Women in El Salvador and Their Efforts to Start a Small Business They Can Call their Own

During my spring break I had the opportunity to go on a service trip to a little island in El Salvador called el Espiritu Santo. The island consists of a very small community of about 300 families where everyone knows each other. It is a very underdeveloped community with no paved streets, no cars, no sewage system, no water filtration system, a single clinic and a single elementary school in the entire island. The main source of employment there comes from the large coconut plantation found there, yet this is an occupation that has been dominated by the men on the island. The woman’s role for the homes on the island had always been that of a housewife until very recently when they decided to form a woman’s empowerment group including a small business of their own.
The people on the island live a very humble and simple lifestyle. The money that the men make in the coconut plantation is really not enough for them to spend money on more than their basic living needs. Yet, since this is a very small island and transportation to the mainland everyday would be far too expensive for them, the men have very limited employment options and the women have even greater limitations because they are responsible for the household as well. Given these circumstances, I found it really empowering for a few of them to have decided on their own to gather up and unite in an effort to improve their community. The women developed a good relationship with the Center of Exchange and Solidarity known as CIS located about an hour into the city on the mainland. This center was created in order to “strengthen people-to-people solidarity ties and contribute to the construction of a new El Salvador, by organizations from the Salvadoran social movement and international organizations that have supported the process of peace with social justice” (Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad). The women of the island then asked for their help in wellness workshops and discussions on the issues of being a woman.
Soon after they started organizing the group, the women raised up an issue that they all agreed on, they wanted to find some way to make a little money to contribute to their households as well. They did not have too many options and knew they only had scarce resources easily accessible, so they resorted to their biggest one, coconuts. After experimenting a bit, they found the perfect recipe for the use of coconut, they started making sweet coconut candy called “conservas.” The candy itself is made up of three main ingredients, coconut, sugar and water, and then they are each added a particular flavor such as strawberry, papaya or even coffee. The sweet candy is made at Yesenia’s house, one of the women from the women’s group with the help of primarily three other women and occasionally some of the others. They cook all the ingredients in a big pot and then pour the cooked mix into a mold so that the candy can harden up in smaller pieces, that are about 2 by 2 inch squares. Then the women place these smaller pieces into small packages and then stamp each one with their seal and the label for the individual flavors. Once finished, the women go around the island selling these for thirty cents apiece. They cannot sell them for more because the others in the island do not have much money to spend. However, occasionally, a couple of women will go out to the mainland to sell them out there as well and then bring back some revenue. The women make about a hundred candies per day once or twice a week because they do not have so much money to go out and try to sell them on the mainland but this great idea has made them all very proud.
Women are many times the housekeeper and the men are typically the breadwinners in many of the Latino cultures but these women wanted to stand up to this stereotype and do something on their own to earn a little money too. As of now, they have very limited space but their hopes are to one day move into a bigger workspace and take large orders for these sweet treats and are able to export them. The women really gain a big satisfactory feeling from knowing that they can also bring in a little money into the household income. The effort and hard-work of these women is easy to see when you hear them present the process of their little business. The candy are delicious but the real significance of these women coming together to create a women’s group and try to start up their own small business is truly remarkable and inspiring. These women are empowerment for other women on the island who really do not give themselves the opportunity to learn and grow in the way they see themselves and the potential they have.

Additional Sources:
http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/