Español

Projects and Businesses

UPAVIM began making simple crafts to help pay for the Healthy Babies program in 1991. Since then, the craft program has developed into a successful export business that won a national prize in 2001 for non-traditional textile exporting. The profits from craft sales finance the entire children's center, which includes the daycare and the school, and partially subsidizes the pharmacy and medical clinic.

With the goals of making all of their community programs sustainable from additional income generating projects, UPAVIM is currently constructing the "Annex," a second-four story building to house projects, including a soy milk production facility, a bakery, store, and a computer/typewriting school. For more information, please see the specific project.

CRAFT PROJECT

The craft project began during the early 1990s as a part of the growth monitoring program.  Initially, the project more than doubled its sales each year, and in 2001, UPAVIM won the Best Exporter in the Handicrafts Sector from AGEXPRONT, a national trade organization.  We produce clothing, hair accessories, jewelry, padded folders, refrigerator magnets, Christmas tree ornaments, Nativity scenes, kitchen accessories, tablelinens, a large assortment of bags and wallets, and more.

We also buy products from other organizations in Guatemala to help them get fair trade prices on their products by marketing them in the US, including the following organizations who have web pages: Chonita, an indigenous cooperative in Santiago Atitlan that prducecs beaded jewelry, and Proyecto Eco-Quetzal in Coban, an NGO that works with indigenous families to find environmentaly sustainable income sources, such as the production of natural candles. UPAVIM also buys from indigenous artisans in Chinautla who make clay products, Ruth y Nohemí, a widows cooperative in Chichcastenango, and indigenous weavers in Santiago Atitlan who make priests' stoles. UPAVIM practices fair trade business practices with all of these organizations, buying their goods at above-market prices and insuring that each organization is paying their workers fair wages.

In 1993 Francisca Chinchilla went to the ATO (Alternative Trading Conference) in Chicago, Angela Bailon and Aldina Velasquez attended the conference in Washington D. C. in 1994, in 1995 Angela and Marta Morales attended in Berkeley, CA, and in 1996 Angela and Silvia Perez attended in Washington D.C. UPAVIM is a member of the Fair Trade Federation which is an ATO in the United States.

The comfortable work environment at UPAVIM enables Doña Esperanza (left) to work at hand sewing while she is five months pregnant. At right, Doña Rosario continues to work as a seamstress despite the pain of rheumitoid arthritis in her hands. She would not be able to keep up with the quotas at a factory in the center of the city, but she can work at her own pace at UPAVIM, and continue to support her mother and three kids.

Currently in 2003, UPAVIM women are receiving training in crafts production, thanks to support from the Belgian Embassy. Ten women received ten months oftraining in sewing (bordados), and twelve women took a two month long course to learn to paint on clay. These courses, given by the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy, also included design training. In 2003, we became a member of AGEXPRONT (The National Guild of Non-Traditional Exporters), the same trade organization that awared us the prize in 2001.

UPAVIM maintains an inventory of products in the United States which are sold by fair-trade retailers, churches, and peace and social justice groups in the US, Canada and the UK. Last year, UPAVIM even shipped products to Italy and Taiwan. The distribution work is done by Mary Joan, who is an independent contractor working for UPAVIM.

Since the second year of the program, funds from handicraft sales have paid for 100% of the expenses of the school and day care, and currently subsidize the medical clinic. The crafts project has not only sustanied itself, but we have bought new industrial sewing machines and we hope to expand production when we have more space in the Annex.

Each year we add new products to our list and are open to suggestions and ideas or special orders.  For example we have made numerous conference bags including a Presbyterian World conference, a World Archaeological Conference, the Handweavers Guild of Americas conference Convergence, and La Leche League International.

return to top

THE ANNEX

During its first eight years, UPAVIM had a large one story building on the adjacent property. This original building, called the Annex, housed the reforzamiento and was used for meetings. It was torn down in 2000 to begin construction on a second four story building to stand next to UPAVIM. The Global Fund for Women supported the first phase of construction and the Palmer Foundation supported Phase 2, which was finished in February 2004.

The first floor of the Annex has space for a bakery and store, as well as the soy milk production factory. Now that Phase 2 is completed, the Alternative Learning Center has moved upstairs, and the large room on the first floor where the school operated will have a space for a secretary and meetings and is the future Center for the Elderly.

The reforzamiento (tutoring center) works in the basement. With the completion of phase 3, UPAVIM will have space to not only expand the crafts production, but there will also be room for new projects including a seniors' center, increased space for the tutoring center, a computer/typewriting school, and a library.

return to top