awamaki
they are still in the early stages of developing the awamaki lab and need all the help they can get. browse the awamaki shop online or consider making a donation to awamaki lab on global giving .
“awamaki has made preservation economically viable and saved an endangered art from global obscurity. ”
check out awamaki' s recent update for our teach to teach project via globalgiving here .
awamaki works to empower women in the sacred valley region through our women’s artisanal cooperative ...
awamaki, edited by gabriel st. john, give2girls, peru, weaving cooperative, written by madison abshire
awamaki builds amazing travel experiences for independent and group travelers. come experience traditional andean life and learn new skills .
awamaki was formed in early 2009, to support a cooperative of 10 women weavers from patacancha, a rural quechua community in peru. awamaki’s founders, seattle native, kennedy leavens and peru native, miguel galdo, worked together at awamaki’s predecessor organization with the patacancha weaving cooperative for two years. when that organization floundered and finally collapsed, miguel and kennedy formed awamaki to continue their work with the weavers. awamaki grew rapidly its first few years. we started a health project (now independent), ran an afterschool program, and tried on a number of other hats as well. awamaki now concentrates its work in economic empowerment, education, skills development, and sustainable community tourism .
learn from awamaki artisans about their ancient weaving and culinary traditions while helping support women’s social and economic empowerment in ollantaytambo communities .
as you may know, the focus of awamaki’s awamaki lab project is to connect local peruvian artisans with increased access to international consumer markets through innovation in design. this mission is fulfilled by recruiting designers from around the world to work directly with awamaki’s artisans to create new and exciting products to showcase their work. as new designs are introduced, several different groups of women take part in helping to create the new products, all of whom play an integral part in the success of awamaki lab .
awamaki lab hopes the fashion design residency will help ollanta women develop long - term economic growth and also aid the preservation of endangered weaving traditions. in addition to their fair trade textile initiative, awamaki runs a sustainable tourism program based in the sacred valley of peru .
f: i was really touched and inspired while conducting an interview with one of the awamaki spanish teachers. the woman i was interviewing was a single mother, educated in anthropology, but was no longer able to work in her field. she was struggling to put food on the table for her young son when she heard awamaki’s announcement for spanish teachers. awamaki trained her and provided her with regular employment. she told me this story with tears in her eyes and it both broke my heart and gave me great hope that awamaki is changing lives .
awamaki’s projects allow the women we work with to access economic opportunities and earn a significant income that they then invest in their families and communities .
work with our marketing coordinator to gather and tell the stories at awamaki, in writing and visually. use and improve your skills in marketing, graphic design, creative writing, web design, photography and videography. gather stories about awamaki’s work and the women we serve. write for social media, blog, newsletter and donor reports. create promotional materials. photograph awamaki’s work and products. shoot and create video to tell our stories .
awamaki’s also arranges homestays or other accommodations, language classes, cultural tourism activities, educational speakers and outings, and hikes and machu picchu excursions for a visiting group’s trip. to explore whether we would be a good fit for your group, please contact us at info @ awamaki. org .
awamaki offers a number of services and tours that directly benefit the local people. the one i did was a homestay with a family from ollantaytambo (
awamaki creates lasting impact in the remote mountains of peru by helping rural andean women’s associations launch successful small businesses creating authentic, high - quality products and experiences. awamaki invests in women’s skills, connects them to market access and supports their leadership so they can increase their income and transform their communities .
effective communication, like that described in this blog post, allows awamaki lab to make huge progressive strides in our work. it is the different groups of women at awamaki that shape the success of the organization, and when organic successes come to fruition, it is very encouraging for all involved parties! awamaki lab is looking froward to more meetings like this one in the future, and hopes that enhanced communication will pave the way to continued success !
awamaki was formed in early 2009 to support a cooperative of 10 women weavers from patacancha, a rural quechua community in the andes of peru. awamaki’s founders, kennedy leavens, from the u. s. , and miguel galdo, from peru, had worked together at awamaki’s predecessor organization with the weaving cooperative for two years. when the predecessor organization floundered and finally collapsed, miguel and kennedy formed awamaki to continue their work with the weavers. the organization grew rapidly to include programs in health and education, as well as other artisan cooperatives and a sustainable tourism program. in 2011, awamaki spun its health program off into an independent sister organization, and made the strategic decision to focus on income improvement and market access through fair trade artisan cooperatives and sustainable tourism .
