At Handmade by Friendship Bridge®, we have always been committed to our Guatemalan artisans receiving fair pay, more economic opportunities, and business training. With this in mind, we applied for membership in the Fair Trade Federation and were officially verified at the end of 2024. 

“The membership not only shows that we are worthy of trust, but also will mean more sales opportunities for our artisans in the future,” says Sussan Hrozek, Senior Coordinator of Handmade by Friendship Bridge®.

The Fair Trade Principles

The Fair Trade Federation operates based on nine principles, and they ask any organization applying to demonstrate in detail how they align with those principles:
1. Cultivate New Market Opportunities
2. Develop Transparent and Accountable Relationships
3. Build Capacity
4. Promote Fair Trade
5. Pay Promptly and Fairly
6. Support Safe and Empowering Working Conditions
7. Ensure the Rights of Children
8. Cultivate Environmental Stewardship
9. Respect Cultural, Racial and Ethnic Identity

While we are committed to all these principles, here's more detail about three at which we currently excel:

Cultivate New Market Opportunities for Economically and Socially Marginalized Producers

In addition to both retail and wholesale sales opportunities in the U.S., we offer extensive business training so that our artisans can have access to new and larger international markets. Due to poverty, many Handmade by Friendship Bridge® clients had to drop out of school at an early age to work and help support their families. While this means they became highly skilled at weaving, sewing, beading, and the creation of other handicrafts, without education, they often lack the knowledge for how to operate successful businesses.

This can be a hindrance to artisans when it comes to increasing product sales in an international market, which in turn could affect their ability to support their families well. Because our staff in Guatemala works closely with our artisans, they see the areas in which the artisans are most in need of professional development, including financial planning, meeting production deadlines, and uniform measurements and sizing.

Respect Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Identity

We work to preserve the culture and artisan techniques of Indigenous Mayan people that have been passed down for generations—including weaving, natural dyeing, bead artistry, basket making, and hand embroidery—that are found in our products.

In addition, a wide range of modern gift items feature repurposed traditional Guatemalan textiles that are integral to the identity of the Indigenous Maya, giving a new life to the culture. Our artisans are directly in control of the purchase of secondhand huipiles, as they know the value of each one. They are sourced directly from individuals selling in local markets and the price is determined by two characteristics: the embroidery work and condition of the textile. 

Normal length of wear for a huipil is 2 to 6 years, then, women want to sell them in order to get back some money to afford a new one. The value of the products is not only the beautiful embroidery and textile footloom technique, but also the historic and cultural story that the symbols on the huipiles tell.  After purchasing a used huipil, our artisans carefully wash the piece, trim away the damaged parts, and restore the embroidery with care. 

Support Safe and Empowering Working Conditions

Our artisans set their own prices for their products with guidance from Handmade by Friendship Bridge®, and we work directly with these individuals. They operate small businesses primarily out of their homes so they can have more flexibility to care for family members and help with shared household responsibilities. We promote social and economic development in local communities through a range of business courses, offered to our clients for free. In turn, our clients grow in both resilience and empowerment. As their businesses grow, they provide jobs to others in their communities. 

Looking Toward the Future
The Fair Trade Federation shares a vision of a world in which justice, equity, and sustainable development are at the heart of trade structures and practices so that everyone, through their work, can maintain a decent and dignified livelihood.

With this in mind, we are committed to continually strengthening our practices based on Fair Trade principles. One way we plan to do that is by helping our artisans build their capacity.

“Our goal is to continue to develop in this area by researching even more local markets and wholesale opportunities for our artisans, so if they lose one market, then have others to fall back on, and their income does not decrease,” explains Hrozek.

We plan to increase collaboration between artisans so they can take on bigger orders together, develop new products together, and explore new trends that can be income earning opportunities for them. 

For example, several of our artisans recently worked on a unique project in which they designed and manufactured blouses for 130 female employees of Friendship Bridge (shown above). Petrona and Rosario did the sewing, while Manuela crocheted the embellishments around the neckline and sleeves. The final result was designed to be something that women would be comfortable wearing whether they prefer to pair the blouse with jeans, dress pants, or traditional Guatemalan attire. Taking on this project invited our artisans into the creative process of designing for a client, but also taught them to plan ahead so they can learn to handle larger custom orders in the future. 

“The more they collaborate,” Hrozek says,  “the more resources they will have for sustainable practices and efficient production methods moving forward.”