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Maya Traditions is a small Fair Trade business based in San Francisco, California and in Panajachel, Guatemala. For over ten years, Maya Traditions has worked directly with more than 100 Mayan women who are indigenous weavers in the highlands of Guatemala. Its mission is to support these local women, their weaving groups and small family businesses, by providing consistent income as well as health care and educational assistance.
The crafts produced by these women are most predominantly made through the process of backstrap weaving, an ancient traditional craft which women can do at home while caring for their families. An important part of the work done by Maya Traditions is finding and tapping markets for these traditional hand-made crafts and educating consumers about indigenous peoples and their crafts.
The second focus of the work is to help improve the quality of life for the weavers. With this in mind, Maya Traditions strives to pay a fair wage in the local context. This commitment to helping the Mayan women obtain quality health care and access to education for their children is at the heart of the efforts at Maya Traditions.
Tragically, in October of 2005, Hurricane Stan ripped through much of Central America, destroying land, devastating communities, and wreaking havoc on the lives of the already struggling people of Guatemala. Many communities in Guatemala continue to struggle in the wake of Hurricane Stan's destruction, making Maya Tradition's work essential to helping the people of Guatemala get back on their feet.
Check out our Maya Traditions product selection.
Background and Organization
HempMania was formed in order to promote hemp by selling high quality hemp accessories. Hemp is gentle to the environment, strong, versatile, and incredibly beautiful. The accessories are made in a small town in the highlands of Guatemala by a small family business.
Why Hemp?:
- Hemp is weed-like, and as such can be easily grown without the use of harmful toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Its deep root system prevents soil erosion and maintains soil fertility. This makes hemp an ideal rotation crop.
- Hemp is one of the strongest, most insulating, and absorbent of all naturally occurring fibers. Hemp produces more pulp per acre than timber on a sustainable basis and can be used for every quality of paper.
- Hemp is also valuable in our diets, the seeds are high in protein and contain a polyunsaturated oil which is rich in the essential fatty acids and amino acids our bodies need but can not manufacture. The oil absorbs well into skin making it ideal for body care products.
- Hemp is an environment-friendly plant that can help reduce reliance on forestry, conventionally grown cotton and petrochemicals, which wreak havoc on the environment and are dangerous to human and animal health.
Producers
In the Quichie Highlands of Guatemala in a town called Chichicastenango there is a small family business of 22 sewers. The founders of Hempmania have maintained ties with this group since it's foundation more than 10 years ago. The same 22 people have worked in this group since its inception. The civil war and unrest of the 1980s caused the once large demand for traditional Guatemalan hand woven goods to decline. This forced innovation in the market and the introduction of new styles of hemp products. The sewers have proven resilient and able to handle the new designs and work. The success of Hempmania's products has been felt in the community of Chichicastenango where producers are receiving a fair wage, vacation time, and holiday bonuses.
Hempmania has also given small loans to some of the workers for personal projects. The manager of the family business is in contact with the Hempmania team to ensure that the concerns of the workers are addressed. Over 10 years, the success of Hempmania has served the 22 sewers and their families, allowed these people to stay in their village, and preserved an age-old tradition of beautiful hand weaving.
Check out our HempMania product selection.
to Global Exchange Fair Trade Program
