The mission of UPAVIM is to empower the women of the community, giving them an opportunity to improve their quality of life, for themselves and for their families. We pursue this mission by giving them access to education, employment opportunities, daycare services for their children, health care services, and programs for personal and professional development. Maya Traditions is a fair-trade producer and wholesale business based in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala and San Francisco, California. For over ten years they have worked with Maya indigenous weavers in the highlands of Guatemala. There mission is to support weaving groups and small family businesses through providing consistent income, as well as health and education projects. In Guatemala they work with more than 100 Maya women in five established groups in rural villages. They predominantly work with women who do backstrap weaving, an ancient traditional art which women can do at home while caring for their families. In addition, they work with a group of women crochet artisans, footloom weavers, and small family businesses They are a group of approximately 66 women who live in the marginalized communities of Ls Esperanza, El Mezquital and Villa Lobos I and II, in Zone 12 of Guatemala City. They are all mothers and homemakers. Some of them are widows, abandoned by their husbands or they confront alcoholism in their families. Many of them are the sole providers of economic support for their families. Below are some of the items made by the artists at UPAVIM and Maya Traditions. Just click on the name of an item to see a larger picture. You can order the item from that page. |
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