The Fair Trade Difference
Since its founding, Mayan Hands has been guided by the principles of Fair Trade. We are proud members of the Fair Trade Federation (www.fairtradefederation.org).
- Paying a fair wage in the local context: working directly with the weavers, and bypassing the middlemen, we are able to offer the weavers a better return for their work, often five or ten times as much as they would get by selling their products in the local markets (see The Truth about Guatemalan Crafts www.coloresdelpueblo.org/Truth.htm)
- Offering employees opportunities for advancement: the weavers who work with us have had opportunities to learn new techniques, develop new products, and train in important health (including mental health) topics, such as the use of traditional Mayan herbal medicine (which was disappearing in many areas) self esteem and gender workshops, etc (see Current Projects).
- Providing equal employment opportunities for all people, particularly the most disadvantaged: Mayan women are the poorest sector in Guatemalan society, being doubly disadvantaged, as Mayan and as women. Most of the weavers working with Mayan Hands are monolingual and illiterate , because when they were children only boys were sent to school. This limits greatly their possibilities of obtaining an income.
- Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices.
- Being open to public accountability.
- Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context: Mayan women incorporate weaving to their daily activities of watching their children, caring for domestic animals, cooking, washing, etc. They work in their homes in an environment where they feel safe and can continue their traditional Mayan way of living. Respect for cultural traditions is a central aspect of our philosophy. Moreover, Mayan Hands weavers work in cooperative groups, a healthy alternative to large-scale manufacturing and sweatshops conditions.
- Building long-term trade relationships: we have been working with many of our groups for more than 10 years, since the inception of Mayan Hands.
- Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible (see Current Projects)
