Instead of making blouses, skirts, and other crafts, Mexican artisans from the community of Arcotete in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapa s are now elaborating hand-embroidered masks.
Aurora López
says that nobody was buying their traditionally-made products so they decided to create these masks that are so highly needed during the pandemic .
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These masks are handmade and washable . It takes two hours to make each one.
Aurora mentions that they posted their work on social media platforms and that they have received orders from other Mexican states as well as from Canada and the United States .
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Each mask has a retail price of MXN $50 and a wholesale price of MXN $30 . 15 families depend on this activity.
The artisans – most of whom are mothers – decided to produce masks because six weeks ago their sales went down and were left with no income to feed their families .
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Before the pandemic, the made blouses , vests , and other products.
The women divide their time between taking care of their children and embroidering .
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