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ANASTASIA SANCHEZ LOPEZ |
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Anastasia is 40 years old and has 9 children – 8 daughters and 1 son. She lives in Matazano and she is very new to the TRASH BAGS project. The income that she has generated has been used for healthcare for her children, as they have been ill. In the future, she is hoping to use the income to better their lives, but healthcare has been their most pressing need. |
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ANNA BESSIE MALDOPADO |
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Anna is 36 years old and is a very involved member of the Rio Negro community and COFEACOMA. She has four children and is very proud of her TRASH BAGS work and the financial independent it has afforded her. She looks forward to being able to improve her children's education and quality of life and to making better and more creative purses. |
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ANTONIA ARGENTINA GARCIA |
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Antonia is 25 years old, has 3 sons and lives in Matazano. She credits the TRASH BAGS Initiative for significantly improving the quality of her family’s life. She has been able to afford the necessities of her children’s schooling and beds for her family. They have been living as guests in someone’s home, but Antonia is saving a portion of the TRASH BAGS income to build her own home. In addition, she credits the program with improving her relationships with the other women in the project and the Matazano community. |
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BLANCA SONIA CASTELLANO MALDONADO |
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Blanca is 39 years old and has four children. She has been part of the Rio Negro Cooperative since its inception and feels that she has benefited greatly from the income that she has been able to generate. Blanca has been able to improve the health and hygiene of her family and to provide clean drinking water. She has also been able to send her children to school and to realize her dream of buying a battery-operated sewing machine (they have no electricity). She looks forward to using her future income to get help with her health as she is suffering from renal failure. |
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BLANCA UMANA |
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Blanca is 38 years old and has seven children. She lives in Rio Negro and is one of the newer members of COFEACOMA, making TRASH BAGS for about one year. Her income has made a dramatic difference in the lives of her children, enabling them all to attend school. |
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CECILIA MEJIA REYES |
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Celia is one of the early members of the TRASH BAGS Cooperative. She lives in Matazano, is 34 years old and has seven children. As a single mother, she is more dependent upon the TRASH BAGS income than most of the other women in the Cooperative. Cecilia is very grateful for the opportunities that the Initiative has brought to her life. In 2006, she purchased a small plot of land on which she hopes to build a home of her own. |
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CONCEVIDA YANEZ MORALES |
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DIGNA LOPEZ HERNANDEZ |
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Digna lives in Matazano and is 30 years old with 3 children. She makes all of the purses and the new portfolios and laptop sleeves. She is a single mother and the project has allowed her to greatly improve the nutrition and health of her children and to send them to school. She hopes that her work with the TRASH BAGS Cooperative will enable her to send her children to high school for the first time in her family. In addition, she dreams of being able to buy land to plant coffee. |
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DILIA MARINA GUTIERREZ GARCIA |
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Dilia is 21 years old, single and has no children. She lives with her parents in Matazano and has used her Trash Bags income to help her parents to build the house in which they now live. The project has given her confidence in herself and has helped to improve herself “as a person”. Next year, she hopes to begin training as a professional seamstress to prepare herself for a better life. |
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DILMA ROSA LOPEZ |
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Dilma lives in Matazano, is 18 years old and has a young son. She makes the small purses and the new glasses cases. Her income from TRASH BAGS has enabled her to put a cement floor in her house, which is a big improvement in sanitation. She has also purchased chickens and rabbits to increase the protein intake of her family. She dreams of owning a farm and is saving some of her TRASH BAGS income to achieve this goal. |
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DILMA SUYAPA GARCIA GUTIERREZ |
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Dilma is 28 years old, has 5 daughters and lives in Matazano. Her income from the TRASH BAGS Initiative has been used to purchase medicine and provide health care – including hospitalization - to her children who have been sick often. She has recently purchased mattresses for her children, which she hopes, will improve their health and has patched up their leaking roof. She hopes to be able to continue her work with the TRASH BAGS Cooperative to continue to care for her children and to be able to send them to school. |
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DORIS ESTHER MORALES |
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Doris is the Rio Negro community coordinator for the TRASH BAGS INITIATIVE. She is 33 years old and is one of the founding members, along with her sister, Lilian. Doris volunteered to coordinate Rio Negro's efforts in the spring of 2006. Doris recognized the need to grow the community's participation, which was very limited at that time due to its remoteness (one day's drive for COFEACOMA up unpaved mountain roads) and the absence of phones in the community. Undaunted, Doris used her income from TRASH BAGS to purchase a cell phone, which has enabled her to double the number of COFEACOMA members in just one year. |
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EDA ELIZABETH RODRIQUEZ ZELAYA |
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Eda is the 14-year-old daughter of Maritza Reyes of Rio Negro She has been helping her mother make TRASH BAGS for the past year and is just starting to make her own. She hopes to use her income to continue her education as she would like to go to high school. |
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EMELINA VARGAS SANCHEZ |
