Mayu is back with another story for our Guest Blogger series! As a refresher for our new readers (thanks for adding us to your RSS/Feed Burner!), each week, through the month of April, we are profiling women artisans abroad. We have reached out to some incredible friends and asked them to share their experiences working with women artisans and producers. The stories that came back are amazing and we hope you find them just as heartwarming and inspiring.
Our next Guest Blogger is Naomi from MayaWorks. MayaWorks markets the work of Maya artisans who otherwise have no outlet for their handiwork. As a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation, MayaWorks pays artisans at prices they set, provides technical assistance and educational opportunities and meets other Fair Trade criteria. We hope you enjoy Naomi and Vincenta’s story as much as we do!
The Power of Fair Trade: MayaWorks Helps indigenous Artisans Help Themselves
Vicenta is a MayaWorks artisan from the small mountain village of Xetonox (pronounced She-toe-nosh), in Técpan Guatemala. She is a 57 years old and has endured a very difficult life. Her parents were poor indigenous Maya farmers who could not send her to school past the third grade where she learned to read and write. Like many women in Guatemala, Vicenta is caring for a large family: 8 children, 3 of which are boys and 5 who are girls.
Vicenta has been working for MayaWorks for 12 years. A fiercely adventurous woman, Vicenta created the Xetonox group with her daughter Marcela and has been able to secure an income largely supported by the sale of her handicrafts. She is very happy to have the opportunity to work from home and care for her children instead of spending long days in the field harvesting crops. The elaboration of her products has been her main source of revenue, since it has allowed her to support her children to continue studying and to cover their primary necessities.
Vicenta has received capacity building trainings from MayaWorks so that she has learned to weave 36” width fabric, and creates a number of products including wine bags, kitchen towels and aprons, and fabric by the yard. With the trainings that she has received, she has been able to contribute to her family and to her community. The technical trainings have helped her improve her work and the quality of her products.
In addition to the work provided by sales of handicrafts, she also receive small microcredit loans from MayaWorks. With her husband, Vicenta cultivates potatoes that she sells locally. The sales from these crops provided income to purchase a used car to transport supplies and tools to the field and to transport her crop to the market.
Vicenta is proud of what she has been able to achieve, especially in a country like Guatemala where being and indigenous woman can have its challenges. Vicenta has greatly benefited from the work that MayaWorks has provided her. It has provided economic development that has benefited not only her family but also her weaving group and her community.
For more information on MayWorks head over to their site. They have beautiful products that help out wonderful global causes. Check back next week for another World’s Working Women posting and don’t forget to sign up for our Ruffle Scarf Giveaway! Keep checking back for more updates on artisans, sustainability and fair-trade.
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When I lived in Peru as a Peace Corps volunteer, I stayed with my host family in a quaint village that was absolutely beautiful. It is a community located at the altitude of about 11,000 ft. in the Cordillera (means Range) Huayuash (pronounced Why-wash) – Cordillera Huayash is known worldwide for trekking and hiking. The little village of about 5,000 was also 20 km down a winding dirt road from the nearest highway. It is a very rural community but once you get there, it feels like a big city, compared to the towns outside of it! It is a very charming town, and the pictures definitely speak for themselves.
There are even a few restaurants, a high school, a small technical institute, a number of grammar schools and a two big soccer fields. Some of the streets are cobblestone roads. This last photo is of the street I lived on with my host family. I lived all the way at the top of the hill and despite living there for two years, I became winded each and every time I walked up that hill!
