The entrepreneur of Mayan origin who learns about programming to help market handicrafts from her community Through a programming bootcamp, this entrepreneur of Mayan origin fulfills her dream of promoting her community by giving visibility to the art they create.
By Julián Tabares Edited by Eduardo Scheffler Zawadzki
This article was translated from our Spanish edition.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Software development and new technologies have allowed many large cities to develop great products and services that improve the quality of life of their inhabitants.
However, the lack of development in technological infrastructure in many vulnerable areas of Latin America continues to be an important point that governments and the private sector in the region must pay attention to avoid; for example, that vulnerable populations or ethnic minorities are left behind by the great technological advances
To somewhat counteract the above, inclusion initiatives have been emerging that make it possible to close digitization gaps in the Latin American region, such as the case of Cargamos Educa, a programming bootcamp that promotes the talent of children, youth and adults from Mexico and Guatemala. , training them in the development of applications and digital solutions.
One of the students benefiting from this bootcamp is Alicia Guerrero, a young Guatemalan woman of Mayan origin who is learning about programming in order to help her community through technology, developing an online store that allows the sale of handicrafts from women weavers and products farmers in their community, thus claiming this humble and genuine work that is poorly paid.
Alicia is a teacher by profession and lives in the community of Panimaquim, in the town of Patzun located in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, and began her programming studies in 2021 with the intention of helping her people through technology . specifically developing an ecommerce that allows to generate higher economic income and in the process improve their quality of life.
From a very young age and being a historical tradition in the place where she lives, she learned to weave in a community of approximately 110 families, but she came to the conclusion that through this work as beautiful as she mentions it, she could not sustain herself financially and began the search for new opportunities, becoming the first woman in her community who knows and is educated in programming issues.
"My dream is that I can help women who weave handicrafts and farmers so that their products are well paid and that their businesses can be made visible nationally and internationally and, above all, that they are paid fairly," she said. Alicia.
The scholarship granted by Cargamos Educa has given Alicia the hope of fulfilling her dreams, that of being an entrepreneur who can expand the trade of Mayan handicrafts and regional agricultural products, internationally, to improve the current social situation experienced by many of Guatemalan families, poverty.
With her project, Alicia not only wants the work of women artisans to have much more value, but she also wants them to be able to learn about different topics through her website and become empowered women and girls who have a dream. for which to fight and that they live happily in a world with equal opportunities.
(About the author: Julian Tabares is editor of the Soy Emprendedor site)
