#1 – Keep Families Together
For years, Clara worked the same job every day while dreaming she could have more time to spend with her husband and three children.
Now, as an independent businesswoman and fair-trade Artisan, she’s able to pursue her dreams, manage her own business, and work alongside her husband in their home in Guatemala.
Clara has a big heart for families in her community and loves sharing opportunities and blessings she enjoys as an Artisan.
#2 – Invest in Communities
Not only has Clara been able to provide for herself and her own family, but her income has also given her the ability to “pay it forward”.
When Clara saw parents in her community needing to leave their families behind to search for safe jobs with fair wages, she built a workshop in her home and invited other Artisans to join her in her workspace.
Husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, and cousins work side by side in her workshop to support and strengthen the families in their community.
#3 – Create Solutions to Poverty
But these Artisans are more than simply surviving poverty. They are resourceful and creative. Together, they’re using traditional Artisan skills and materials combined with sustainable contemporary techniques and designs to create whimsical backpacks for children that are helping them provide for their own children.
#4 – Help Parents Provide for Their Children
Clara’s workshop helps support and strengthen many local families by providing opportunities for both parents to earn income.
#5 – Create Opportunities for Financial Stability
As fair-trade Artisans, they’re able to enjoy creative expression, preserve the Artisan practices of their Mayan ancestors, and provide their families with better financial security.
#6 – Send Kids to School
Instead of going to school, many children must tend to crops and livestock, work their family’s trade, or beg in the streets.
But through the income they earn as fair-trade Artisans, all of the Artisans in Clara’s community are able to send their children to school and give their children brighter futures by providing them with opportunities to get a good education.
#7 – Be Resourceful
Upcycling traditional Mayan fabrics into fair-trade products gives parents opportunities to teach kids how to maximize available resources and find creative solutions to overcome challenges.
#8 – Be Environmentally Responsible
Artisans create these adorable Bunny Backpacks from beautiful upcycled materials that would otherwise be discarded into landfills.
Upcycling also gives parents opportunities to teach kids about environmental responsibility.
EXPLORE MORE BEAUTIFUL HANDCRAFTED DESIGNS FROM GUATEMALA HERE.
#9
Value the People Behind the Products We Buy
Every adorable Bunny Backpack from Guatemala has a name, face, story, and dream woven into its design.
Each Artisan has a unique dream, and every backpack makes a unique and meaningful impact on the lives of these men and women.
Meet Mercedes
Clara raised Mercedes since she was abandoned as a baby. Now a young woman, Mercedes learned Artisan skills from Clara and her hands have helped create many of our Turtle Backpacks.
Meet Karina
Karina is able to earn enough income sewing backpacks to provide for herself and care for her elderly parents.
Meet Marta
Marta recently expressed her thankfulness to Trades of Hope for the opportunity to provide safe housing, food, and education for her three young children as an Artisan partner.
Meet Michelle
These Bunny Backpacks make it possible for her to pay for the education she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher.
Meet Mercedes
Clara raised Mercedes since she was abandoned as a baby. Now a young woman, Mercedes learned Artisan skills from Clara and her hands have helped create many of our Turtle Backpacks.
Meet Karina
Karina is able to earn enough income sewing backpacks to provide for herself and care for her elderly parents.
Meet Marta
Marta recently expressed her thankfulness to Trades of Hope for the opportunity to provide safe housing, food, and education for her three young children as an Artisan partner.
These Bunny Backpacks make it possible for her to pay for the education she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher.
#10 – Shop to Change Lives
Discounts often come at the price of human value when products are made with forced or child labor. Products made in sweatshops exploit the men, women, and children who make them.
Shop to give women like Clara, Mercedes, Karina, Marta, Michelle, their families, and their community power over poverty.
Every upcycled Mayan tipico backpack is as unique as the Artisan who made it.
Every purchase of this adorable Bunny Backpack makes a direct impact on the lives of real people, with real names, real faces, and real stories.
More Guatemala Blogs
Huipil & Tipico Artisans
Click on each photo below to discover more about our Huipil and Tipico Artisan partners and products in GUATEMALA.
Helping Women in Guatemala Become Financially Independent
Martha & Rosa’s Story of Hope in Guatemala
Stories of Hope in Guatemala – Trades of Hope
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