Capacity-building for rural women artisans in Peru

Marcelina is 23 years old and has a young son. She completed two years of primary school, but she doesn't read, write or speak Spanish. She lives in the high Andean community of Kelkanca, a village of 50 families at nearly 13,000 feet of elevation.  She and her husband farm potatoes and other tubers, the only crops that grow at that altitude.

With no electricity, and about 2.5 hours from the nearest town, Kelkanca is cut off from modern markets and amenities. Before she began working with Awamaki, Marcelina did not have any source of cash income, and only made textiles for her and her family's clothing. She and her family subsisted on their potatoes. This year, Marcelina participated in quality workshops with Awamaki, and now she can sell her textiles through Awamaki. She says she uses her income to buy food at the village Sunday market, where she can find carrots, beans, onions, rice, sugar, salt and oil.  

Marcelina knows what her son needs, and donations allow us to teach her the skills she needs to earn money to meet those needs. In 2014, we aim add 20 more women to join our programs. We aim to deepen the skills of the women with whom we already work so that they can progress towards being successful, independent business women.

Your donations fund this skills empowerment. As we build these skills, we can increasingly connect them to market opportunities so that they can earn income. The women do the rest. They invest in their families's nutrition, in their kids' education, in concrete floors and warm clothes for the cold Andean winter. They tranform their communities and lift their families out of poverty, woman by woman, household by household. 

Please contribute to Awamaki today and give a sustainable, prosperous future to Marcelina and more women like her.

Thank you so much and best wishes for a new year!

Kennedy