This March 8 remembers a new Women’s Day, This celebration established since 1975 (according to the United Nations) seeks to recognize the work for the gender equality and the improvement of social and labor conditions.
The coronavirus pandemic generated unemployment worldwide. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the rate of Unemployment in January 2022 was 5.4% nationally. It increased, since in December 2021 it was at 4.1%.
Until December 2019, an unemployment rate of 3.8% was registered, just before the confinement measures decreed by the Government in response to COVID-19. Since then, the percentage of unemployed people has not dropped below 4%.
These figures are not at all encouraging for women, as of January 2022 the adequate employment rate was 25.7%, while for men it was 38.4%. Furthermore, the rate of unemployment stood at 6.7% for women versus 4.5% for men.
In Quito, the unemployment rate for men was 10.5%, for women it was 13.3% during 2021.
The percentages allow us to understand the difficulty that women have in the labor market. However, many of them have found ways to continue to generate economic income, for self-improvement or for demonstrating that they are capable of maintaining a business and getting ahead, these are the three stories that EL UNIVERSO presents for Women’s Day.
An evolving family business
Cinthya Caicedo, 25-year-old from Quito, she is a journalist, but all her life she dedicated herself to sell flowers, because it is the family tradition that was born with his grandmother. Together with his mother, Cecilia Achig, in a 2 meter wide tent, located on Avenida Eloy Alfaro and Gaspar Villaroel, in the north of Quito, exhibit the flower arrangements, meanwhile, they continue to separate the best ones for future work.
Every time a vehicle passes through the well-known avenue, Cinthya and the owners of other stalls (mostly women) They come out with their best bouquets, to attract customers. Currently, he attends that place from 07:00 to 12:00, then he goes to watch radio, place where he works as a journalist and later, he returns to the post with his mother or going to buy merchandise.
That was the daily routine, though, the pandemic wiped out sales entirely. That was when Cinthya looked for a way to promote flowers on social networks. “We couldn’t go out, because of the confinement, I talked to my mom and told her that I was going to turn around the business and it went very well I didn’t think this social media thing was going to have such an impact. I just started in May 2020 with Mother’s Day and we sold a lot,” he says, while continuing to work with the flowers.
Since then they created the company Floreven and now they promote their works on Facebook and Instagram, which are also sent home. “We started making arrangements with balloons, chocolates, fruits and stuffed animals, I was able to pay debts, even from my university, the debts of the house and since then I have not stopped”, he added.
For Cinthya, gender stereotypes have been breaking down, but she still believes that there are barriers that a woman has to overcome, “so that They say it’s the weaker sex.” emphasized. However, he added that if they don’t venture out and trust themselves, no one will do it for them.
From the infirmary to the onions, a dream come true
Veronica Changoluisa He lives in the Conjuntos El Conde 1 sector, south of Quito. After a long time, with the dream of have a food place, he finally made it. Although he assures that without the support of his two children, Mayra and Daniel, he would not have succeeded.
They left the country for studies, to Poland. Veronica, for her part, graduated from nursing assistant, to which he dedicated himself for several years. However, a breakdown in his health prevented him from continuing to work.
When Daniel came back, his mom felt the need to generate income. In an informal conversation it occurred to him sell onions (soup with cassava, onion, fish and more ingredients) and her son told her “of course, let’s do it”.
From there they began to sell on the sidewalk of the corner of their neighborhood. Neighbors quickly became loyal customers. “We left with the gas tank, a small kitchen and two tables that I bought. We endure rain, winds and all the difficulties that come with selling on a sidewalk”, remembers Veronica with longing, because at that time they sold up to 60 onions a day, until the pandemic arrived and they had to end the sale.
Later they tried to sell everything packed, from a vehicle, but it did not work.
Faced with the refusal of the clients, for not finding the characteristic stall on the corner, with the improvised tables, decided to rent a place, located 20 meters from that corner. That was the best decision, in his opinion, currently he does not sell the 60 onions a day as before, but is on a good way to win back his clientele, his new concession stand is six months old and now contains more dishes, such as fried fish, corvina and crabs.
“I don’t know if it’s just my case, but always I needed someone to tell me that I can do it as my children did (…) I am discovering who Veronica is, a woman who has made a lot of mistakes, but who wants to live and who now enjoys what she does”, she says happily as she serves the onions.
Frozen cassava breads, a tradition from Manabí in Quito
Marcela Zambrano had a cebichería in Pifo, in the northeast of Quito, since 2005. Like many of the locals, had to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. At that time he began to communicate to his most well-known clients that he could prepare from home and deliver at home, keeping biosecurity measures.
The idea was born from him not to stay at home without generating profits and soon customers they began to spread the word with the other neighbors, the business began to emerge, without a physical location, so he decided to create a Facebook account and put in your WhatsApp states.
People began to order more often, but the cebichería was a place that was frequented with greater quantity on weekends. So he remembered his childhood in the province of Manabí. In meetings with friends or family, Marcela would prepare yucca bread or corn tortillas for them, the diners would ask her why don’t you sell these products and that was the motivation to do it.
Now sells frozen breads, ready to bake or fry at home. He is about to obtain the sanitary registration to sell in supermarkets. Carry six months kneading the bread with the passion with which his mother taught him when he was 12 years old, with the products that his relatives send him from Chone and Canuto, towns in the province of Manabí.
Marcela believes that it is not more difficult to undertake for being a woman, “It is recommended that both men and women work, we have the same capabilities so nothing stops us if we want to progress”, he emphasizes as he stores the loaves in an airtight plastic bag.
Marcela graduated in educational sciences, in the morning he gives classes to the second grade students, in a school called Luis Godín. In the afternoon she dedicates herself to making the breads or dishes on request, while she takes care of her two children in the company of her husband. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
