LAS RANCHERITAS: Making a difference with rugs

Published February 26th, 2022

In the mid-1990s a group of San Miguel de Allende ex-pats, intent on helping local, impoverished women, created Mujeres en Cambio (MeC). Their purpose was twofold—provide scholarships for girls, and find a profitable, income-producing craft for rural women. Thus began the rug hooking project Las Rancheritas, in the rural community of Agustin Gonzalez, some 20 minutes outside the city. The residents there grow their food, mostly corn, beans, and squash. They make tortillas and cook them over an open fire, then fill them with beans, nopal, and sometimes eggs or cheese. But they have nothing for extras like bus money, school expenses, clothing, or electricity. Medical and dental care is a luxury.

Imagine one of these women making and selling a rug for $65 dollars. That one sale is a major, positive impact on the family budget. If she sells several, it could be the equivalent of a month’s wages from her husband. That additional money can be a small step toward getting beyond poverty, it could mean keeping her children in school longer, or getting dental and medical help. Their families and their community receive the benefit from their efforts and reward.

A tour was created in 2015 to visit their village and store, have a homemade luncheon, demonstrations in rug hooking, stone carvings, and an introduction to the ancient language of the Otomi. The tour was suspended during the Covid pandemic and has restarted on a limited basis.