Manuela

We met Manuela in October 2002.

Manuela and her husband Aldo own a small ceramics workshop in Pomaire, Chile. Most of the town’s people work in similar workshops. Some have good locations near the highway and do a decent business selling to tourists. Others have good contacts and sell their wares to restaurants and craft shops across Chile.

The ones farthest from the highway have a tough time earning a living. These are the ones that work through Comparte, a fair trade organization based in the capital of Santiago, to market their ceramics through stores like Baksheesh. Comparte coordinates orders and shipments and makes sure that people like Manuela and Aldo receive fair pay for their work.

Ever since Baksheesh opened in 1997, we have sold the salsa pig dishes and pig casserole dishes these artisans make. After we visited Pomaire in 2002, we added chanchitos, the little 3-legged good luck pigs. At the same time, we added the bowls that are used all over Chile for pastel de choclo, which is practically the national dish.

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