Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
Ibada Wadud was more than 2,000 miles away from North Carolina, in the remote village of La CampiƱa in northwest Peru, when she encountered a group of women weavers. Located
Ibada Wadud was more than 2,000 miles away from North Carolina, in the remote village of La CampiƱa in northwest Peru, when she encountered a group of women weavers. Located
Ibada Wadud was more than 2,000 miles away from North Carolina, in the remote village of La CampiƱa in northwest Peru, when she encountered a group of women weavers. Located nine miles outside of the handicraft capital of Catacaos, La CampiƱa is a small community of adobe-style straw houses, with outdoor kitchens and no running water, built along a dusty main road.
Wadud immediately felt a sense of possibility. The women were among the last in the country to hand-weave Panama hat-style sombreros from delicate toquilla straw. Wadud, a lover of fashion and design, had experience in international community development and an interest in supporting economically struggling communities.
The following year, in 2013, Wadud founded Run by Rural out of her motherās home in La Grange. Aiming to celebrate handcraftsmanship and community āin the American South and South America,ā she began importing the womenās handiwork for sale at her companyās online store and at boutiques in North Carolina and across the country. Run by Rural pays the weavers, who spend 21 days on each hat, full Peruvian market value plus labor.
āWe donāt want anyone to feel theyāre just doing these women a favor by buying the product; we want to create something beautiful that people would want to buy anyway,ā Wadud says. āItās great to be fair-trade and sustainable, but for us, itās really about what our customer wants and what our artisan partners are offering, and how we can marry those things to make the world a little bit more beautiful.ā
Pride and purpose
Although Wadud grew up in Washington, D.C., her family has lived in North Carolina for at least six generations, working on farms in the eastern part of the state. Wadud remembers visiting her grandparents in Goldsboro during summers and holidays. She always found that coming to North Carolina brightened her mood and outlook on life. āWhen I interact with people in North Carolina, Iām more polite,ā she says. āIām a better person, and I really like that.ā
Peruās landscape reminds Wadud of the Tar Heel State. Looking across a Peruvian beach, she sometimes forgets she isnāt in North Carolina, she says. But the similarities run much deeper.
āIt really boils down to values,ā she says. āIn Peru, and in so much of Latin America, family is really important, and knowing who you are and being proud of that. Another thing that really connects these communities is the similarity in heritage in terms of a history of craftsmanship ā in North Carolina, with things like denim or furniture design.ā
Claire Haslam, who owns the Sissipahaw Lofts, located in renovated cotton mill buildings in Saxapahaw, appreciates that Run by Rural connects North Carolinians with another part of the world known for its textiles. She bought a Panama hat earlier this year because she wanted to support a company aiding rather than exploiting women in textiles, and because the story behind the hat resonated with her.
āI purchase Raleigh Denim for the same reason: I know Iām connecting to real people,ā Haslam says. āI think thatās the next generation of purchasing ā that epanverything has a secondary function or higher purpose.ā
Passed down
People often associate the woven sombrero hat with Ecuador, whose border sits about 65 miles north of La CampiƱa, but Peruvian weavers have produced the hats ā which became more widely known under the āPanamaā name after Theodore Roosevelt wore one during a visit to the Panama Canal in 1906 ā since the 18th century.
Many of the La CampiƱa weavers learned the skill at age 10, from their mothers. Many have also felt ashamed by the vocation, viewing it as low-class.
āWe have done our best to say that this is something really, really important, and if they stop doing this, itās going to die out,ā Wadud says. When the weavers see that people worldwide respect their craft ā and when they earn a living wage for their work ā they begin to feel a sense of pride, she adds.
Wadud hopes her enterprise will invigorate rural North Carolina in the same way itās invigorating rural Peru. She plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop in eastern North Carolina, perhaps near La Grange or Kinston.
āIād love to be a part of a movement that could make a place better for everyone,ā she says.
This story appeared in print as “A Hat, A Heritage.”
Get our most popular weekly newsletter: This is NC
During the Jewish holiday of Purim, congregants at Greensboroās Temple Emanuel send a sweet message to older members of the community, reminding them that they are loved.
Having grown up firmly on one side of the Great Barbecue Divide, a writer travels west to open her mind and expand her palate. In the Capital of āCue, she comes to a conclusion: Itās time to clear the air.