awamaki lab purchases textiles woven by the women of patacancha to be used by its resident designer. selected pieces of the collections are then reproduced by the sewing cooperative, comprised of single mothers from ollantaytambo, to be sold through the awamaki online store. the profits of these pieces are reinvested in the awamaki sewing collective. the collective teaches local women how to sew, use patterns, and designs in order to diversify the labor market and empower a new generation of peruvian artisans .
peruvian non - profit awamaki lab has released an inaugural collection head up by designer nieli vallin, a student from paris' s chambre syndical de la couture .
in honor of awamaki lab’s first pop - up shop, supporters danced and made donations amidst mannequins draped in nieli vallin’s modern interpretations of the traditional quechuan garb and against a back drop of the colorful photographs of kate reeder, who shot family portraits of the patacancha villagers and awamaki’s look - book. reveling in the accomplishments of the weavers, designers and project collaborators, a new audience of fashionistas was introduced to the important concept of sustainable, ethically sourced design, and the awamaki lab philosophy. pieces of this inaugural collection will be available on awamaki lab’s website, and designer nieli vallin will be taking orders for made - to - measure garments .
awamaki is a nonprofit organization that empowers rural andean women by connecting them with global markets and helping them run successful cooperative businesses, enabling them to lead their communities out of poverty .
awamaki' s primary source of income is from local sales of textiles to the tourist market. secondary sources of income are generated by the awamaki volunteer program (volunteer fees and donations), our sustainable tourism program (coordinating tours and homestays in the community of patacancha, as well as workshops in traditional crafts), and a small amount of international sales .
awamaki is comprised of a peruvian asociación civil and a u. s. 501 (c) (3) non - profit organization working closely together to empower women’s associations, connect them to markets and enable them to lead their communities out of poverty. though a non - profit, awamaki uses market strategies to accomplish its charitable goals of increasing women’s income and business leadership .
awamaki is a non - profit that helps women start and run their own businesses. we invest in their skills and leadership, and we connect them to global markets for their small businesses .
learn to weave and experience quechua village life in this three - day, two - night excursion. awamaki’s weaving immersion weekend combines village activities, like visiting family farms and hiking to livestock pastures and glacial lakes, with one - on - one weaving lessons from one of awamaki’s artisans. visitors stay with local families in a traditional village in a spectacular mountain setting an hour from ollantaytambo .
i founded awamaki in the belief that income in the hands of women is the best way to lift communities out of poverty. women know what their children and their communities need and they make those investments when they have the means to do so. awamaki gives women in remote places access to the modern economy so that they can invest in their children, homes and communities as they see fit .
for more information, please visit urltoken. if you would like to learn more about the project, get involved, or support the initiative please visit awamaki lab' s global giving page, urltoken .
my perception was most shaped by my favorite experiences, like working with one of the weavers, daniel, who sells to awamaki. in his community, awamaki offers these dyeing retreats where you go and hunt your own dyes - - all of the colors of the rainbow - - under this natural palette. it' s amazing to see that come together, especially if you' re used to synthetic colors .
awamaki arranges customized service trips for groups of students or tourists. groups visit for any amount of time from a half day to several weeks. awamaki arranges service projects, local accommodations, homestays, classes and other cultural immersion experiences for groups. these trips give groups a hands - on community experience that allows the group to learn about andean culture, contribute to our work, and give back to the local community .
the success of awamaki’s work is made possible by the generosity and commitment of our volunteers and interns. we rely on their fresh ideas and skills to constantly improve and expand our projects. volunteers and interns are encouraged to take initiative and work independently and with others in in areas that particularly appeal to their interests and areas of expertise. volunteers leave awamaki confident that they made a tangible contribution to the organization and that their skills were used effectively .
awamaki is a 501 (c) (3) and part of your volunteer fees may be tax - deductible as allowed by law. please contact us at info @ urltoken for more details about tax - deductible contributions .
f: i am studying international development with a concentration in rural development and economic growth. seeing that awamaki is trying to reduce poverty through sustainable non - farm income generating activities, their work was right up my alley .
awamaki was formed in 2009 by executive director kennedy leavens to work with 11 weavers in the community of patacancha and preserve ancient weaving traditions by reintroducing ancient natural dye techniques and providing a market to sell the textiles. the only industry in the majority of the communities in which we work is agriculture, so many people are moving away to find jobs. awamaki provides options for people, especially women, who want to stay in these small mountain villages .
learn spanish from local women trained in spanish language instruction in a practical, conversational setting that will help you to communicate effectively in everyday situations. awamaki offers spanish and quechua classes to volunteers and tourists at all levels of ability .
