Recent Publication by the U.S. Embassy about MNINI

La publicación de la embajada sobre Mnini (en español)

(The linked publication is in Spanish.)

El reportaje de televisa sobre MNINI

Receipt of Sewing Machines!

Domingo, Maura, Francisca, Rosa and Juana stand with Meghan and Danielle behind their new machines

The women of MNINI have reached another important milestone, as they received the sewing machines they purchased with a grant from the J Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust. It is now hoped that the women will speed their production tremendously, no longer sewing zippers and seams by hand. Pictured in the photo above with some of the women from the cooperative are the grant proposal author, Meghan Collins Sullivan, and founder of CODENI (and large mover and shaker behind MNINI), Danielle Strickland.

Danielle and Maura unload the sewing machines

Domingo, Maura and Rosa in a light moment

They are Official

This past week the MNINI group of women reached an important milestone; they are now officially recognized as the first indigenous cooperative in the state of Jalisco. In celebration and to honor their supporters they held a ceremony and cooked a great meal. They also found out that they have been bestowed a grant to buy sewing machines in order to speed up tedious tasks such as sewing zippers and seams.
Among those given thanks were Danielle Strickland, the founder of CODENI and large mover and shaker behind this group, as well as Meghan Collins Sullivan who wrote the grant proposal for the sewing machines, and Kevin Kovaleski, a photographer who was here this past week focusing on documenting these Otomí women.

Preparation of Mole

Danielle (head of CODENI) is speaking with Juana, one of the leaders of MNINI and owner of the house where we meet every other Thursday.

Sofía, Rosa and Maura in traditional Otomí dresses

The lawyer who helped the group become recognized by the state, handing over the official papers to Rosa. This lawyer is indigenous as well and left Chiapas as a 13-year-old to seek out a better life for himself.

Felipa grinding fresh cumin

Meghan, Sofía and her son Jorge

Ruth (who has been a large supporter of MNINI and offers literacy classes for the women three times a week), Rosa, Francisca and Bernadita

Rosa and Francisca joking with each other after dressing in their traditional clothes

Preparation of food

Literacy/ Alfabetización

Adriana and Sofia learning to write the letters of the alphabet

Beginning in January a group of women in the cooperative began taking literacy classes three mornings a week. Ruth Martinez Lopez of UACI (Unit of Support for Indigenous Communities) and Pia Aubert, a student at the University of Guadalajara head up to Cerro del Cuatro each Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning to run classes out of Rosa Gonzalez’s home from 8am until 9:30am. The women are at different stages of learning; from those who are forming the shapes and sounds of letters, to those who are a bit further along and are learning to read simple sentences and solve math equations. This is just one more step to enabling the cooperative members to become more independent, and is empowering the MNINI Cooperative as an organization.

Empezaba en enero, una grupo de mujeres de la cooperativa estan aprendiendo a leer y escribir en Español. Ruth Martinez Lopez de UACI Unidad de Apoyo a las Comunidades Indígenas y Pia Aubert, una estudiante de Universidad de Guadalajara van a Cerro del Cuatro cada lunes, miercoles y viernes por la mañana y enseñan clases en la casa de Rosa Gonzalez Gomez de 8 hasta 9:30. Las mujeres estan a niveles differentes; de aquéllas estan tratando a escribir formas de letras y sondear palabras, a aquéllas estan leyendo oraciónes sencillas, y resolver ecuaciónes matemáticas. Este es una mas ejemplo de mas independencia y confianza para los miembros de MNINI.

Bienvenidos a la Organización/ Welcome to MNINI

The meeting place ~ Juana’s house

Many of the women in the cooperative sell homemade potato chips to get by

View from Cerro del Cuatro, where many of the women in the cooperative live

Making the potato chips

Francisca Felix sewing a purse

Juana, Adriana and Maura

The women and their designs

The cooperativa kids