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Emelina is a 29 year -old resident of Matazano with 5 children. She credits her involvement with TRASH BAGS with her ability to improve the nutrition of her family, their health and her children’s education. Most importantly, it has increased the unity of her family and her relationship with the other women of the Initiative and the Matazano community. |
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ERMINDA MALDONADO |
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ERMINDA is the oldest member of the COFEACOMA TRASH BAGS initiative and has the largest family, with ten children. She lives in Rio Negro, and has been in the Cooperative for two years. While she does not have a lot of time and energy to weave the TRASH BAGS, her older children help in the effort as the family benefits greatly from the income. |
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ESTEBANA CASTRO RODRIQUEZ |
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Estebana is 31 years old, has 4 children and lives in Matazano. She has been involved with TRASH BAGS for several years and the income that she has earned has improved her family’s life tremendously. She has improved the diet and health of her children and has been able to send them to school. One of her daughters is now able to attend high school and Estebana hopes that all of her children will be able to continue their schooling in order to have careers. She has also purchased chickens and pigs to breed and been able to plant 3,000 coffee trees on her farm. |
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EVA LOPEZ LOPEZ |
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Eva is a 32 year-old resident of Matazano with 3 children. She credits her involvement with the TRASH BAGS Initiative with providing her with the income to send her children to school and to purchase land on which she cultivates food to improve the nutrition of her family. She plans to have her children all complete high school and hopefully even some college. She also plans to plant more coffee plants and to continue to improve the welfare of her family. |
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GLADIS HAYDEE VELASQUEZ |
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Gladis is 37 years old, has 6 children and lives in Matazano. The income from TRASH BAGS has enabled her to improve the nutrition of her family as well as the communication and relationships within the family and community. In the future, she hopes to change the material of her house from mud to adobe and wood and to plant a market garden. |
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GLORIA SUYAPA GARCIA GARCIA |
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Although only 16 years old, Gloria is a very active and ambitious member of the Matazano TRASH BAGS Cooperative. Gloria has no children as yet and has been working to start her own coffee farm. She has already begun the registration process and has sufficient funds through her TRASH BAGS savings. In addition, Gloria has helped her father with his financial needs to maintain the family coffee farm. |
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HAYDEE ESPINAH MENDOZA |
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Haydee is a 30-year-old resident of Rio Negro. She has three children and has been weaving TRASH BAGS for only one year. In addition to providing much-needed income for her family, Haydee credits her work in the Cooperative with improving her communication skills and helping her to develop bonds within her community. She looks forward to improving her production and furthering her financial management skills. |
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IRMA PINEDA LOPEZ |
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Irma is a 31 year-old resident of the Matazano community with 5 children. She is an accomplished TRASH BAGS artisan and makes all of the clutches and purses. Irma has been able to purchase farm animals with her income and savings and to improve the overall welfare of her family. She hopes to start a vegetable garden to improve the nutrition of her family and to improve her home from mud to adobe. She is also committed to increasing her creativity in terms of designing new products for the TRASH BAGS Cooperative. |
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IRMA YESENIA VILCHEZ |
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Irma lives in Rio Negro and is a 31 year-old mother of three. She is one of the founding members of the TRASH BAGS Initiative and it has played a critical role in her life, as she is a single mother. Her husband went to the U.S. and married another woman, leaving her without any source of income or support for their children. She has been saving her TRASH BAGS income to build a small house so that she can live with her children, and "live in peace." She hopes to be able to provide her children with the necessities of proper nutrition and sanitation and to be able to send them to school. |
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JUANA MARTINEZ SANCHEZ |
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Juana lives in Matazano, is 24 years old and has 3 children. She has been part of the Cooperative for several years and has saved enough money to purchase some land and plant coffee trees. In addition, she has been able to improve the sanitation in her home and to purchase some animals to breed in order to provide better nutrition for her family. |
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JULISSA OSIRIS RODRIQUEZ |
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Julissa lives in Rio Negro. She is 25 years old and has two children. She has been a member of COFEACOMA for one year and makes the three standard size clutches. The income she has earned from TRASH BAGS has enabled her to be more financially independent and improve living conditions for her family. |
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JUVENTINA GARCIA |
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Juventina is the coordinator of the COFEACOMA TRASH BAGS Initiative in the Matazano community. She is 23 years old and has two children. Juventina is happy to volunteer for the extra responsibilities of coordinator, as she is so grateful for the opportunities that the Initiative has afforded her. Juventina is very entrepreneurial. In 2006, she purchased a donkey for transportation and to rent to others. She is saving to buy a small farm and is confident that she will be able to get a loan from the bank because of her respected work with COFEACOMA. |
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LILIAN ONEYDA MORALES |
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Lilian lives in Rio Negro and is the sister of Doris Morales. She is 36 years old and has six children. She has been a member of the TRASH BAGS initiative from its inception and makes all of the different products. Lilian is an outstanding artisan and designer and makes all of the TRASH BAGS products. She is also the only artisan that makes the beaded straps and bracelets. |
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MARIA ANALICIA ZAVALA |