this week flew by. can’t believe it was already last friday that the awamaki lab launch happened in the manhattan studio. i was so impressed by this second collection from andria crescioni and courtney cedarholm. i’m incredibly proud of annie
volunteers have a choice of two programs. our service travel program is for volunteers who wish to stay 3 - 8 weeks. our classic volunteer and intern program is for volunteers who wish to stay between 10 weeks and one year. volunteers are offered free room and board in the awamaki volunteer house after 20 weeks. volunteers who are willing to commit a longer period of time are refunded the awamaki program cost and donation upon completion of 6 months of volunteering .
i didn’t realize at the time that i was starting my life. i fell deeper in love with the town and my life there as time went on. four months passed, then a year. the project i’d been volunteering with folded, so my colleagues and i started a non - profit, awamaki, to continue our work with the weavers. my second year passed, then my third. i was running awamaki, and the project was growing quickly .
help awamaki’s team better understand the social impact of our work. use and improve your skills in spanish, economics, statistics, data management, qualitative data analysis, and gps. assist with surveys, focus groups, interviews, and data recording with the members of the woman’s business cooperatives. analyze collected data. assist with planning, attend, and document capacity - building workshops for the women’s artisanal cooperatives. prepare data that will be used for awamaki’s grant reports .
[ note: the promotion of this company was not paid for or encouraged in any way by awamaki and are my own personal thoughts. just in case you were wondering. in the future, if a post is sponsored, i will note it as so. ]
the awamaki tour of patacancha was the most educational and life - changing experience i had in peru. the opportunity to visit such a different part of the world blew my mind. i would recommend this to anyone and everyone and hope to do it all over again someday. i loved it. side note: after shopping the stalls of cusco i was frugal with the goods available in patacancha and at the awamaki store... . this was my biggest regret when i returned home to normal prices and realized what an amazing deal i had missed on true works of art (and incredible yarn deals). i am still kicking myself for not buying more on the trip. i wish i could trade my
alpaca
sweater from cusco for an * actual alpaca * scarf from the awamaki store !
awamaki is really hoping to do that. i think that' s one of their really important long - term goals: to create a buzz for peruvian fabric. there' s a surplus right now and it needs to be accessed. there needs to be a buzz .
graciela is 17. she lives in the remote high andean community of patacancha. when she was 13, she became pregnant. girls don’t usually finish school in patacancha; girls who are mothers definitely don’t finish school. graciela’s parents were upset by her early pregnancy, but they enrolled her in awamaki’s weaving cooperative program, then just starting. income from the awamaki project allowed her to support the child while she and the child’s father — only barely older than graciela — finished school. last year, he graduated from high school, and they moved into a one - room adobe home that they built near her parent’s home. graciela continues to support her young family with income from the awamaki project. though only 17, she is one of our most skilled weavers. her son, rolando, is a healthy, energetic four - year - old .
f: each day was quite different. i started off getting to know the town and awamaki so that i could set the objectives of the needs assessment with the executive staff. after designing and testing the survey, i spent about 10 days conducting surveys with the local community members .
on january 20th, a sub - freezing evening in new york city’s the bowery, hipsters and art aficionados, young and old alike filed into a candle - lit second floor studio space as music flowed down the stairs and out onto the dark lower east side block. they were there to celebrate the inaugural collection of the awamaki lab project. the energy of the gathering’s guests was high, but the vibrant collection on display had an energy all its own. the designs of nieli vallin, awamaki lab’s first designer in residence stood out prominently amidst the crowd of fashionably dressed scenesters .
). this cost us 20 usd a person, which included 3 meals a day and was an amazing cultural experience, so it was win - win. i was amazed at how helpful the people at awamaki were through email and in person to make sure we had a wonderful experience .
the made - to - order awamaki lab collection launched in new york at guilded, the design studio of designers tara st. james, who mentored vallin on sustainable design processes, and bahar shahpar. at the event, i sat down with vallin to discuss the difference between working in luxury fashion and with artisans in peru, and more. from parisian rtw to peruvian made - to - order vallin first heard about the awamaki project from friends in paris, where she was living at the time. she was unhappy working in the luxury and ready - to - wear scene there - - though she calls working with yves saint laurent
an amazing experience
- - and wanted to do something more ethical. awamaki lab was an opportunity for her to work both in ethical fashion and break into the fashion scene in the united states, another one of her goals .
