didn't have many options and ended up in the city of Cusco in search of a better quality of life, nothing could be further from reality.

Already in Cusco and in a vulnerable situation, she meets the father of her children. The promise of a better life ends in more abuse, abuse that lasts more than 10 years until on one occasion the Father of her children tries to take her life.

Desperate, with two children and fearing for her life, she makes a decision that would change the course of her life: she decides to cross the border illegally to flee to Brazil.

A new country, a new language and with the positive outlook that characterizes it: a new opportunity. Already in Brazil she meets a family that helped her unconditionally, a sign of the universe that despite everything there are good people and hope for everyone.

She worked a lot in Brazil, cooking, cleaning and weaving decorative items for homes. It is there that she realizes her enormous textile talent, however in the midst of this new opportunity night fell again for Hilda, since the father of her children filed a complaint against her for kidnapping (of her children) and made her have to return to Peru and face the situation. Through deception, her children were taken from her and she spent many years without even knowing where they were. But this time Hilda had already freed herself, she had empowered herself and she was stronger and more determined, for herself, for her children, and she was not going to let herself be defeated.

Now in Peru, in Cusco to be more exact, she decides to start a small crafts business. A business project with a social purpose.

Today Hilda, after having gone through so much in her life and understanding the difficulties that many women go through, especially single mothers, starts a business that helps women with similar pasts. It offers them job opportunities, not only with the marketing of the highest quality textile products but by teaching them to achieve economic and emotional independence, supporting them with talks and experiences so that they can overcome any difficulty.

Marco Zuniga

Marco comes from a community of extreme poverty in Lares but always fought to be better in his life, managing to study to be an official tourist guide and high mountain guide.

 After many years of taking tourists to textile centers, he managed to identify how tourists were often deceived, selling them products that were not of the quality they claimed. Marco did not want to deceive the tourist, he wanted to showcase the enormous talents of the textile artisans of the Andes, but in the right way.

 

Marco and Hilda meet, they combine their experiences, their desire to improve themselves and help others, and the idea of creating Andean Colors is born.