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After I completed my degree in Latin American Literature and Anthropology and my Honor’s Thesis, I traveled to Guatemala to volunteer on a Mayan Indian women’s cooperative and to explore the country backpacking alone for two months. The 36 year Civil War, which resulted in genocide, rape, and other unimaginable atrocities had just ended. The indigenous women I met and worked with on the cooperative had experienced the bloody violence and where there to empower themselves after the war so they could return to their villages. I will never forget their strength, resilience, and courage as they told us stories of the violence they experienced and their determination to rebuild their villages. After 3 weeks of volunteering I traveled around Guatemala became enchanted with the rich, intricate, and gorgeous textiles the women were is weaving and wearing. As I studied these stunning textiles and learned it was a 2000 year old tradition, I couldn’t help but think what pure geniuses these women were.  They were also some of the poorest people in Guatemala. This contradiction made no sense to me. Between the women I met volunteering and the fascinating textiles woven by those in deep poverty, this trip became the inspiration for Coleccion Luna. I travel to Guatemala 4-6xs a year to work directly in partnership with the Mayan Indians on a line of textiles (handbags, pillows, table runners) that are created from their reclaimed traditional clothing, as well as a line of beaded jewelry and woodcarvings using Fair Trade practices. I wholesale the goods all over the US. My artisans have become my family & their communities my home…
