Sara Chinchero Textiles and the Quillahuaman Family
Chinchero, a high Andean Quechua town, is a mecca for world-class weavings made from alpaca wool dyed using natural plants and materials from the surrounding Inca valley. In 1999, Tammy Leland was strolling through this ancient Inca village, walking the same steps where Incas had once walked. She stumbled upon a small, rustic weaver's home, with two parents sitting with their young children surrounded by beautiful natural wood dyed the colors of plants and flowers.
The couple were Paulino Quillahuaman Llancay and Vilma Huaman Quispe, parents of Roxana, Raul, Melber, Franklin, and Chasca. They invited Tammy into their modest home for lunch when Tammy mentioned that she was bringing a group back in 2000 and would love to visit and maybe stay with the family and learn more about the weavings. Paulino and Vilma were excited about hosting travelers and offered to cook for Tammy's group, create a weaving demonstration, and provide sleeping arrangements. The rest is history!
Crooked Trails helped create a homestay project in Chinchero, and many of the travel programs helped finance this and eventually brought money to create a larger home. This was a place not only for travelers to stay but for young girls from impoverished communities to come to live, go to school, and learn about weaving as a trade. With funding from travelers, Crooked Trails started the Six Cows for Peru project, which brought nutrition to families in the upper communities, and the Smokeless Oven Project for families in the Urubamba Province, where Chinchero is located.
Throughout the years, Paulino and Vilma's villa grew, and they started a tourist-based transportation business, offering transportation to Chinchero from the surrounding region and larger cities, such as Cusco. Fast forward to today, and Paulino and Vilma continue to offer transportation.
Their eldest daughter, Roxana, founded Sara Chinchero Textiles, which hosts a weaving and demonstration center and a gorgeous showroom full of beautiful weavings. A community leader like her parents, Roxana, continues to support women by allowing them to work and board at the center so they can sell their weavings. This supports the conservation and innovation of textiles and quality inherited by the Chinchero and Urubamba region women.
When you travel to Peru, a visit or stay in Chinchero and a demonstration at Sara Chinchero Textiles is an experience you don't want to miss! It's a gorgeous one-hour drive from Cusco through beautiful high-Andean landscapes.
Learn more about Sara Chinchero Textiles.
Photos top-bottom: Quechua weaver, Alpaca wool yarn died with natural materials, Sara Chinchero Textiles showroom. Photo credit: Kris Parfitt