Community Rebuilds
After Civil War
Ruth y Nohemi is a weaving cooperative located in Chontola, near Chichicastenango, Guatemala. In the late 1970s Pastor Diego Chicoj Ramos was appointed as a layman worker in the villages surrounding Chichicastenango. This area experienced some of the worst violence associated with the nation’s civil war and Diego’s ability to work with the villagers was severely hindered during this time. When he was finally able to visit the villages of Chichicastenango after the war, he found that many women lost their husbands in a raid on the church of Chontala.

Diego and his wife Juana dedicated themselves to helping the local women rebuild their lives. In 1986, the Ruth y Nohemi project was officially founded as a way for women to organize and market their handicrafts. Now more than 15 widows weave bright lengths of cloth on backstrap looms, and young men, trained as tailors, sew the cloth into finished products such as vests, bags, wallets and briefcases. These craftspeople are determined to ensure the survival of their families, their village and their culture, which they represent with the brightly woven floral designs in their textiles.