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Esperanza and Fortunato

"Hello, I am Fortunato, and Esperanza is my wife. We live in the state of Oaxaca, in a region known for the crafting of hammocks and handbags on back-strap looms. In my town, everyone spends a part of the year farming and another part making hammocks. From the time I was a child I remember my parents and grandparents doing the same thing that I do. We have this vocation from birth. Little by little, they taught us to work. By the age of 13, I already knew how to make nets for pitchers like those that hold mezcal [an unrefined sort of tequila]. After school, our elders gave us tasks until I learned how to make hammocks by myself.

"To make the hammock, we wrap the threads around and around a frame that consists of two wooden poles. Then we begin to weave with a reed in the shape of a slingshot. It helps us to hold and reel out the thread so it doesn't get tangled like the balls of yarn we used to use. We always make them of nylon or cotton, although we sometimes use ixtle or pita [natural plant fibers]. To finished the hammock, we make a loop and wind threads around it to reinforce each end. To make a hammock, I take around five days.

"Esperanza's mother taught her in the same way I was taught. When she came home from school she had tasks to do until she learned how to make the bags by herself.

"I really like making hammocks. If I have material in my house, when I'm alone I sometimes just start to work on one even though I don't have any orders. Sometimes I have pito or ixtle fibers and I also make them into hammocks. But I only work with these materials when the weather is very hot, so the hammock doesn't coil up. My wife and I make everything together and we teach our children. We had five children but three died, as there didn't used to be any doctors in our town. Now both our children know how to make hammocks, just like when our parents taught us. And now when we need to deliver an order, they also help us.

"When I weave, it feels very nice. And I get exercise at the same time. When I am making hammocks, I always feel very happy. It's just like when you go to bed in a hammock – I feel that same happiness."