Since Handmade by Friendship Bridge® was established in 2018, we’ve seen so many of our artisans receive more income-earning opportunities while simultaneously learning how to operate thriving businesses. At the same time, when their personal lives and family situations change, it has the potential to derail the progress they’ve made. 

Perhaps the real test of our program comes when we see our artisans continue to make an impact despite these ever-changing family and motherhood dynamics. We know our artisans rise to the challenge time and time again, in a society still steeped in poverty and gender inequality. The stories that follow offer a glimpse into how our artisans continue to persevere and create meaningful change.

Santos: Strength Through Loss

In 2021, when the Handmade by Friendship Bridge® staff visited Santos’ home in Caserio Chuacruz, Sector Cipresales, we saw a woman whose textile business was supporting four generations of women in her family. Her grandmother, mother, Santos herself, and her daughter worked alongside one another in and around their home, weaving traditional textiles on backstrap looms, dyeing fabric using natural materials, and creating distinctive Ikat fabric patterns that are well-known to the Indigenous Maya. Santos taught herself to weave using floor loom, traditionally used by men, and her daughter became her business partner.

Since then, her grandmother has passed away. Then in 2025, one of Santos’ sisters died, leaving her to care for her three nieces. Suddenly, after escaping an abusive marriage years ago, raising her own children, and building a thriving business, she found herself raising young children once again.

This time, though, “we see a woman who is more equipped to do this again,” says Indira Maldonado, Communications, Public Relations, and Visual Design Coordinator. 

A recent visit to her property revealed new and improved buildings and upgraded structures that were not there before. As an additional income source, Santos developed four rental properties on her land, including a dedicated space from which she sells her own products.

“She feels very proud, super happy, and encouraged now,” Indira says. “She’s not thinking about the workload—she is motivated to take on new challenges because she has more family to care for, and these children looking up to her.”
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Rosario: When Passion Meets New Beginnings

Always a woman with a passion for design and fashion, when Rosario joined Handmade by Friendship Bridge, she was already selling clothing through the brand she developed, E-Moda (The Fashion Destination). Since joining, she’s learned a lot: how to work with large quantities, how to organize the team within specific time frames, and that working in a clean and orderly manner benefits the business.

“I’m most proud that I’ve been able to do what I love, and opening the physical store at age 26,” Rosario says. “Year after year, we’ve grown and promoted our products both locally and internationally.”

Recently, she became a mother for the first time to twin girls, which means much of the schedule she’s refined over the years would need to shift. The hardest part so far, she says, has come with not being able to oversee her Zunil-based store in person while the babies are very young. But because she’s worked hard to train capable staff at both her physical store and her workshop, her business can continue during times she needs to step back. Eventually, she plans to travel to the physical store or to meetings with her twins when needed, and she also has someone who will help with her babies. 

When planning for the future of her business, she believes that becoming a mother can enhance her offerings: “I’d like to launch a clothing line for girls or have them help me promote new products,” Rosario shares.

She admits that sometimes she worries about not giving enough time to both her daughters. But as her girls grow, more than anything, Rosario hopes they are healthy, happy, and productive people, and might want to start businesses of their own. We know that as they watch their mother grow and adapt to change, they’ll be equipped to know it’s possible and attainable. 
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Angelina: Leading by Example

At age 18, Angelina married and moved in with her in-laws, while developing more artisan skills like straw basket techniques and textile embroidery. Later, she and her husband moved out to build their own home. While this was an accomplishment, it also meant she had less help as she raised a family and worked.

Currently, Angelina is still raising children while expanding her business with larger product orders. Her husband works construction jobs far from home, which means Angelina essentially raises her children on her own. And at times when her husband can’t find work, Angelina has to support him from afar.

All the while, Angelina makes improvements to her home, and her children are becoming more aware of the example their mother is setting. Her youngest daughter is learning English in school, which she knows will open more doors for work opportunities as she gets older. Her older daughter had moved out to live with a boyfriend, but then later returned, and began helping with Angelina’s business. Her son has become the most involved as he reached young adulthood, and now helps Angelina run the business.

The larger orders she accepts means that Angelina now needs to hire part-time help, which creates jobs for more women in her community. In different ways, her children are following her example of making an impact to build a more financially stable future.

“I want my children to remember me as a determined mom,” Angelina says. “To remember that I never gave up and that I never left them on their own, that I was always there for them, and that I fought for them to move forward.” 
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