Charm & Bead Chain Set

GUATEMALA
Jewelry
Empowering Mayan Culture

The mission of this co-op, in the poorest area of Guatemala City, is to empower the families with a way to improve their quality of life. Women are provided with access to education, employment opportunities, daycare services, health care and programs for personal and professional development at this co-op. The 66 women, mostly widows who were abandoned by their husbands due to alcoholism, are sole providers of economic support for their families. The group was formed in 1988 with a Healthy Baby program while the women created products to sell and generate funds. These efforts have allowed them to become a self-sustaining association and improve their community.

Your purchase of their handcrafts has helped change La Eseranza from a squatter community of shacks made from scraps of tin and cardboard, without a sewage system, lacking electricity and potable water, to a colony with cement block houses, underground sewage pipes and other basic services.