Weavers of Hope (Mexico)
Weavers of Hope is an Austin-based non-profit corporation which partners with Villa Garcia, a small pueblo in central Mexico in the state of Zacatecas. Three years ago this work started from ground zero as a social outreach project of a local church. The projects have since grown considerably, and in the summer of 2004, the organization incorporated and received federally-recognized nonprofit status.
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| Residents of Villa Garcia outside their home. |
Weavers of Hope functions to:
- help Villa Garcia weavers find U.S. markets for their rugs and tapestries
- provide dignity and hope for weavers by paying them a fair price for their work
- use 100% of the profits to support the village
Weavers of Hope actively markets beautiful tapestries through personal contacts, craft shows, and consignment opportunities.
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| An artist from Villa Garcia at work on his hand-made loom. |
History
Villa Garcia has a 500 year tradition of weaving in this community. The original weavers made blankets, ponchos, and overcoats. In the mid 1970s, Mexico’s federal government helped the weavers set up an infrastructure to process wool and make weavings. The boom years for these weavers were 1982 to 1985, when they had two trailers shipping their goods to El Paso, Texas, every week.
By the mid 80’s, many of these jobs were being lost to the Philippines, China and Pakistan, countries with cheaper labor costs. As a result, many weavers took factory jobs in Aguascalientes, a nearby city about 1.5 hours away by bus. The work is hard, the hours are long, and the pay is low, about $45 a week. To make matters worse, in the last few years many of these factories have closed. This has caused desperate economic hardships for many people, as they transition from skilled artists to unemployed factory workers. Situations like these sometimes compel people to migrate to the U.S.
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| Educational sponsorships recipients. |
Weavers of Hope, in addition to functioning as a U.S. distributor of tapestries, also has two other areas of focus. Weavers of Hope provides educational sponsorships to young people in Villa Garcia to encourage them to stay in school, and also works on special projects to aid some of the neediest families of Villa Garcia. Please contact Jack Kern at JackMarthaKern@austin.rr.com for more information.
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