jessica was awamaki' s weaving project coordinator from 2010 - 2012 where she saw the project expand from 35 weavers in patacancha to 76 weavers, knitters, and seamstresses in 3 additional communities. since then, she has lived in nashville working first as a farmhand and currently as a software developer .
i have always been passionate about women' s empowerment. i connected this passion with latin america at a young age, when i went on a school trip to ollantaytambo, peru - where awamaki is now based - in 2001. that trip inspired my interest in latin america and international development, and set my path to georgetown university' s school of foreign service. there, i studied latin america and economic development. after graduating, i moved to ollantaytambo to work as a volunteer for a local peruvian weaving non - profit. after two years, my colleagues and i from that project founded awamaki .
with a full team of volunteers and two doctors visiting, we set out to some communities not yet traversed by awamaki health. wednesday and last friday were days of exploration, consultations, and data collection. we went to three communities in all, olmiron, kamicancha, and primavera all in the direction of chilca .
today the project had a mini - triumph of sorts when one of awamaki’s weavers from the high - andean community of kelkanka came to the office to receive an order. the women from this community, as well as several other communities in the valley, only speak quechua, the ancient language of the inca, and therefore it can often prove difficult for spanish speakers at awamaki to facilitate meetings amongst multiple groups of quechua speakers. however, the women of our sewing cooperative are fluent quechua speakers as well, and took it upon themselves to use the rare office visit by the quelquanka group as a chance to do some teaching amongst each other .
anne marie toccket holds a master' s degree in international development from the university of pittsburgh and bachelor' s degrees in spanish, international studies and journalism from penn state university. she has worked extensively in latin america, including contract, consulting and volunteer positions in puerto rico, nicaragua, and peru. while completing her master' s, anne marie was the two - time recipient of the foreign language and area studies award, which supported research on the andes and in quechua language study. she worked in peru for awamaki’s predecessor organization, helped found awamaki, and returns regularly. annemarie is a non - profit strategic consultant and fundraiser in pittsburgh .
everything was great. it was a true way to learn about peru. our program coordinator juan and the awamaki people were all very friendly and eager to teach us their culture. the program left me with train of thoughts on
culture, tourism, tradition vs modernity. . etc
thank you so much to the team .
we interviewed awamaki, a partner that focuses helping women in peru become economically sustainable through education and traditional crafts, as part of the give2girls campaign. they hope to educate the older girls of their weaving cooperatives to become future leaders through workshops that focus on skills like computer use, and to launch a girls leadership program for 2014 .
four years later, i was 26, managing six employees and a $ 200, 000 budget. as awamaki matured, i realized that i needed some real skills to run the organization. i applied to graduate school in nonprofit management and moved to the u. s. to go to school. after a few years of back and forth, i now live most of the year in washington state, running awamaki’s operations in the u. s. and working remotely with our in - country staff. awamaki is still growing. we now work with 150 women, helping them start and run their own businesses. their woven and knit products are in retail stores across the u. s. i am my own boss, working for a cause i’m passionate about, and visiting my town in peru a few times per year to work with our staff, see our impact, visit with the women, and stay with dear friends. i am still glad i never got one of those “real jobs. ”
there is no typical awamaki volunteer or intern. many are college students or recent graduates, while others are graduate students, professionals on a break, or retirees in search of an adventure. all volunteers and interns have a few things in common: they are self - motivated, committed to our mission, and capable of working both independently and in a team setting .
this includes room and board for the entirety of your stay in the awamaki volunteer house. it also includes program and administrative fees, airport pickup, and welcome festivities, 10 hours of walking language class and tour of town, and a three - day cultural immersion weekend in one of the indigenous communities. a homestay with a local family can be arranged for additional cost .
to put things into perspective, many of the villages in the area still don’t have electricity or running water. in addition, ideas like currency were introduced just 6 years ago! before 2007, they still used a system of bartering their goods for necessities. awamaki aims to preserve the local people’s way of live, but at the same time, create opportunities to improve their social and economic situation .
to this aim i’ve brought together a very special group of women: awamaki – a not - for - profit cooperative which works with indigenous peruvian women weavers, caroline lindsell (and her husband dylan) of a rum fellow) of a rum fellow who are based in london and create beautiful designs, and doña felicitas and her fellow weavers in the village of patacancha... to continue reading this note click here
awamaki looks for pre - existing artisan groups of women to work with. through our cooperative development model, we help co - ops to become legally recognized associations with governing bodies and provide them with any necessary support and / or training to learn how to manage their co - op. this includes anything from leadership and self - esteem workshops to technical skills training to accompanying illiterate groups to explain and help them sign legal documents .
