Women's Co-op

Guatemala is a beautiful place of rich color from the green mountain landscape to the bright splashes of color on people’s clothes or in the fruit and vegetable markets. Just like the rich colors of the country, Guatemalan culture is vibrant and alive. Mayan tradition is strong and evident, soccer is played in the streets and firecrackers are being lit off at any hour of the day or night.

In Guatemala it’s easy to see the colors, the landscape and the culture. It is also easy to see the rich and the poor. On one street you can see a sturdy two-storey house with beautiful flowers and plants and right beside it you can see a small shack with a tin roof and only dirt for a garden. Just like in any country, there are people in Guatemala that are rich and poor. And the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

The Maya are among the poorest in Guatemala and they are almost 50% of the population. They live in shacks, work long hours, and are illiterate. They have a hard life with stories of pain and suffering. But this is not every Maya. The Mayan people are resilient, hard-working and resourceful.

A group of Mayan women decided that they and their children were going to have a better life. And that was going to start now. Their community was small, had few resources and they were all poor subsistent corn farmers. The children of the community did not go to school because there was no school in the vicinity but also they were more valuable working and helping their parents in the fields or at home.

What could a group of uneducated Mayan women do? The answer: Women’s Co-op. It wasn’t easy but it worked. The women all agreed to use their resources and their skills to make money and use it for the common good. They started making handicraft products like blankets, table-runners, purses and skirts. Then they sold their uniquely Mayan-made products in the markets.

Our group was blessed by the opportunity to learn from these resilient Mayan people. The women’s Co-op proudly shared their story to us and then they showed us how they made their products. See the photos below. It is a fascinating process where they first start with balls of string and then they end up with a colorful masterpiece!

They also shared with us that they were able to save enough money to build a school and a medical clinic. Now their children can go to school and learn to read and write. And the clinic is open and free for the community- if someone is sick they can get medicine.

The school walls, medicine and handicrafts have helped the people not only by increasing the standard of living but also it has boosted the community’s morale. They did it themselves. They were not given any handouts. They were not given any money. They were not told what to do. They got together and figured out that they were capable of doing wonderful things for themselves and their children.

Carolyn Kolm


The women first danced for us. It was a welcome dance.

Then they told us their story of how they came to be.

Then they showed us how they made their handcrafts.

This lady is using a loom to make a blanket.

It can take up to a year to make something like this!

Coffee beans!

Coffee grinds.

Kelly learning how to grind coffee.

Jason is too!

As well as Emma.

Some really adorable kids!

Jill with the girls!