At Maya Traditions, we strongly believe that an alternative sustainable and culturally-rich tourism industry is possible. As a nonprofit social enterprise, we continually seek to support our indigenous artisan partners, their families, and their communities through social programs that work to build capacity, preserve local cultures and environment, and motivate women to strengthen their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Maya Traditions’ goals are reflected into the Ethical Tourism Program achievements through: Poverty alleviation Social welfare Education Women’s empowerment Biodiversity conservation Our longstanding relationships with indigenous partner communities and continuing commitment to the production of Fair Trade backstrap-woven textiles have uniquely positioned us
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How does Tourism affects the live of our partner cooperatives in Guatemala? We have asked our sponsored students. Student: Rosa Tambriz from the Community of Chirijox, Guatemala. Do you think that Tourism could be an opportunity for community growth? Yes, they provide great support to my community. Also, they support the women by helping them improve their work and pushing them to become stronger while allowing their economic conditions to improve. My community does not have sufficient resources to better family conditions, which is why Tourism is a great opportunity for growth. How does Tourism benefit your family? What benefits
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Blogpost 4/6 Have you ever thought about a trip to Guatemala? Maya Traditions is working with eight communities in the area of Lago Atitlán. We wanted to know how Tourism affects the people there? We interviewed five of our sponsored students. Read more about the point of view of Herlinda. Student: Herlinda Barreno from the Community of Patanatic, Guatemala. Do you think that Tourism could be an opportunity for community growth? Yes. How does Tourism benefit your family? What benefits has your family received from this activity? What experiences have you had? The families will see benefits because they will
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Maya Traditions offers the unique opportunity to learn the ancient art of backstrap weaving alongside one of our artisan partners in Guatemala. Here, a recent participant of the class shares her experience: Backstrap weaving is a beautiful Maya art that preserves traditional culture for the women of Guatemala. The textiles create beautiful handbags, blankets, and clothing and going into Guatemala I was so excited to bring back these amazing products to show every one the work done by these artisan women. I thought that just by watching the women work for hours, I would be able to understand the work
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