it was extremely exciting for us to watch the women from these two communities interact and share their side of the production process! it’s not often that the groups find each other in the same place at the same time, with a chance for highly effective collaboration! the accidental meeting was so successful that awamaki lab has decided to bring all of the weavers down to our ollantaytambo - based sewing studio to meet with the seamstresses and share their experiences .
i left the house around nine, after an unusualy large breakfast. i went straight for the market to buy coca leaves. i still hadn' t tried the leaves, but figured their medicinal uses might help me as i climbed into the thin air. a large sack of coca cost me less than two soles ($. 70). i filled my water bottle up at awamaki and headed for the trail i knew next to nothing about .
sustainable tourism includes a homestay association, a spanish teachers’ cooperative, and market access for both. it also includes community cultural tourism excursions to visit awamaki’s weaving cooperatives where products can be purchased directly. our sustainable tourism projects lead meaningful cultural experiences for tourists and promote appreciation of andean traditions and ways of life. we operate a store in ollantaytambo to sell products to tourists. we sell in the united states through our online store, trunk shows and partner retailers .
awamaki works closely with other ngos in the sacred valley whose goals are to support indigenous communities. organizations such as ourselves are required to communicate with each other in order to ensure that we are not overlapping our services, but rather directing our programs to where they are most needed. these contacts will be crucial in deciding which communities to expand to next. awamaki also relies on partnerships with businesses that have contact with the tourist industry in peru e. g. hotels, hostals, restaurants. they help us to promote our fair trade store (currently our primary income - generator) and our sustainable tourism program. likewise, we also have partnerships with businesses and organizations abroad who help to publicize the project, our textiles and the volunteer program. if we are to expand our project to work with more communities, then these partnerships will be essential in ensuring that we can continue to generate the market needed to support more weavers .
riffing off cresconi’s zero - waste anorak for loomstate, in particular, awamaki lab’s newest collection is defined by both style and functionality. each piece pays homage to quechua culture with a tongue - in - cheek twist. the “wiqaw” (“waist”) dress is belted, for instance, while the “chakra” (“inherited land plot”) sweater offers a bird’s eye view of the landscape. true to its name, the “tusuy” (“dance”) dress is a fun, shorter dress .
has anyone done the 3 day weaving tour or the 4 day natural dye tour with this group? we are trying to decide which of them to do. also, we are trying to decide if my husband and his brother who have no interest in weaving or dyeing will be able to enjoy it or if they should do a trek with a different company instead. anyone know a good ngo like awamaki that does tours or treks that aren' t so textile based ?
i am the creative director and head of artisan cooperatives. i work with our 5 cooperatives of 110 women to connect them with clients, create new designs for the awamaki lab collection, and design and organize workshops to help the cooperatives become self - sustaining. i have been living in ollantaytambo, peru for the past 3 years and am moving back to the us in june, and so i' m excited to tell you what we' ve done during my time here !
i recently got to take a tour of a small village called patacancha, which is near ollantaytambo. our guide was from awamaki (headquartered in ollantaytambo) and the whole experience was great! the whole tour not only covered the history of the region, an overview of the cultural background of the valley, and a crash course in traditional weaving, it also provided an up - close look at the community of patacancha. i can' t recommend it highly enough. go !
with limited access to markets and unable to speak spanish, quechua communities in the highlands of peru are hindered from generating a reliable income and pulling themselves out of poverty. awamaki promotes sustainable community development by creating economic opportunities for quechua women in the patacancha valley. we run health and education programs that complement our job creation, and preserve and foster quechua culture in our work. we currently work in the highland communities of patacancha and kelkanka as well as in ollantaytambo on the valley floor .
the seamstresses demonstrated to the weavers how they incorporate their textiles into bags, skirts, ipad cases, wallets and other awamaki lab products. the seamstresses then proceeded to explain their side of the production process, and the weavers theirs as well. both groups were happy to learn more about the other’s role in the production process, and ended the interaction with a discussion about how the two groups could make minor adjustments within their processes to make the work of the other easier and more efficient .
visit a traditional quechua village to learn about andean life and the weaving tradition from awamaki artisans. try spinning on the ancient andean drop spindle, discover the potential of native dye plants and visit a traditional quechua home with one of the weavers. in a weaving lesson taught by one of the weavers, learn the basic structure of weaving and make a “pulsera” (bracelet) to take home with you. as part of our rural tourism package, eat a typical andean lunch in a traditional quechua home .
