• Mari Navarro, a resident of the native community of Urarinas, is looking for her embroidery and accessories made with seeds to reach more buyers.

Doña Mari Navarro (46) is well known in the native community of Urarinas (district of Puinahua, Loreto) for their skilful and creative hands and her great patience in producing colorful embroidery and accessories made from local seeds.

But for her, this traditional art is a valuable source of income that helps support your household and care for your youngest children. «Selling handicrafts generates money for me to buy the things that are most needed in the house,» she says in her friendly tone of voice.

Driven by her faith and her desire to excel, Doña Mari, along with other women in her community, formed the Urarinas Women Artisans Association, which has been registered in the Public Registries, with the support of PetroTal, the operator of the Lot 95.

«I am very happy for obtain the document that registers us as an association. Now we can present it to tourism companies so that they know about our work and we can sell more,» says the current vice-president of the organization with enthusiasm.

With that same hope, Doña Mari continues embroidering figures of tuyuyus, herons, toucans, hummingbirds, monkeys and a variety of flowers., She creates necklaces, bracelets and other pieces with huayruros, rosaries and other seeds that she collects in her community. She dreams that her art will travel far, carrying with it a bit of the essence of Urarinas.