2019 International Women's Day

For thirteen years, Global Goods Partners has supported women artisans in over 23 countries worldwide, investing 100% of our profits in changing women's lives. Celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th by shopping with us or donating to our mission.

This year, we embrace women everywhere who defy injustice to pursue a fuller future for themselves and their families.

Meet Micaela.  Micaela (pictured on the left) is one of the extraordinary craftswomen we work with every day. She is a member of Mayan Hands, a cooperative in Santiago Atitlan, located on the shores of beautiful Lake Atitlan.  We first met Micaela, and her twin sister Antonia (pictured on the right), when she demonstrated her weaving skills, stepping into teach our design director, Jean, the ropes.

As part of an indigenous community, Micaela faces the double discrimination of being Mayan and a woman in Guatemala. Defying these very real barriers, Micaela decided that at the age of 33, she would start school.

"I always wanted to go to school, but I couldn't when I was a girl. Later, when I was an adult, I sometimes thought about it, but I had no idea how to do it. I was afraid to even register because I didn't know how to read or write, not at all."

It wasn't until one day that she was creating an invoice that she thought to herself, "This has to stop, now. I need to learn to read and write." She applied for one of the scholarships offered through the cooperative and was accepted to school for the first time, and in October 2016, Micaela graduated from elementary school. She completed six grades in three years.