Originally from Jalapa, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, and trained as an agricultural technician, Irma Elena López Colindre has dedicated her working life to tobacco –a profession in which she hoped to build a better future. It is a goal she has achieved as the mother of a daughter and a leader of twenty women who are also seeking an opportunity to progress.
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At 17, she began as a “checker” on a farm, supervising and recording daily activities. It was there that she developed a passion for ensarte (stringing) and working with other women, whom she considers excellent employees and highly disciplined individuals.
Four years ago, she arrived at El Coyol, a farm owned by Humo Selecto. This company manages over 150 manzanas of land and 19 galeras (curing barns), for which she is now responsible.
Irma is in charge of supervising the tobacco stringing as soon as the leaves are unloaded from the transports coming from the fields to the barns. She zealously monitors the filling of the tables so that the women can take their pairs and fill each cuje (pole) according to its capacity.
Even during this interview, conducted via Google Meet, Irma did not stop her work. She took the time to answer questions while simultaneously attending to the arrival of material at the barn where she was located.
Under her supervision are 25 women –18 stringers and the rest support staff– while the men (measurers) are solely occupied with hoisting the tobacco to the highest parts of each barn. Thus, the tobacco is raised after stringing, followed eventually by the zafa –the process of taking down the cujes once the air-curing process is complete.
This work takes place during eight months of the year. During the remaining four months, some members of the workforce focus on maintaining the barns and the farm, as well as planting beans, sorghum, and corn to return nutrients to the soil.
Throughout her life, tobacco has opened many doors for her and her colleagues –many of whom are single mothers, while others are married and must manage household duties before heading to the fields. Some work Monday through Friday and attend university on Saturdays. “Tobacco provides many advantages,” she affirms.
Irma is the only woman among five siblings and is the mother of an 11-year-old girl, whom she has raised in a very close-knit family environment. “I work to give her a good life, so she can be someone in this world and be prepared.”
Meanwhile, she envisions a fulfilling future among poles, threads, and tobacco leaves, enjoying her labor daily and hoping for a long life to remain dedicated to this essential stage of the tobacco industry.
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