Ponchos, skirts, sweaters, scarves, belts (fajas), blankets, hats, gloves and bags are the principal woollen goods demanded by the community. With the exception of the skirts, all 228 members of the 40 families in the community (men, women and children) use all of these products. Also, with the exception of the pressed woollen hats worn by the women and men, all the other products will be produced by the weaver's co-operative. The quality and design of these products is already determined by the indigenous culture as the Puruhae communities in Chimborazo are characterised by clothing particular to the region they come from.

Because these communities are at 3,800 meters above sea level there is a preference for clothing made from wool rather than synthetic materials. The inhabitants pass long hours outside on the slopes of the 6,300 Mt. Chimborazo and live in unheated homes. Chorrera Mirador Alto is considered one of the highest communities in Ecuador and it is not unusual to have hail or snow fall.

Ecuador is experiencing its worst social and economic crisis in 70 years forcing its inhabitants, above all the poor, to innovate and optimise the resources that are at hand. With over 600 sheep and the introduction of alpaca (should this component of the project be supported) there is available the raw material and workforce to make the woollen goods. The women have been manually spinning wool and making knitted goods since their childhood and very quickly will obtain the skills to operate the looms that will be purchased. All the wool produced in the community will be utilised. Smaller amounts of synthetic threads will be purchased for embroidering and finishing purposes because of their quality and the selection in colours offered.

These products made for local use will be produced by the women for their own families permitting savings in their domestic economy. The community bank with its rotating loan fund will facilitate credit to those women who need to purchase wool from other members of the community. Alpaca wool has approximately 8 times the value of sheep's wool. Cleaning and spinning this higher quality wool is time consuming, consequently to recover its cost, the alpaca products will be sold to the foreigners while sheep wool products will be made for both local use and also for tourists.

In September of 1997 the women of Pulingui San Pablo received training for six months in the art of spinning and weaving. In March, 1998 the looms and other equipment were installed in the Condor building and the weaver's co-operative began to function. In this first year of operation the women have been have been able to sell all their production and have orders that will keep them occupied for the next two months. In this time they have acquired an inventory of woollen threads of S/. 15,000,000 ($US 1500.) This significant amount of capitalisation is a result of the sales made to tourists and does not take into account the woollen products made by the women for their own families. The principal products sold to tourists have been sweaters, scarves, ponchos and embroidered woollen shoulder bags.

This first experience of selling to tourists has demonstrated that sales are possible but that the tourist is much more demanding as far as design, quality and colours are concerned. Price has not been much of a factor as generally the tourists find the price of the woollen goods cheap. The women have yet to value their work sufficiently, however in doing so the profits made from their work will improve. An investigation of woollen goods being sold in Quito and Baños (two popular tourist spots) indicate that the women of Chimborazo can raise their prices and remain competitive. The women of Chorrera Mirador are aware of this reality and are disposed to gain the skills and make the efforts necessary to produce as well for this tourist market. The advantage these 2 Puruhae communities have is that the tourist comes to them whereas other producers have to go where the tourist is. Consequently, as well as controlling the entire production process they are able to control the commercialisation of their products which means significant savings as the intermediary is eliminated.

The women of Chorrera Mirador Alto are in an identical position to that of their peers in Pulingui San Pablo in order to sell their products to tourists who visit the area. In 1997 more than 500 andeanistas used the area to scale Mt. Chimborazo. Independent of these "professional" tourists the area is visited by 20,000 tourists annually, a number which will grow significantly because of the easier access created by the new road inaugurated in February of 1999. For tourists there is a silver lining in the grey cloud of economic recession being lived as foreign currencies are highly valued making a visit to Ecuador economical for most visitors. Tourists, whether from Ecuador's coast or from outside the country highly appreciate a visit to a community where they can see and photo the indigenous Puruhae culture and the people at work. Tourists are more willing to purchase an artefact when they can meet the person who has made it. As the weaver's co-operatives gain experience in their business they will become innovative in design and variety in what they offer.

VICUNA WOOL: On the lands of the two communities are found over 680 vicunas that roam wild and that were re-introduced into the area 11 years ago. The wool from these animals is not being exploited at this time although its wool is one of the most highly valued of any animal in the world. The production of Vicuna woollen goods can be a very lucrative market in the future for the inhabitants of the valley of Totorillas. Vicuna scarves in Quito sell for $US 200., pants for $300., ponchos for $900. Margarita M. Alvarez a Mexican designer who works with the native women of Chiapas visited the community recently and encouraged the women of Chimborazo to persist in their efforts and to consider working with Vicuna wool.

FLOORING: In research done in Toronto on the feasibility of selling ponchos it was discovered that there is a growing market for carpets in the flooring business. There is a good market for rugs, especially made with natural fibres that have a flat weave as opposed to a pile weave. Carpet weaving skills exist in the province with many indigenous being employed by the carpet makers in Guano who export their products largely to Italy.