Claudia Patricia Saa fled the Pacific Coast of Cauca when the war turned her paradise into hell. She made her tradition her method of sustenance in Cali, her new land. She is one of the guests at the Virtual Fair # UnidosPorLasVíctimas.

By: Luz Jenny Aguirre.

For relaxation, love, as a home bench and ironing board. To the multiple uses that a mattress can have, Claudia Saa added one, much to her regret. One night of terror in Timbiquí, she used it as a bulletproof shield, there being no other way to shield her daughters from the guerrilla fires, who went into her house to shoot at the Army, which was on the other side of the river.

Sheltered in that wall of compressed fabric, they drowned out screams, crying and panic. And what followed from there was a succession of scary events that turned her paradise bathed by the waters of the Timbiquí into hell, including the disappearance of a much-loved cousin.

At the time, husband, daughters and Claudia moved to Cali, with what they could carry in their hands. The chickens, the pigs and the house in stilt houses, where they were so happy, were left in that land that she has not seen again.

They went to family members in a neighborhood in the east of Sultana de Valle and there they believed they would be safe until they realized that on street corners they were found dead due to fights among gangs or that they injured people for stealing some tennis shoes.

"Among what I brought came some rolls of material to work with, made of teapot straw, with which I have always made my crafts to live. I brought as many hats as I could. I said to myself, suddenly they are useful for me, I have something to do with it. live ... ", she relates.

They were tremendous years, she admits. To "make the food last", "live close together" and ask for help. In one of those, someone told her to go to Social Prosperity, where they gave them some support and called her to a training for entrepreneurship, because she said on her form that she was an artisan.

"It was like eight months of classes and at the end they gave me this flat machine - she points to it and smiles - and $ 400.000 for materials."

She then ordered more teapot straw from a lady who brought it from Timbiquí, where the tree from which it is extracted is typical. If she had been in her territory, she would have done the entire process, from sowing and harvesting the stick, scraping each strand, putting it in the sun, rubbing it and working it as her grandparents Manuel and Alba taught her when she was little.

Without modesty –and with good reason–, Claudia says that she has always been very good at her art, that the hats, handbags and baskets are very beautiful, which she makes inspired by the Pacific, evoking the movement of water.

That led to her being invited to Petronio Álvarez Festival that takes place every year in Cali and that brings with it the best of food, music and crafts from the Pacific. There a door was opened for her that with work and talent she has been in charge of keeping open.

With the support of her daughters, who took advantage of all the course and training they went through, she was mounting his photos, social networks, she built his Art Timbiquí brand and has participated in all the fairs she has been able, although for this it has been necessary to look for borrowed money or make "collect" among people who love her.

Today she proudly tells that she has traveled to fairs in Medellín and Cartagena, where she has been summoned by Artesanías de Colombia and where her product is admired by clients and by other artisans who come to her table.

And that her two daughters and her son –who was in Cali when the displacement– are brave, professional boys who have taken advantage of places in public universities and who speak with passion about their land and its history.

Claudia and her Art Timbiquí will be at the Virtual Fair # UnidosPorLasVíctimas, from December 4 to 8. Her virtual stand will be shared from her home in Los Lagos neighborhood of Cali, from where she will show things such as elegant wide-brimmed beach hats, her star product.

Her longing for the Pacific Coast of Cauca, for shellfish, for sung and private speech and for the starry nights, she relieves her by rubbing the straw "at full speed" - sitting on the floor - in the living room of her house. There their creations, inheritance from grandparents, connection with their roots and nourishment from their present.

To participate in the virtual fair, you must register at the following link:

https://feriavirtual.unidadvictimas.gov.co

(End/LJA/EGG/LMY)