Mayan Hands

Founded in 1989, Mayan Hands is a small fair trade organization that is currently working with about 200 female weavers, embroiderers, basket makers, felters, and crocheters in nine Guatemalan communities. All over the world, Mayan weavers are recognized as talented textile artists, but most of them live in conditions of extreme poverty. These same woman make much needed cash contributions to their households through the sale of their hand-woven good, and presently, there are nearly one million weavers in Guatemala who are forced to sell their products for less than what it costs to make them due to the distance between their homes and retail outlets.

The women that Maya Hands works with are young and single, including widowers, some have intact families while others are single mothers, and others are mothers that must maintain their home themselves while their husbands travel far distances for work or though various circumstances have husbands that have lost their usefulness to gain any tangible employment. Working with Maya Hands, many of these woman have the opportunity to attend workshops on building self-esteem as well as the are able to send their children, including their daughters, to school and receive encouragement from Maya hands through gifts of school supplies as well as scholarships.

Mayan Hands' mission is to assist these women in their quest to rise from poverty. Working with fair trade, the women can count on a modest and regular income. With an income, they feed their families better, send their children to school, improve their homes and even save a little. Selling their hand-woven textiles at a fair price, the women are gaining control over their lives.

Weaving A Brighter Future

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The Fair Trader's Passion for Fair Trade

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