Jeto means “spider” in Asháninka, the women chose the name because spiders are such good weavers.
The cooperative of eight women is set to double in size with further training and awareness raising. They’ll sell woven textiles and jewellery to river traders to increase their income. Our Peru Project coordinator, Alix Silva, is providing them with training in promoting their products to sell further afield and help them develop products made with traditional techniques that will appeal to the tourist market.
During a knowledge exchange trip in 2017 the Jeto group met artisans from the Awajún partnership, and learnt from their experience of setting up their own successful cooperative, AMARNO. One member can spin thread from locally harvested cotton and will teach the others how it’s done. They will also learn how to plant and harvest cotton as a sustainable crop. Diversifying the income streams available to our Asháninka partners creates robust livelihoods.