Blanca Vega

Segment Synopsis: Describes how she does some of her work with leather and fabric.

Segment Synopsis: Blanca comments on a tipical day at the market. She notes that the economy has changed in the past 20 years. Tourists don't come as much because of the change of currency from sucre to dollars. They used to export their crafts, but now the high taxes have made it very expensive and it's not worth it.

Segment Synopsis: Blanca mentions that now many need to emigrate. She lived in Mexico for a while, but the exchange rate is not comparable since in Mexico she earned pesos instead of dollars, so she returned.

Segment Synopsis: Blanca has 10 siblings. As they were so many children, they did not have enough food, and at a young age, they had to struggle for survival at an early age.
She recalls that, years ago, she used to make clothing for export to Europe. Blanca mentions that now artisans are scarse and most of the work is done by machinery with less hand embroidery.

Segment Synopsis: Blanca manages her finances. She is happy that her father was hard on her to study math.

Segment Synopsis: Blanca recalls her childhood and her experience at school. As she had to work for her father weaving scarves, it was hard to concentrate at school. She liked mathematics, history, and natural sciences. She finished school in spite of her work.

Segment Synopsis: She recalls she liked history, math and natural sciences. Blanca manages her money, her dad made her study hard. Although her father was quite harsh, she is happy that he forced her to study math because it is useful for her business now.