Recently, as a result of fair trade employment among
Guatemalan women, there has been a huge increase in individual and community
purchasing power. The increase in global fair trade purchasing in fashion items
(including jewelry) which highland Guatemalan women are particularly skilled at
making has meant a corresponding increase in what they are earning from the
fair trade guilds or companies they’re working for. Some have seen a three to
four fold increase in their take home pay. This translates into the ability to
invest in their children’s education, bring meats and fruits into their diets,
build additional rooms in their homes, and buy their first plots of land.
Considering that Guatemala has the third highest malnutrition rate in the world
at 54.5 percent, this is truly welcome news, and speaks for the expansion of
fair trade employment in Guatemala. It also means that fair trade fashion items
from Guatemala and other South American countries are having an impact on
global fashion, and becoming a viable competing force.
At Shopping For a Change we have partnerships with several
South American fair trade artisan groups and manufacturers including Altiplano
of Guatemala. Please visit our jewelry section to shop for many items from
South America. Fair trade eco friendly jewelry from SFAC combines fashion trend
aesthetics, highest quality and handmade crafting, and socially conscious
buying in which each piece bought helps many. And, in addition, we are
nonprofit so not only are the artisans paid fairly, but your purchases are
funding community improvement projects in the artisans’ communities focused
on clean water, health care and
education, as well as supporting U.S. nonprofits of your choice.
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