Out Of Peru works very closely with our designers in Peru. By working with these designers Out Of Peru has given them the opportunity to reach a market which they never believed they could access. The designers Out Of Peru works with are aware of the global consciousness for ethically produced products and together with Out Of Peru they are dedicated to improving the quality of life of their workers. The workshops Out Of Peru works with pride themselves on maintaining an excellent working environment and having the highest ethical standards in the Peruvian jewellery industry.
Out Of Peru works with the designers to ensure their artisans receive exceptional extra technical training from expert silver and goldsmiths. This increases efficiency and productivity and encourages the growth and development of new skills, which allows them to rise up from poverty and establish a better quality of life, allowing them access to medicine, education, and improved housing for themselves and their families. It also guarantees that the quality and finish of our exquisite jewellery is second to none.
The workers extended families remain in the villages in the highlands or jungle. Due to the poverty and poor conditions in these villages the artisans are now able to send money back to help support them. At Anastasia they receive paid days off and holiday pay so that they can return to their home villages. In March 2010, two of the artisans were given extra holiday because one of their family members became very ill.
As Out of Peru continues to grow as a company and increase the sales of their Peruvian designers in the world, profits will be shared with the artisans so they will have access to loans to purchase their own houses and be able to further their chidren’s education.
Case Study: Anastasia’s Artisans
Sandra Soza who had travelled from the city of Jaén to Lima in search of work and a better quality of life for her family. Jaen, a city in the Cajamarca Region in Northern Peru lies 741 metres above sea-level. The area has a mountainous terrain; criss-crossed by rivers and Sandra’s family are farmers who grow rice, the main crop of the area.
Rural migrant workers, arriving in industrial areas often find themselves trapped in abysmal working and living conditions and Lima is an expensive place to live. When Sandra first arrived in 2000, she worked at another jewellery workshop where she was paid a variable wage, based on the weight of the silver items produced. In times of low production her salary was meagre. As a result she was not able to bring her children to Lima.
She moved to the Anastasia workshop in 2007 when she was 33 years old. Here she received training in silver smithing and a fixed salary ensuring that if volumes decline, she had a source of sustainable employment and a guaranteed income. As a result, she brought her children to Lima and is able to send money back to her family in the highlands. Her 16 year old son is applying to University in Lima, an opportunity that would have not been possible had Sandra remained in the Sierra of Northern Peru. Her 9 year old daughter attends public school in Lima and is doing well. They live in housing with clean water, electricity and sanitation.
Felicitas Mondragon aged 28 came to Lima in search of work to support her three children, aged 2,4 and 5 as their father had abandoned the family. She too is from a farming family who live just outside the city of Huanuco, located in the central-eastern zone of Peru, a typical city in the shadows of the beautiful Andean mountains. It lies between the Sierra and the high jungle and in the time of the Spanish occupation was the entrance point into the jungle for the Franciscan monks. She joined Anastasia in 2009. Her children have benefited from improved nutrition and with the improved wages are able to live in housing with the basic amenities we take for granted – clean running water, electricity and sanitation. They will be able to attend the public schools in Lima when they are of school age. All the workers receive private medical insurance which covers their expenses should they fall ill in a country where “free” healthcare does not exist as the Peruvian Healthcare System is amongst the most underfunded in South America – a boon for a mother with young children so they may receive medical attention whenever necessary.
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