Working with Minga since 2004 Home: Otavalo, Imbabura Province of Ecuador Products: Aluminum Inlay Jewelry Born: 1972 Favorite Food: Mazamorra Favorite Music: Bob Marley Favorite Pasttime: Walking in the Mountains Favorite Vacation Spot: The Eastern Jungles of Ecuador Goals: Creating a craft/tourist center in San Rafael Armando has been working with Minga since 2004, and […]
Armando was born in Otavalo, Ecuador in 1964. From childhood he was interested in arts such as drawing and painting. As a teen, he went to an arts related high school called Daniel Reyes in Ibarra, a nearby town. His passion led him to join artistic youth groups and he participated in a great number […]
Working with Minga since 2007 Workshop: Otavalo, Ecuador Products: Jungle Jewelry, Tagua Carvings José and Anita have been working with Minga Imports since 2007, when Christopher Keefe met them in the Otavalo market. José first started making jewelry about 10 years ago with seeds from the jungle called cumbilla seeds. He began by selling them in […]
Working with Minga since 2006 Workshop: Ecuador Products: Jewelry-Tagua Andrés and Juanita were both born in 1964 and have been married for 30 years. They have two children, Mateo and Emily, both in elementary school. Andrés parents worked in tagua in Riobamba, where he was born. In 1985 when Juanita married him, his parents taught […]
Albina was born in Juliaca, in the Puno province of Perú. She and her family have been working as artisans for more than 40 years. Her uncles, orphaned at age seven, began as a way to provide for themselves. They began by selling alpaca items in their village. As a child, Albina only attended one […]
Working with Minga since 2007 Workshop: Quito, Ecuador Products: Jewelry – Tagua Magdalena is the older of this amiable couple. She was born in 1967 in the countryside in Manabí province near the coast. Albert was born in 1972 in Baños. Magdalena laughs and says she was the country gal and he the city boy. […]
Aída was born in Ibarra on August 24, 1962. She has three sisters and three brothers. She is a widow with three children, a son, Felipe, 29, and two daughters, Anaís and Yamani, 22 and 20. Anaís is studying film production, hoping to specialize in sound production/direction, and Yamani studying dentistry. The father of the […]