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
Continue reading »Tree Love
Yabal was so happy to have the opportunity this year to coordinate the reforestation of over 4,000 trees with the Czech Republic organization Love for Guatemala and their volunteers in the rural community of Chuicutama. It was a wonderful day of tree love as we helped plant trees in their communal mountain forest nearby the village.
Continue reading »Ethical Custom Product Production, made to order!
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
Continue reading »Yabal featured in Handwoven Magazine!
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
Continue reading »Quality over Quantity
“Quality over quantity” is our unspoken slogan at Yabal. We have been working with a group of around 50 artisans for around 8 years now. Each year we have been able to include a few new women into our Fair Trade weaving project but only when we are able to commit to provide enough work
Continue reading »Graduation is the first day of the rest of your life- What will you wear?
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,
Continue reading »Yabal Needs Your Help!
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
Continue reading »The meaning behind our name
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
Continue reading »Seeing is Believing
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
Continue reading »Fair Trade Cannot Support Hate
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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