Many of our artisans initially join Handmade by Friendship Bridge® with one goal in mind: to keep their children in school. But we’ve seen something deeper take shape over time. Our artisans begin to build community in the rural areas where they live and with one another. It might not be the reason they would give for why they joined, but it’s a shift in mindset that is helping them on their way to financial independence. Keep reading to explore the community transformation we've seen.

Becoming Community Leaders

Artisans invited to join Handmade by Friendship Bridge® are already skilled craftswomen motivated to support their families. But our staff notices another pattern: often, they have a fear of employing others.

“Most of our artisans are afraid to manage and direct others—it is cultural, and not something they have practiced doing outside of Handmade,” explains Indira Maldonado,  Communications, Public Relations, and Visual Design Coordinator. “They think that managing is not for women. Through training, we help them break that barrier first.”

Indira sees that mentality begin to change the longer they are part of the program. “We encourage the artisans to employ others through the opportunity of working on bigger projects, because there is no other way they will be able to produce more products and grow their business,” Indira says. 

Now, all the artisans in the program have employed at least one person. As they practice managing people with guidance from Handmade, they become leaders to others in the community. Our artisan, María, operates a thriving business, both in our online store and through a variety of other markets in Guatemala. Greater business success came when she made the decision to employ more people to help with sewing, adding zippers, and other finishing details on her handmade beaded designs. “Now, she is leading others, and not just participating. When we have a new order for her, she will say, ‘Let me see, I need to ask my employees first,’ ” Indira says. 

Their skills have allowed them to become community builders within Friendship Bridge’s larger organization as well. Many of our artisans have joined Friendship Bridge’s Client Advisory Committee over the years—a group consisting of 85 elected clients across our branch offices, in which clients provided feedback on our programs and services. 

“When they learn how to manage people,” Indira says, “they're practicing their leadership and they replicate that in the community by getting involved.”

Creating Community with One Another

As we host group trainings and arrange sales opportunities for our artisans, we see a synergy develop among them. When we negotiated the opportunity for our artisans to fulfill a large Mother’s Day order consisting of 17,000 satin hair scrunchies, it provided a prime opportunity for them to work as a team. Because the artisans were working on the project around the time of Holy Week (Semana Santa), it was a challenge to find enough purple satin, since purple is used for so many other decorations at that time. The artisans working the project—Rosario, Juana, Petrona, Martina, Jacinta, Fidelia, Erika, and Ruth—shared supplier contacts with one another so they could get what they needed. Likewise, we’ve seen the same concept among bead artisans: They support one another in finding suppliers for certain bead colors that are hard to find.

When the artisans come together to deliver products, Indira notices this is another time that they create community among one another. “I would hear them talking to one another, ‘I like the way you did this’ or ‘how many hours did this take?’ It was interesting to see them collaborate with one another and not criticize each other, or be competitive with one another,” she says.

And as they learn to work in community, more opportunities for new products are possible. “They are starting to understand that to grow in business, you don’t need to create the final product yourself,” Indira explains. “We just had a new product approved that is a variant of Jacinta’s popular cellphone bag combined with beads from Maria. We can collaborate and combine two or three ideas into one product.”

Networking to Strengthen Community

As the Handmade staff attends events and brings the artisans along, they begin to see the value in strengthening community through networking and learning to interact with people, even if it’s not a high-sales event.

“When we attended the New World Crafts fair, our artisans weren’t attending to sell products, but they realized the real potential of the artisans market. They got ideas from others and got to see quality that is at another level,” Indira explains.

Elena makes the most of such opportunities by demonstrating dyeing techniques and always telling customers where they can find her shop. As a result, she is the most-visited artisan for Insight Trip attendees to Guatemala, consistently generating sales. “Elena is always happy and trying to interact with people. If someone asks for a certain product, she’s the kind of person that rarely answers ‘no.’ She figures it out,” Indira says.

Debora, one of our newest artisan clients, is another example of community building through networking. Though she’s only selling one item so far in our online store (a corn husk basket), she’s consistently seizing opportunities to bring products with her for potential sales, even if it’s not a sales event. “She is a good salesperson and it’s hard to say ‘no’ to her,” Indira says. “If she doesn’t have a certain product, she offers to make something.”

In addition, Debora passes on her artisan skills to others. Once she paid to enroll in a basket weaving technique course for extra income. Now, she teaches the technique to anyone in her community who is interested, for free. “She demonstrates community leadership by helping others,” Indira says. 

As artisans’ children and families witness what’s possible through community building, each new generation is empowered to grow and dream a little more: “So many artisans are now leading and empowering others outside of Handmade, as a result of their work with Handmade.”