AMA Women's Circles Discription

Women’s Circles are an activity Asociación de Mujers del Altiplano (AMA) create and has promoted for X years. The circles work to empower women so they can realize their value in the circle, their village, their country and the world. They also provide a way for women to grow closer to each other and to share ideas and practices. As many of these women have been treated as second-class citizens for much of their lives, the circle's provide a way for them to see themselves as valued beings. There are 10 Women’s Circles with about 90 women total.

The Women’s Circles focuses on 5 areas: self esteem, education, health, small business development and microcredit, and civic participation. Each weekly meeting contains a welcome presentation, time to share thoughts and feelings, prayer, an icebreaker, training covering a daily theme and a snack lunch. The meeting begins by an introduction by each woman of herself and her family. The icebreaker is a team building exercise helps the women to become acquainted with one another, gain trust in each other and to encourage them to work together to solve the puzzle (i.e. human knot game).

Each village is different and the meetings are created around the needs of the women; for example, a meeting could be conducted in K’iche or Spanish, depending on what language is most widely used. The women share what projects they are working on, recipes, and collaborate on how to sell their products. They also share business ideas with each other. The idea of the women's circles is not to be competitive but to be a resource for brainstorming and support. Many of the women learn to weave as children, so creating ways of selling their products aids economically as well serves as an encouragement to continue the ancient weaving practices passed down through many generations.