HALF OF ALL PROCEEDS OVER OUR COSTS DURING THIS TIME WILL GO TOWARD BUYING FOOD FOR MAYA ARTISANS WITH WHOM WE WORK, THEIR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES. TO DONATE DIRECTLY TO OUR GoFundMe CAMPAIGN, CLICK THE DONATE BUTTON BELOW.
Handmade by Mayan Artisans – Gifts that Give Twice
We are adding new products every week! If you want something that you do not see here, please email me at eliza@athreadofhope.org.
We have many products in the U.S. and are sending more products from Guatemala every month. We are usually able to ship within a few days to a week by USPS First Class. If some products in your order will take longer, we will let you know.
Click on “STORE” above to get started.
Support Our Projects
Emergency nutritional support and hygiene supplies during Covid-19 for vulnerable indigenous people in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala
The Government of Guatemala declared a State of Calamity in Guatemala on March 17. Since then, the airport has been closed and transportation between departments (states) and often between municipalities has been halted, other than for essential goods and services. All tourist areas, including beaches and lakefronts, have been closed. Public transportation was stopped. Many people in Santiago Atitlán work in the informal economy and have no savings, living day to day. They are at risk of not receiving enough nutritional support during these trying times.
We have participated already in efforts to get food to needy families and medical supplies to clinics and hospitals, and we are now raising money to provide food and hygiene supplies to families in Panabaj, the poorest area of Santiago Atitlán. These people are artisans, and at-risk families identified by the local health center, including those who usually work in the informal economy and have lost that work due to Covid-19, widows with or without children, pregnant women, and children at risk for malnutrition.
We have hired an impressive local social work student to do home visits and needs assessments and to coordinate distribution.
We would also like to purchase water filters for families who do not yet have them. Without filters, tap water is not safe to drink. Many people have GI problems due to the bacteria and parasites in the water they drink. This of course contributes to malnutrition. EcoFilters cost $40. For more information, click HERE.
See our GoFundMe page for more info (including contents of a typical “market basket”) and updates.
We continue to order handmade crafts from our artisan partners, providing them with income from work with dignity during these difficult times.
We have already raised $858 and have recently increased our goal to $5,000 to provide a safety net for these indigenous families.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Your support is important. Any contribution will make a difference. We, our community partners, and those families we are helping to support are so grateful for your assistance. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Click on the button below to donate.
Help Tz’utu Kan Rebuild His Maya Cultural Center which was burned down in April.
Help support the rebuilding of Casa Kan, Tz’utu Kan’s home and cultural center which was burned down in April of this year. All proceeds go to Tz’utu Kan, a member of the Maya Hip Hop band Balam Ajpu. Click HERE to read appreciations of the group’s work. Click HERE to read / learn about Tz’utu’s work to support Mayan culture and about the tragic burning of his house and cultural center. Please make a donation of any amount. Please note, this is not a tax-deductible donation.
To watch a video about the tragic Casa Kan incident, click HERE.
To purchase a download of Balam Ajpu’s latest album, click HERE.
For more information, click HERE.
Donation to build new weavers’ workshop
A Thread of Hope and Asociación Maya are working with Building Goodness Foundation (BGF) in Charlottesville VA to raise $500,000 to construct a new headquarters, showroom, and weaving center for the co-op. The co-op has already invested over $50,000 in purchasing the land and in architect and engineering fees, and has committed to invest another $50,000 in the project. Building Goodness is an impressive organization with great values and people.
The project will provide a safer, larger, facility where the co-op can:
- have enough space to at least triple its production capacity and thus its ability to provide more well-paying work for its member weavers and other staff;
- have an appealing space for a retail store, wholesale showroom, and education center, near an established tourist destination, thus increasing retail sales and overall earnings;
- provide a lunchroom/presentation space for tour groups to have a traditional Guatemalan meal while learning more about the co-op and its community—weaving, the history of the co-op and its local communities, Guatemalan socioeconomic conditions, Mayan culture, and rural Mayan daily life. Through building a network of tourists who feel more connected to the co-op, the women hope to develop “friends of Asociación Maya” who will contribute to scholarships for their children and sponsor community development projects;
- provide meeting space for indigenous women to participate in workshops about women’s health, healthy relationships, healing from trauma, medicinal herbs, co-ops, business management, and many other topics;
- have room for tourists to participate in week-long hand-dyeing and backstrap loom weaving workshops while living on site with staff;
- provide workers with a safe dormitory to avoid arduous daily commutes home; and
- offer a safe, structurally sound, energy-efficient building for workers and customers.
Check out this video and this video from one of Building Goodness Foundation’s site visits to the co-op.
This video includes an interview with the architect.