Yabal started a small loan program with the community of Chuicutama 7 years ago. After receiving a private donation, we asked the community what project they would like to use the money for. The community decided to use these funds to create a micro-credit system for their families to rent land for corn cultivation. As these families
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Is this you?… ∇ You are a designer, boutique hotel, or fashion line looking for a way to source your home decor or fashion accessories in an ethical and sustainable process. ∇ You want to outsource your production in a way that empowers artisans. ∇ You care about quality and one-of-a-kind handmade techniques ∇ Customer
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Excerpt from an article in Handwoven and Interweave magazines featuring Yabal Handicrafts: Weaving New Lives and Bringing New Hope February 23, 2017 | Author: Anita Osterhaug Mayan women say that the goddess Ixchel taught their people to weave at the dawn of time. Through millennia of struggle between rival groups, through the founding of a dynasty
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For the class of 2017 graduating seniors… Have you ever stopped and marveled at the artistic masterpiece that is your clothing? Ever wonder how each miniscule thread in your fabric was once a piece of raw cotton on a plant- how that cotton had to then be processed and spun into tiny threads, dyed, dried,
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Yabal just launched our 2017 crowdfunding campaign on the website Indiegogo and we need your help in spreading the word! Please take a moment to visit the campaign here and make a small donation, share with your friends and family, and post on your facebook page. Currently, around 60 indigenous women artisans depend on Yabal’s Fair Trade weaving
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Do you know what “Yabal” means? Yab’al is a K’iche’ word that literally means “a place that gives” which has the dual meaning in the k’iche’ language of “hope”. K’iche’ is an indigenous language spoken by Maya people in Guatemala, mostly in the central highlands region. Most of our women weavers speak K’iché as their first
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by Max Crosby, Yabal Volunteer I did a good deal of thinking about my recent visit to the Yabal weaving cooperative in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan with Yabal’s Production Coordinator, Yesica. The second part of the visit is what really had an impact on me. Once the piñata-making workshop was over, part of Yabal’s Women’s
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by Allison Havens, Yabal Director I had to share some thoughts in these recent days after the US election as I am both deeply committed to the philosophy of fair trade and also deeply saddened by the US public’s acceptance of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and all around hate as shown through the election of Trump.
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As October is Fair Trade month, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on what Fair Trade means for me and specifically for all of us at Yabal. I think for people that only look at Fair Trade through a business, money-bottom-line lens, it might not be the «smartest» business move. Normally in business
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An interview by Yabal volunteer, Kellie Shepherd Moeller, and Paulina Guachiac Guachiac (one of the leaders of the weaving cooperative from the community of Chuicutama). There are four young women leaders of the Pacutama/Chuicutama fair trade weaving cooperative of Yabal. They distribute the weaving orders between the rest of the 35 women, calculate prices and thread
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