With help from Border Partners, a nonprofit organization working in their community to develop economic opportunities, the women who make up Palomas Oilcloth Designs started their own coop business in early 2009 in Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. They learned the necessary skills like accounting, marketing and purchasing of supplies.

The Palomas artisans make bags, aprons and tablecloths out of oilcloth printed with traditional Mexican designs of bright colored flowers and fruits. The designs are sunny and appealing. There are cherries, apples, watermelons, pineapples, chrysanthemums, and sunflowers with a retro look, as the same designs have been used on tablecloths in Mexico for decades.

Each of the artisans is able to work ten hours a week and make enough to provide for their families. Some of them also have a second job, take care of family or work promoting Border Partners. They mostly supplement their families’ income in a town where there is a lot of hunger and unemployment.