f: the most rewarding aspect of the work that i did was having the ability to speak directly to local community members about their thoughts and perceptions on the community they live in and about awamaki. it was a learning experience for me and taught me to set aside my own beliefs and biases in order to be as open and objective as possible. i feel like i also had the opportunity to learn more about the culture in a short amount of time by having the conversations i had with the respondents .
most people do not realize when they pass through ollantay that this is actually one of the poorest districts in cusco. rural families often make as little as $ 80 / month. the artisans with whom we work are passionate about their work and motivated to help their families. the income generated by the sales of even one product makes a huge difference to the artisans. awamaki re - invests 100% of our profits into providing workshops and trainings to help our artisans learn lasting skills and become leaders in their communities .
awamaki is a us 501 (c) (3) and recently received fair trade certification. we have received grants from the united nations and the u. s. state department as well as smaller, private organizations. our peruvian and international staff are incredibly dedicated and passionate about what they do. we are currently selling to stores in the us, but since we' re in peru, we are always looking for suggestions of stores to whom we should reach out. you can see our products at urltoken .
ladd has practiced law since 1975. he spent five years as a public defender in washington, d. c. , and then practiced for the remainder of his career at davis wright tremaine, a seattle law firm with offices around the country. he is now retired and grows vegetables, berries, fruit and christmas trees with his wife on vashon island, near seattle. ladd has travelled to ollantaytambo five times since 2004. he is the father of kennedy leavens, one of the awamaki founders. he has two other grown daughters .
this campaign was similar to the one we conducted in december 2010 with dr. qureshi. we used the same forms that sought to evaluate lifestyle, previous medical attention, educational background, and family situation of disabled people. awamaki is using the information that was gathered from the previous campaign to develop statistics to help us and the community get a glimpse into the lives of people living with disabilities. by visiting olmiron, kamicancha, and primavera we expanded our pool of data as well as potential candidates for outreach programs, such as our home visits .
small village called patacancha which sits at about 12, 500 feet above sea level. there we were introduced to a group of women who are part of a weaving coop supported by an ngo called awamaki who, amongst a number of projects, are trying to encourage sustainable tourism in the area. we saw how the women dye their yarn, spin it and weave it. they are mostly using alpaca. they proudly spread out their work for us to look at and perhaps purchase. i found it difficult to not buy something from each of them .
tara led us in the discussion and shared her history, opinions on sustainability, and resources. the amount of transparency was definitely applauded by attendees who were mostly designers. though i already adored her, my respect for tara grew by 3pm when we all finally dispersed. her honesty and dedication to working sustainably, and the time she spends on educating and mentoring. . to name a few of her side projects: an intern project study hall, and mentorship with awamaki weaving lab. she’s just really great. and i would like to purchase majority of her designs :
deepening our connections here in the u. s. has been essential to our work selling the artisan products and bringing visitors to our work in peru. though i spent most of eight years living in ollantaytambo, i now live in my hometown of seattle, with my husband and our son. here, i like to camp, hike, bike, ski and cook with my family, as well as promote awamaki' s work and help guide our strategy. in the meantime, i visit peru as often as i can, and my husband and i dream about moving back there some day .
and, of course, thank you to susan benarcik, meiling chen (fearless dreamer), daria dorosh, xing - zhen chung - hilyard and melissa kirgan of eko - lab, ceca georgieva, titania inglis, anjelika krishna (a. d. o. clothing), renata mann, rachel miller, eve mosher, shannon south (remade usa), tara st. james (study ny), andria crescioni for representing awamaki lab, edina tokodi (mosstika), tali weinberg, and zoe sheehan saldana for participating in the event, and for everyone who came out to learn more and celebrate !
the women with whom we work take the opportunity to work with awamaki very seriously, and we actually have a wait - list of groups who would like to work with us. part - time work is basically non - existent in this part of peru, and women still have very traditional rolls raising children and caring for their families. we only expect women in our groups to work 16 - 20 hours per week which allows them the flexibility they need to continue caring for their families but also provides them with enough income to make a valuable contribution economically. we find that most women in this area manage their family finances, and the first thing they invest in is improving educational opportunities for their children .
we signed up for a woodworking workshop with awamaki in december. there were four of us and we really enjoyed our carving time with julio! it was one of the highlights of our peru trip. julio was enthusiastic and engaging. he talked about his growing up years as he learned the carving trade and about his ancestors and family. it was a window into another world. he introduced his parents and we toured his compound where his brothers do carpentry. i am a woodworker myself, although not a chip carver. i enjoyed the class very much and wished i could continue onto bigger projects. i didn' t want it to end. i definitely recommend this workshop, especially if you have some woodworking background .
