"Nueva Vida" Means New Life!
October 2004
By Barbara Larcom
Two women from a fair-trade sewing cooperative have recently inspired us
with their story, reminding us that "A better world is possible"
when people work hard together to build it. During their month-long U.S.
speaking tour of 20 cities, which ended October 17, Ruth Mena and Yadira
Vallejos of Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, described the Nueva Vida cooperative
which they and others co-founded six years ago.
Against the odds, this determined group of women constructed a building
with their own hands, learned how to manage a cooperative, and developed
an attractive line of clothing --t-shirts, camisoles, cotton blouses and
pants, and other made-to-order products. They are now competing successfully
with nearby maquiladoras in Managua's "free" trade zone while
working a shorter day and paying themselves a just wage at least one-third
higher than the sweatshops.
Their story began in 1998, when many families, left homeless after Hurricane
Mitch, were relocated by the Nicaraguan government to the muddy Nueva Vida
("New Life") barrio, initially with only plastic-sheet housing
for shelter. Jobless and desperate to support their children, a group of
women asked for help from the Center for Development in Central America
(CDCA). CDCA offered to train them to construct their own building and start
a clothing cooperative, as well as to lend them the money for building materials
and sewing machinery.
Initially, the women turned down the offer. They had no construction experience
and didn't believe they, as women, could create a building. They were also
afraid they couldn't repay the loan. But after thinking about it, they realized
they had few other options and decided to try. Of the original 50 or so
women who began building, only 12 remained at the end of two years' construction.
The work was hard, and they had few resources to survive until the building
was finished.
Since that initial phase, however, their numbers have grown to 47 cooperative
members (now including some men), who make all business decisions collectively.
In addition, they hire about 100 non-member contractual workers during
high-demand periods, who earn at the same rate as members. So far, they
have paid back over half the loan from CDCA.
Mena and Vallejos report that working conditions and pay are much better
at Nueva Vida than in nearby "free" trade zone maquiladoras. The
reason, of course, is that all Nueva Vida members are also owners, sharing
in the benefits of what they produce together. The sweatshops require each
worker to produce at least 2,500 (often 3,000) units of clothing per day
before they receive their typical daily base pay of 29 córdobas (presently
about $1.80). In contrast, Nueva Vida has established a much lower minimum
of 500 units per day, at a daily rate of $3.40 (paid in córdobas,
but tied to the dollar to keep pace with inflation). Workers can exceed
the base pay by producing additional clothing.
The two speakers supplemented their talks by showing an excellent video
about the Nueva Vida enterprise. In the video, workers report that they
enjoy their collective labor and time together. They also express appreciation
at not having to work long into the evening to meet a quota, and thus having
time to spend with their children. They emanate the self-confidence that
comes from people who have accomplished a great deal from their own effort,
with the supportive help of another organization that cared.
In Baltimore, the last city on the tour, I drove the speakers to two stores
to see whether they would be interested in ordering Nueva Vida merchandise
for resale. At the first store, which sells lots of items from cooperatives
in the Two-Thirds World, the manager was concerned that she might have
a problem importing the items and dealing with customs. She was relieved
to learn that there are already U.S. sources for the items. At the second
store, a boutique, the owner stated that t-shirts and pants are not their
typical product. She became more interested when she learned that Nueva
Vida can also sew made-to-order clothing and has even developed mechanisms
to ship it overnight.
You can order a copy of the video from Nicaragua Network for $10 to cover
the costs of handling and postage. You can support fair trade and just
wages by buying clothing from these amazing women. See the bottom of our
publications page for ordering information.
Buy Nueva Vida Products!
You can support this workers' co-op by simply buying their goods! Their blouses and camisoles make excellent presents for moms, sisters, daughters, etc. They also have plain t-shirts available and do their own screen printing. If you really want to get the word out, buy one of the t-shirts with the Co-op's logo on it: "Our Sweat! Our Sale! Our Success!"
To order, go to http://www.fairtradezone.jhc-cdca.org/ for contact and product information or write to jhc@jhc-cdca.org. The cooperative also has a brochure available for downloading on this website.
You can also order organic t-shirts, camisoles, and blouses made at the co-op from Maggie's Organics at or from North Country Fair Trade, which has conventional cotton t-shirts available in various sizes and colors.