Lucia's Story

Lucia is a 28-year-old mother of three who is a part of the San Pablo Jewelry Group.

In 2007, Mercado Global helped a group of women in one of the poorest communities in Guatemala’s highlands organize into this jewelry group. The experience of Lucia, who was orphaned at an early age and received only a few years of education as a child, is an example of the impact Mercado Global has had in Guatemala’s most rural and impoverished communities.

Through the help of Mercado Global, Lucia has learned a marketable craft – jewelry making - and is earning a fair wage income for the first time in her life. Since artisan work can be done at home, she is still able to run her household and care for her children.