Yabal Guatemala

Yabal is a fair trade organization, focused on sustainable fashion as a way to provide economic sustainability for rural Mayan women artisans. We partner with indigenous women’s weaving cooperatives in Guatemala, providing them with the opportunity to sell their hand-woven products through local and international markets.Yabal seeks to increase the opportunities and quality of life for women in the Western Highlands of Guatemala while preserving the important traditional art of back-strap weaving. We are a fair trade certified enterprise (through the WFTO), assuring that the women receive fair wages for their work, that they have voice and representation in our organization, and that we focus on supporting the most disadvantaged in the society, and practice transparency and fairness in our project.

Focusing on women as the key to family development, Yabal provides workshops to assist in the success of each individual and family. These workshops focus on entrepreneurship, business administration, leadership, and advanced sewing courses. In addition, Yabal provides other social programs including educational scholarships to the children of artisans, micro-loans, food security programs, and maternity leave for women weavers. All proceeds of our sales and all donations are reinvested back into social programs for our cooperatives.