Historical December 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Gabrielle DiLorenzo, a Honduras Peace Corps volunteer in the education sector (whose parents live on the 6100 block of Kingsbury), has worked with ceramic artists in Yarumela, La Paz, to coordinate a ceramic jewelry project. Aid to Artisans, an international development agency, sent designer Holland Millis to Yarumela in January, 1985, to experiment with new designs and products for export. Yarumela is a town with a strong tradition in the production of clay nativity statues and ceramic piggy banks, and Rolland thought that the women’s outstanding clay modeling skills could be adapted to create a product with strong sales potential in the international export market. Gabrielle introduced Holland to Rosa Herminia Castillo, one of the more prolific artisans in Yarumela, and she created a series of flower designs. Holland designed the necklaces, and then helped train handicapped people at the Rehabilitation Institute in Tegucigalpa to string the beads for a finished product.
The women who make these flower beads live in a village in the Comayagua Valley of Honduras.
The village of Yarumela has electric light, some of the houses have piped water for one hour in the morning, and two of the main roads in the village will be paved this year.
To find clay, the women walk to a clay deposit, chip out the hard clay, and carry it home on their heads.
They wet the clay, knead it, clean out rocks and grass, and form the flowers by hand, using a few simple wire tools.
When the flowers are leather-hard, the women fire them in small clay kilns they all have in their backyards.
The twenty women in the group range in- age from 22 to 50, and have, on the average, five children. Half of them have husbands who contribute regularly to the family income.
They also earn money washing clothes, making and selling bread, making and selling clay figurines at Christmas, and doing custodian work.
They will use the income generated from these necklaces for agricultural projects. Aid to Artisans is also helping to export to the United States ceramic cherubs, Christmas tree ornaments, nativity scenes, and other decorative handmade items made in Yarumela. (Editor’s Note: These necklaces are available from Gabriell’s mother, Bernadette DiLorenzo for $5.00 a piece.
They are charming pieces and the natural tones look well with natural or fall fashion colors.
In addition to the necklaces, Mrs. DiLorenzo also has creche sets for sale.
She can be reached at 721-0549 before 8:30 a.m. or after 3:30 p.m.)
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1985_12.pdf, printed page(s) 10; PDF page(s) 10.
