A Blast to the Past

Karen and the VOZ Family

In undergrad, Karen interned with an ethical fashion company called VOZ.  Recently, we spent a weekend reconnecting with the VOZ weavers in and around Labranza, Chile.  This was particularly fun for Matt, who has been hearing about Labranza and VOZ for over 6 years now.   Here's a quick blurb about VOZ:

"VOZ is a B Corporation certified ethical fashion company whose mission is to protect the livelihoods, well-being, and cultural values of rural indigenous women globally. We pay living wages for every textile and sewn garment, and use sustainable fibers and processes.  VOZ was founded in 2012 by Jasmine Etoile Aarons, and today provides over 100 jobs throughout our supply chain."

Check out their website here and please do buy something if you feel so inclined!

Casa Voz

The surrounding neighborhood.

We had the luxury of staying in the VOZ headquarters which doubles as a gorgeous home.  Since it's Winter, temperatures easily drop down to 2C (35F).  The primary method for heating homes is a central wood fire.  We were lucky enough to be greeted by a healthy, warm fire upon arrival when a weaver met us.  However, alone the next morning, we were not so lucky.  After about half an hour, we hadn't had any luck getting it started.  Karen was particularly embarrassed since she regularly made the fires during her internship.  Eventually, we gave up and had a bona-fide Chilean come over and show us the ropes.  Here are some of the pointers we needed:

Starting a successful fire, whew!

1) The hearth was full of ashes.  We were advised to remove most of the ashes since they can absorb oxygen and make it hard to start a fire.

2) We were using napkins as our initial kindling.  Rookie mistake!  Apparently they're notoriously poor for starting fires.  It's much better to opt for denser cardboard, and don't be stingy.

3) We were missing small pieces of wood... where to get them?  The shed in the backyard was equipped with an axe and full-round logs.  Time to get chopping!

Matt chopping wood by day...

... and night!

This was one of Matt's first logs... his aim got a LOT better as the weekend continued.

After morning #1, we were self-sufficient fire makers.

Enjoying the warm house with some cold beers.

One perk of staying in the VOZ house is that weavers regularly stop by to drop off their textiles for orders.  So, there was a consistent flow of people coming to and from the house.  We also got to head out to the farmlands and visit a couple weavers on their farms.  To read more about weaving and farm life, check out this blog post.  

Winter in Labranza is notoriously rainy, but we lucked out with 5 days of consecutive sun!  (It rained for several days before and after our trip.)

Waiting to be picked up by the VOZ truck for an excursion into the farmlands.

While exploring the farms, the weavers pointed out different plants that are used as natural wool dyes.  Here are a few.

Maquí leaves and branches dye green.

The chrysanthemum flower dyes grey.

The Pica Pica flower dyes yellow.

Bárba de hualle moss dyes orange, like the root pictured.

"Bárba de Hualle" translates to beard of the Hualle tree... now it's Beard of Matt too!

In addition to the VOZ family, we also caught up with Karen's friends and neighbors from 2011.

When we visited the family that lives across the street from the VOZ house, we were invited inside for tea and desserts and spent at least 3 hours talking, catching up, and jokingly calling Karen "la señora" because she's married.

Eating an average-sized plate of "Chorrillana", or loaded french fries.

Enjoying a local cider at Los Tonelos.

Karen found a few unexpected updates in Labranza.  When we first got off the bus she was disoriented because many of the small dirt roads have been replaced with wide, paved roads, complete with stoplights.  In addition, the main downtown strip now sports a Mall, a second large supermarket, and take-out sushi!  Last but not least, the "Kareen Manukian" Mega Plastic chain has made also it's way into town.  

We'll leave you with this sign we saw by the side of the road in Nueva Imperial, a town adjacent to Labranza.