over the next 3 years we will concentrate on hiring more permanent, local staff members to manage the program. this will protect the program from potential volunteer shortages and it will strengthen recognition of awamaki within the community of ollantaytambo, where it is based, as a legitimate non - profit organization. we will also focus on expanding the number of weavers, knitters, and sewers we work with - - local staff will be integral in identifying those most in need. as we expand our market connections, we will grow our artisan groups at a sustainable rate to ensure a secure income for all. we also want to deepen the range of opportunities we offer the women we work with, connecting them with local health and education non - profits and agencies .
that first trip started it all for me, and i carry that trip with me every day. i had some phenomenal teachers over the course of my education, but there isn’t any class or book that could have set the course of my life the way that that the experience of being in peru did. at awamaki, we occasionally host students that visit our projects, stay in homestays, and sometimes even lend a hand for a few days. there are a lot of criticisms of global travel programs, and i have witnessed a number of so - called “service” projects that served no one. but when i look at the students that come to visit us, with their gadgets and their loud english and their short attention spans—i know that their experience is planting seeds that will change them in ways they cannot imagine .
as our sales and the number of artisan partner cooperatives grew, we aimed to deepen our impact. beyond helping women earn income, we wanted to give them the ability to provide for their families without being dependent on us or any one organization. we began to work with the artisans to teach them not only how to make products for us to sell, but also the skills they need to build successful, women - led artisan businesses. we now work with them on skills from client cultivation to quality control to banking, and we help them connect directly to clients other than us so that they can build their businesses. our vision is that as awamaki' s sales grow, and as our current cooperatives grow their business to include orders for other clients, we can bring in new artisan cooperatives to help fill demand for our products, thus expanding our impact across the region .
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urltoken
> amanda coen < / a > for ecouterre < / small > < p / > natural dyes are growing in importance as larger companies strive to find ways to incorporate them into their clothing lines. a big challenge remains regarding how to streamline the process to produce consistent colors that can be replicated in mass quantities. < a href =
urltoken
> awamaki < / a >, a peru - based organization, has been promoting the practice since their start. by working with dye master daniel sonqo gayoso, the organization offers < a href =
urltoken
> natural dye immersion workshops < / a > for both locals and foreigners. ecouterre had the chance to participate in one of the most recent retreats to the cloud forest where the workshops take place and returned with kilos of beautifully colored skeins of yarn .
awamaki started in early 2009 with 2 staff members and a handful of volunteers, working with 10 women weavers. we grew quickly, attracting talented volunteers who wanted to make a difference. it was an exciting few years, in which we pursued many different ideas, from health initiatives to english classes to even starting a bakery. as we matured, i felt i needed more skills to help our growing project thrive. i left peru to pursue a masters in public administration at the university of washington, where i specialized in non - profit management. as we matured and as i learned more about organizational strategy, we increasingly focused on our core programmatic strength, which was, and still is, connecting andean women artisans to economic opportunities. we spun our health initiative off into a separate non - profit, and phased out our other work. we increased our focus on connecting our artisans to markets through our store and wholesale business, and through our tourism program .
this tour was one of the highlights of our trip to peru. going high up into the andes and having the chance to meet some lady weavers was really interesting, even though i couldn' t communicate with them because they only speak quechua. we bought some pieces and i enjoyed learning about the special symbols on each piece of weaving and how unique they are. also how the dyes are made and we even tried our hand at spinning the wool. boy, were we bad! the drive up to this village is also very scenic, keep your cameras out! well worth the price. we also took the cooking class that awamaki offers, i hope they discontinue that because the woman who runs it, who also runs pachamama restaurant, is not friendly and it wasn' t fun, especially for the $ 40 it cost. but definitely go to the weaving village, you won' t regret it. oh and i will mention that even though it' s a high altitude, there' s really no walking involved so we were okay .
i was especially impressed by an organization called omprakash, and its founder, willy oppenheim. by what i am learning is an ever - more - frequent “coincidence” in my life, willy and i have people in common — we went to the same college a generation apart — and have been meaning to meet for a couple of years now. willy’s passion for his work was evident, but i was even more struck by the omprakash model of using an online platform to match volunteers with organizations that need them, removing the middleman. by vetting the organizations and training volunteers, they destroy the common “pay a lot of money for the privilege of volunteering” model. i also love that they focus on a social justice mission and offer resources such as grant opportunities for volunteers, a donation platform for organizations, and college credit through the edge program. i got an extra testimonial from awamaki, an organization in peru i have served since its inception, whose executive director said their best (most thoughtful, well - prepared, hard - working) volunteers have come through omprakash .
