Tuesday Feb. 11….we like to mix fun with the work so we hopped on a boat to San Juan to visit the women's textile co-ops. They make all their own dye from natural resources.
The lake was beautiful ( it usually is since it is considered one of the top ten most beautiful lakes in the world )
so it is always a photo op from the front of the boat with the volcanoes behind you. When we arrived Francisca was waiting for us.
Francisca heads up one of the larger co-ops and shows us the entire process of creating beautiful textiles. After the demonstration I presented Francisca with a gift from my niece,Kara, who has been twice to Guatemala with me. Kara has a heart for giving to good causes. She is a creative women herself and create lovely jewelry. She has started a small business of not only selling her own creations but those of others. She does both online and in home parties where the hostess can choose a charity to have a portion of the profits go to.
Over the holidays she had an online party to sell Guatemala creations and have a percentage of sales go to the coop that Francisca runs. I was able to hand over Q550 ( Guatemalan Quetzels) and Francisca was thrilled by Kara's kindness. We then proceeded to shop until we dropped. We had two MF staff with us, Elizabeth and Sergio, to help interpret and four ladies who were here visiting MF and also on a buying trip for a group of retails stores in California so Sergio not only interpreted but also became a very sweet Sherpa carrying the large bags. Not a single person went home empty handed. We then had a lovely lunch with a view of the lake. After returning to Pana we did a bit more shopping for jewelry then it was time to rest a bit and clean up for a dinner party at my place with the magnificent Chef Mathilda preparing a fabulous meal for us. I do believe a good time was had by all.
And again all the photos can be viewed at the Picasa link on the right of the blog.
The lake was beautiful ( it usually is since it is considered one of the top ten most beautiful lakes in the world )
so it is always a photo op from the front of the boat with the volcanoes behind you. When we arrived Francisca was waiting for us. 
Francisca heads up one of the larger co-ops and shows us the entire process of creating beautiful textiles. After the demonstration I presented Francisca with a gift from my niece,Kara, who has been twice to Guatemala with me. Kara has a heart for giving to good causes. She is a creative women herself and create lovely jewelry. She has started a small business of not only selling her own creations but those of others. She does both online and in home parties where the hostess can choose a charity to have a portion of the profits go to. 
Over the holidays she had an online party to sell Guatemala creations and have a percentage of sales go to the coop that Francisca runs. I was able to hand over Q550 ( Guatemalan Quetzels) and Francisca was thrilled by Kara's kindness. We then proceeded to shop until we dropped. We had two MF staff with us, Elizabeth and Sergio, to help interpret and four ladies who were here visiting MF and also on a buying trip for a group of retails stores in California so Sergio not only interpreted but also became a very sweet Sherpa carrying the large bags. Not a single person went home empty handed. We then had a lovely lunch with a view of the lake. After returning to Pana we did a bit more shopping for jewelry then it was time to rest a bit and clean up for a dinner party at my place with the magnificent Chef Mathilda preparing a fabulous meal for us. I do believe a good time was had by all.
And again all the photos can be viewed at the Picasa link on the right of the blog.
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