With handicrafts, jewelry and leather goods, three victims of the conflict in Medellín are part of the 40 entrepreneurs who exhibit at the First United Virtual Fair for Victims.

Neither the tragedy of surviving a massacre in which family members were murdered or the violence that forced them to move from various regions and settle in a city unknown to them truncated their dreams. With resilience and business ideas they rebuild their life projects.

They are three women who resurfaced as new ventures companies in Medellín and participate with Wayúu handicrafts, jewelry and leather goods in the First Virtual Fair United for Victims, in which 40 people affected by the armed conflict throughout Colombia exhibit, between December 4 and 8, their products and micro-businesses.

Wayúu culture handicrafts

Through her Guajira Princess project, Ana Paola Epinayu Castro sells backpacks, hammocks, hats, typical blankets, dresses and other creations inspired by the culture of the town and the land where she was born and grew up, but from which she fled due to violence.

"Due to the forced displacement I had to uproot myself from my territory and my customs and this undertaking connects me to my land as if I were in La Guajira, it is to root myself in my culture despite what I experienced in the past", she says.

She is also a survivor. She recalled as a "traumatic event the massacre of my grandfather, my father and a friend of the family, in addition to my sister who was injured."

For her, her crafts also help her in her recovery process. And participating in the first fair organized by the Unit for Comprehensive Attention and Repair to Victims "gives us an opportunity to publicize my brand and is a relief to this pandemic situation."

Ruby Jiménez shines with her jewelry

Nine years ago, Ruby Jiménez's family arrived displaced by the conflict in Santa Fe de Antioquia. There she had to start over and as a new job opportunity she learned the trade of spinning silver fabrics.

She later settled in Medellín, where, in addition to the humanitarian aid of the Victims Unit, she benefited from the program to strengthen productive initiatives to make her Ruby Jewelry business a reality.

“It was very difficult starting out, but everything that is done with love and patience is achieved. With that first strengthening, we bought the silver and made a lot of jewels and began to sell”, she says while she explains with the skill of a good seller the filigree of her creations.

Ruby recognizes the repairing effect of this undertaking in her life: “You entertain yourself, this helps me to sustain the expenses of the house and you also tell your life story to vent (…) even if you don't forget what happened, you get healed a lot and you don't get mired in pain, but you have to let go of what happened and move on”.

"We are entrepreneurs, with business ideas and dreams"

The violence of guerrillas and paramilitary groups expelled Mari Luna Mora from her home in La Cruz (Nariño) and sent her to Medellín in search of refuge and a new life. "When I was displaced 14 years ago they gave me accommodation in a house where they had a garment workshop and I started doing small jobs and, over time, I learned to operate the machines and started working".

Her willingness to improve her prompted her three years ago to start her own business, which she now has as a micro-entrepreneur present at the First Virtual United for Victims Fair with her leather goods.

Being an entrepreneur means "showing that, despite adversity, we are still fighting hard for our dreams and making known our FranMarc brand for making bags, wallets, backpacks and other leather and canvas products".

In addition, she says she is convinced that “resilience has allowed me to continue with my dreams and ideals, with my customs and traditions. We are enterprising people, with business ideas and dreams, which was the only thing that didn't finish us”.

During the five days of the fair, the participants, in addition to visiting the virtual stands, also attend the talks and workshops on entrepreneurship, productivity, innovation, finance and brand creations, in addition to the different artistic displays.

(Fin/JCM/LMY/AEB)