...The jipijapa plant can be used in different ways. We cook the heart and eat it. And we use the leaves to make baskets of different patterns and sizes...
...We have to look for the jipijapa in the jungle, if we don't have a plant beside our house...
...We rip the fresh leaves of the jipijapa plant. Those leaves need to be boiled for about half an hour. Like that the fibres can get the typical beige colour and become softer, so it is easier to work with them...
...Afterwards we put them to dry in the sun for one to two days. If we don't boil the leaves, and let them just dry, their light green colour changes to a dark brown...
...We use both, the light and the unboiled dark fibres, to make a design by using the different colours...
...The weaving process takes about two days for a middle size basket, up to a week for a big one. We place the baskets once more in the sun, before they can be used or sold...
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