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a few weeks ago, i was sure i had hit all the highlights .
). place to stay at the huacachina oasis, check. figure out how to
without being hustled or breaking the bank, check. i thought i had all of the angles covered. then, i received an email from my friend sarah who was going on this trip with me. she suggested that we
i have always wanted to do something like this, but these days, it is hard to know who you can trust. it is equally difficult to find services which will enrich you, and benefit the local people without spending a fortune .
. these people have depended on weaving as a major source of income and general living for hundreds of years. in modern times, however ,
). i must say that while i don’t always trust the recommendations, they hit it right on with this one. all of my research and my experience tell me that they are the real deal .
they however have a number of other tours and packages available, including volunteering and long term gigs. these include learning how to weave, learning how to cook peruvian food, or learning spanish or quechua, the local language. check out
and don’t hesitate to ask them more questions if you have any. it was one of our favorite experiences in peru, and i am sure you will love it too, especially since it is benefiting those who need it most .
because it is! well, kind of. i have never been inclined or inspired as much as i was with this experience to promote a product, organization, company, or service and i guess that once i started writing, this is how it came out. i am not about to go back and re - write the whole thing! i also wanted to show that it is possible for you to travel and make a difference at the same time, even if it is a small difference. this is why i will be launching a new section of my blog where i will periodically (read, very sparingly) promote a product, or service that can benefit the locals. one other service in cambodia comes to mind, but more on that later. they will also be under the new category “responsible tourism” or on the top under “make a difference…”
julio is a california native who has lived abroad since 2009 as an expat in south korea and new zealand. he is especially passionate about experiencing other cultures and visiting as many unesco world heritage sites as possible .
it was pretty amiazng! we also were lucky to have hired a great guide that approached us when we first got to the site. (i’m kicking myself because i can’t remember his name i think it was peter, or something like that). he knew a ton about the area and the culture since he had studied it in college, and he carried a flute, that he had carved, and throughout our two hour hike he’d play traditional music at various points when he wasn’t lecturing. it was a perfect day! by the way, i just came across your website on the recommendation of dani from. i can’t wait to spend some time this weekend reading more. i’m so jealous that you guys have the opportunity to live and work on the road like that!
awamaki is a small non-profit that works to create economic opportunities and improve social well-being in rural peru . it is registered in the united states as a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) and in peru as a non-profit civil association . awamaki is diversified and currently runs programs in health , education , cultural preservation and sustainable tourism . awamaki is located in the town of ollantaytambo , which is between the inca capital city of cusco and machu picchu , a u.n. world heritage site . ollantaytambo is the departure point to machu picchu , which welcomes nearly 500,000 tourists annually . practically every one of these tourists must pass through ollantaytambo on their way to machu picchu . ollantaytambo also has its own ruins which tourists navigate daily . the tourism industry has brought prosperity and modern conveniences to ollantaytambo . 
awamaki is a small non-profit that works to create economic opportunities and improve social well-being in rural peru. it is registered in the united states as a 501 (c) (3) and in peru as a non-profit civil association. awamaki is diversified and currently runs programs in health, education, cultural preservation and sustainable tourism. awamaki is located in the town of ollantaytambo, which is between the inca capital city of cusco and machu picchu, a u.n. world heritage site. ollantaytambo is the departure point to machu picchu, which welcomes nearly 500,000 tourists annually. practically every one of these tourists must pass through ollantaytambo on their way to machu picchu. ollantaytambo also has its own ruins which tourists navigate daily. the tourism industry has brought prosperity and modern conveniences to ollantaytambo.
awamaki is a small non-profit that works to create economic opportunities and improve social well-being in rural peru. it is registered in the united states as a 501 (c) (3) and in peru as a non-profit civil association. awamaki is diversified and currently runs programs in health, education, cultural preservation and sustainable tourism. awamaki is located in the town of ollantaytambo, which is between the inca capital city of cusco and machu picchu, a u.n. world heritage site. ollantaytambo is the departure point to machu picchu, which welcomes nearly 500,000 tourists annually. practically every one of these tourists must pass through ollantaytambo on their way to machu picchu. ollantaytambo also has its own ruins which tourists navigate daily. the tourism industry has brought prosperity and modern conveniences to ollantaytambo.