(EFE).- When Suly, a 28-year-old Cuban woman with intellectual disabilities, knits a Barbie dress, she feels that she is giving life to one of her characters anime or Disney favorites. But, above all, that she is closer to fulfilling his dreams: helping her mother and selling her collections abroad.
It is difficult to miss the stall that the young woman sets up every weekend on the tourist Paseo del Prado in Havana. As is also ignoring the little ones who hurry up to the table to see the coat rack with the outfits, made with a detailed crochet.
In the miniature wardrobe there is a variety typical of a life-size store. And there are all tastes and flavors: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Mulan,… The work on each one can take up to three days.
Life made her the weaver most requested by children and parents in this central pedestrian street of the Cuban capital almost by rebound, says her mother, Mary, 55
“And look!” Suly exclaims in an interview with EFE when showing her most recent project: an evil dress – but very well dressed – from the classic 101 Dalmatians, Cruella DeVil.
Life made her the weaver most requested by children and parents in this central pedestrian street of the Cuban capital almost by rebound, says her mother, Mary, 55.
Her fondness for textiles came from her paternal grandmother, but to see a hobby in that taste was something that simmered.
For years, her skill was confined to the two-liter plastic bottles where she had kept her treasures since she was a child. Even after specializing in crochet, the idea of putting her work up for sale was on the back burner.
But little by little a change of script was developed. “In the workshop they told me that I could sell my dresses,” recalls the young woman.
Suly is referring to the Paper and Cardboard Maker, a studio in the center of the city that she started working at 18. Cubans with different disabilities work there to create items such as envelopes or gift boxes and receive low wages. .
The weaver shows her hands to EFE to highlight the tendinitis problems she had when she was there. She doesn’t tell much more, but she does let slip details that reveal that she didn’t find much room for her creativity.
“(I see myself) traveling. I want to leave the country to fulfill my dream and sell my doll dresses in galleries,” she says with a smile. And she concludes: “I would love to see them in stores”
A trip to Canada, when he went to visit his father – who now lives in the US and often sends him strings by parcel – changed everything for him. flash.
“(I see myself) traveling. I want to leave the country to fulfill my dream and sell my doll dresses in galleries,” she says with a smile. And she concludes: “I would love to see them in stores.”
Her mother recalls the moment when Suly decided to take the leap a little over a year ago, determined to help her after the old convertible she rented to drive tourists began to have problems.
“Are you sure, mommy?” she asked her daughter. And how much has changed in such a short time.
“I still can’t believe this (…) I am full of pride for this girl, I always knew that she could (give) more,” she says excitedly.
Suly finds her best clients in tourists. The best proof is a Cuban-American grandmother who has bought her dresses the last three times she has visited Havana.
Suly is well aware that her clients are mainly foreigners and why: the deep crisis that her country is going through
“He sent me the photos (via WhatsApp),” he adds with a laugh.
If the interested party only speaks English, the other sellers, who have already made their friends, come to translate.
When asked about what she does with her savings, Suly talks about helping around the house, with the goal of being able to “buy” her mother a new car so she can go back to doing tour guides around Havana.
Suly is well aware that her clients are mainly foreigners and why: the deep crisis that her country is going through. “(I feel) very tense, because some mothers don’t have money to buy them.”
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