Maura lino printing cards. Lydia Trezise (now our UK Volunteer Coordinator), teaching Ramon & Pedro on their first day at the project.
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In Ecuador we're working in Santo Domingo province, where we've established a training & social enterprise centre for people with a wide range of disabilities.
As in other parts of Latin America, differenlty-able people are often to be found on the margins of their society, excluded from employment and therefore consigned to a life of poverty. These are bright, capable people who long for the same chances as everyone else. We trained and sent out UK volunteers for 1-2 year placements, to establish the project and train it's first 3 groups of artisans, before handing over to a local Ecuadorian couple to lead the project : Carlos & Jessica Bravo. 
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Hope & a future:
The participants join us for 4 - 6 months training in paper-making and print-making, and some learn jewellery making too. We then equip them with everything they need to have their own paper-making workshops at home, where they make beautiful paper from banana leaves and recycled paper. They're free to run their own businesses and we also commit to buying a large quantity of their work every fortnight, if they would like to sell through us. This model is extremely emancipating, but also provides a vital safety-net of a regular income, allowing them to support themselves and their families with dignity and pride.
A message from Ramon, one of our very first trainees :
“Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity, and giving me back the fire to support my family.
The best thing that God has given me is to be part of this project and be able to live happily in my daily life and contribute to society with my work!”
- Ramon
“Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity, and giving me back the fire to support my family.
The best thing that God has given me is to be part of this project and be able to live happily in my daily life and contribute to society with my work!”
- Ramon
Meet our artisans in Ecuador in this 5 minute film :
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We sell the beautiful hand-made cards that Ramon, Pedro, Federico & all their colleagues make, in the best card shops in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Also in the Galapagos Islands, Mindo & elsewhere. We also sell through Fair Trade shops around the UK including our own in Harrogate, and have an online shop too.
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Jess and Andy Lynch, above, brilliantly ran the project after it was established by Lydia and Mark Tresize. They handed over to locals Carlos and Jessica before their return to the UK last year. Our overseas volunteers are supported remotely by Artizan's Director Susie Hart, who has over 20 years' experience of setting up social enterprises for differently-able people in the developing world.