These, as well as other items, are made by members of Mujeres Transformando a San Luis Potosí (Women Transforming San Luis Potosi) at El Terrero community, and are the result of dress-making courses organised by Cemex as part of its community development programmes, which have the support of the Instituto de Capacitación para el Trabajo (Institute for Work Training) of the Mexican State Government of San Luis Potosi.
The courses were taken by 25 people, and this is where the idea of six potosinas (local women) started to produce a variety of ladies handbags, laptops and tablet covers, wallets, caps, and even plant pots made from these waste cement bags.
Cemex provides the necessary raw materials, as well as the marketing strategies at its business units nationwide.
“I'm proud that women use the handbags for walks and other purposes, and I’m very happy that people like what we do,” says Ana Maria Loredo Arriaga, one of the six members of Mujeres Transformando a San Luis Potosí.
“What we learned in these courses allowed us to fulfill a dream that we all shared.”
Mujeres Transformando a San Luis Potosí” started operations six months ago as a result of the initial success of the handbags.
“We are optimistic because we already have orders from Monterrey and Mexico City, and as word spreads every day, we sell more. Currently, we have an order for 2,000 bags from Querétaro,” says Loredo Arriaga.
Mujeres Transformando a San Luis Potosí is already a part of Cemex’s value chain in Mexico.
The Cemex bag manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi employs residents from El Terrero and uses high strength, biodegradable, and fully recyclable paper, produced in Mexico, Canada, and Switzerland.
The waste that results from the production process is not discarded, but used for the benefit of this project.
Cemex has promoted social responsibility programmes in the community of El Terrero for seven years. Among the most significant programmes are the improvement of schools, provision of pre-owned computer equipment to schools, computer workshops for teachers and parents, as well as training courses for self-employment among many other initiatives.
The current e-mail address for Mujeres Transformando a San Luis Potosí is
