Zapotec Womens Cooperative; Weaving Loom

According to Pastora Guitierrez, one of the founding members of the Cooperative, the group was formed in 1997 by a small group of local women. They were the first group of women in their village to organize themselves in any way and in the beginning, they were not welcomed. Their community and their families didnt want the women to organize such independence was seen as a privilege belonging to men, not something in which proper Mexican women should be engaging. The women found ways around such restrictive