Happy National Women’s History Month! As a small business that honors the craftsmanship and artistry of hardworking women in ten countries, it’s gratifying to see them improving their lives. Since becoming artisans with Love Is Project, these women have become financially independent, can provide food and water for their families, send their children to school, afford healthcare and maternity care, and more!
To celebrate, we are featuring several empowering stories about our artisans to inspire you!
Guatemalan artisans Angela, Ofelia, Cristina and Juana began working with Love Is Project two years ago. For both Cristina and Juana, part of their motivation to work is putting their children through school. With the earnings they receive from Love Is Project, this goal has become much more attainable for them. Before working with Love Is Project, the artisans were weaving huipiles (a traditional blouse worn by indigenous women) and selling their goods on the street. This meant that their wages were much less stable, since they needed to succeed at both weaving and sales. As Cristina said, “Before we began to work with Love Is Project, our work was a little difficult. We both had to weave and sell and, every time, we had doubts about whether we would be able to make a sale that day or not. Now, we are sure that our work will sell. Our work is now stable.” Shop their bracelets here!
Nabiki Lesuper is a star beader from the Kalama Conservancy in Kenya. During periods of drought, her community has had to move to far places away from their normal residency in search of water. When her family falls on hard times, she sells the milk her animals produce. Nabiki laments that when she sells the milk to support her family, the small children who are dependent on the milk for nutrients suffer. With the revenue earned from Love Is Project, Nabiki has been able to support her entire extended family with food, school tuition, and medicine. She says that the LOVE bracelets that she is making for Love Is Project “taught me to spread love to my family, friends and the community.” We are so proud to be partnered with you, Nabiki!
Due to the amount of trash in their village, mother-daughter artisan duo Made and Ita decided to clean up the waste and start a recycling program. Made and Ita’s recycling center has created 12 jobs, bolstered the local economy, improved the environmental quality of the community, and encouraged community members to keep the village clean. We are going to keep donating proceeds to Made and Ita so that they can continue being eco-warriors, so take a look at our Bali seed bead bracelets!
In coordination with village leaders, we have helped provide our artisans in Juala, India with a tutor to teach them reading, writing, and financial literacy. We are so happy to announce that the program has started and there are currently 33 female students enrolled in the class! These women aren’t letting anything stand in their way of providing a better life for themselves- more than half of them don’t have electricity, and the majority of them don’t have access to clean drinking water. Most of them have never been enrolled in school. The women are proving that there is no better time than the present to learn financial literacy. We are so proud of our artisans and excited to see what they achieve!
Our artisans in Bhutan have partnered with RENEW (Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women), an NGO founded by the country’s fourth queen. RENEW empowers women and seeks to solve domestic violence issues. It provides 3,000 women across the country with counseling, training services, legal aid, medical assistance, and education scholarships. A portion of our profits from the Bhutan Collection go towards RENEW’s services. We love seeing women supporting other women!
Want to support women too? Shop our National Women’s History Month Collection! It features purple and green bracelets to represent the hard work, passion, and empowerment of women across the world.