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Maria lives in Rio Negro and is 45 years old and has four children. She has been involved in COFEACOMA since the inception of the TRASH BAGS project. With her income she has purchased medicine and has improved her living conditions. She currently makes the three standard size clutches and looks forward to learning new styles, increasing her productivity and contributing to the health of the Cooperative. |
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MARIA ESTEBANA FUNEZ |
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Maria is 22 years old, lives in Matazano and has 1 child. Her income from TRASH BAGS has enabled her to buy better food for her family and to make some improvements to their farm. She hopes to be able to save enough money to build a house from adobe instead of living in their current mud house. |
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MARIA ESTELA VASQUEZ SANCHEZ |
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Maria lives in Matazano, is 22 and has a 2-month old daughter. She has used her income from the TRASH BAGS Initiative to improve her home. She also credits the project with making her more aware of the environmental problem of throwing trash on the ground and the health problems of burning it. She hopes to be able to go to school to learn how use computers and has started saving some of her TRASH BAGS income towards achieving this goal. |
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MARIA HILARIA MARTINES |
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Marina lives in Rio Negro and is 31 years old. She has three children and is one of the newest members of the Cooperative - only 2 months.. Look for more information about Maria in the future, as she becomes a more active member of the TRASH BAGS Initiative. |
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MARIA MARTHA LOPEZ |
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Maria is 40 years old, lives in Matazano and has 6 children. She makes all of the different size clutches and the purses. Her income from the TRASH BAGS project has enabled her to improve her family’s nutrition, health and quality of life. In the future, she plans to improve her home from mud to adobe. |
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MARIA SANTOS CASTRO |
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Maria lives in Matazano is 35 years old and has 6 children. Although she is new to the TRASH BAGS project, she credits it with bringing her family closer together and making their lives happier and more fulfilled. She hopes to be able to save money from her TRASH BAGS income to purchase land for a coffee farm. |
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MARITZA ELIZABETH ZELAYA |
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Maritza lives in Rio Negro and she is 39 years old with four children. She is a relatively new member of COFEACOMA and weaves the three sizes of clutch bags. The income from TRASH BAGS has helped her to send her children to school and to improve their quality of life. |
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MARTHA ISABEL FUNEZ |
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Martha is 25 years old, has 2 children and lives in Matazano. She makes all of the TRASH BAGS products and has been part of the cooperative for several years. With her income, she has been able to improve her family’s nutrition and health and to send her children to school. She is saving to purchase land to farm coffee and to improve her home from mud to adobe. |
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MERCEDES LISDETH REYES |
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Mercedes is the 14-year-old daughter of Doris Morales of Rio Negro. She has been her mother's constant companion since the inception of the Cooperative and, as such, has benefited from her mother's leadership and determination. She makes the three standard sizes of TRASH BAGS and her income helps her family improve their quality of life. |
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ROSALILIAN REY |
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Rosalina is 36 years old and has six children. She has been a member of the Rio Negro program for about one year and is delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to her family's income. She is just starting to make the new shoulder bags and looks forward to expanding her creative weaving skills. |
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SANDRA YAMILETH GONZALEZ ESTRADA |
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Sandra is 20 years old, lives in Matazano and is pregnant with her first child. Being part of the TRASH BAGS Cooperative has made her happier than she has ever been. She enjoys feeling productive and part of the community. Sandra and her husband live with their parents and she is saving to purchase a house for their growing family. She is also hoping to help her husband start a coffee farm. |
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SANTOS LOKADIA PINEDA PEREZ |
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Santos lives in the Matazano community and is 45 years old with 8 children. She makes all of the TRASH BAGS products and has used the income to improve the nutrition, health and education of her family. She hopes to be able to continue sending her children to school until they complete high school. She is also saving to build a adobe home with a tin roof, instead of her current mud house. |
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SONIA ROSMERYS VILCHES |
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Sonia is 24 years old and has three children. She lives in Rio Negro and has been an active member of COEFECOMA for two years, weaving all of the various TRASH BAGS products. Her income has enabled her to improve her family's living conditions, most notably the quality of their drinking water. She looks forward to continuing to make TRASH BAGS to enable her to further improve the sanitary conditions in her home and to be able to send all of her children to school. |
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SUYAPA YANES |
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Suyapa is 32 years old and lives in Rio Negro. She has four children and has been part of COFEACOMA for three years. Suyapa makes the three standard size clutches and enjoys creating new designs. As a result of the income from TRASH BAGS, she has been able provide better food for her family and to send her children to school. |
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VALENTINA MARTINEZ |
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Valentina is 48 years old and lives in Rio Negro. She has eight children and has been a member of COFEACOMA for two years. She says that weaving TRASH BAGS makes her feel better about herself and more valued. She looks forward to continuing to make TRASH BAGS and to learn how to create new products and take on new challenges. |
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