Benjamin
Benjamin spent his youth in the open country of south-central Chile. He moved to Santiago, spent a year in the military and at 19 years old started working in shoemaking foundries to learn the trade.
Benjamin's principal role is sewing. "I love my work, it's what I love most," he says before catching himself -- "Of course, I love my family too, but I have a great affection for sewing. I like to make my stitching even, following the curves of the shoe."
Benjamin played "fútbol" when he was younger on both the large dirt fields and small "fútbolito" hardpack courts of his town. "I played until I was about 38 years old and my knees gave out," he says, "I still love to follow the sport."
Allison
Allison changed careers from working as a bank teller to shoemaking. She adores the exciting and detailed work. She's been learning the trade in the last two years and works in the final steps of the shoemaking process -- polishing, sanding, cleaning, and boxing footwear.
Does Allison play fútbol? "Nada!" she says. But, she does love watching the Chilean national team and also follows a few European teams, mainly Barcelona and Bayern.
Mario
Mario hails from Lima Peru, where he learned shoemaking as the assistant to a master craftsman. He came to Santiago in 2010 to look for opportunity and now has built his life in Chile.
Mario's expertise is in lasting (molding the leather to the shoe form). "I like what I do, if I didn't like it I would do something else," he says.
He played soccer quite a bit when he was young, "where there's a soccer field on every street corner." "I still love go out and play 'fútbol' when my friends invite me," says Mario.
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