What is a Dream Basket?
Debora was never able to finish school. She began creating basket totes for Sueno Canastas. As her skill and confidence rose, so did her self worth. She went back to school and now has a 6th grade education. She has hope for the future and dreams of one day owning a bakery.
Sueno means dream and Canastas means baskets. This little group with a huge heart from Guatemala is empowering young women and teenagers in their community where finding a job is extremely difficult. What I love is when you empower someone with a job, you light something within them. They start to believe in themselves and they start to dream, dream things are possible.
12 years ago, I was in the slums of Kibera in Kenya with Jacaranda Creations. I remember asking people in the community what their dreams for the future were. I kept getting blank stares. It wasn’t until much later that I realized, you can’t dream when you are struggling to survive each day. You need hope to begin dreaming. When you invest in someone, you give them hope.
Each fair trade basket tote is handmade. They take a wooden frame and weave recycled plastic thread around it. What I love is the attention to detail. When they switch each thread for a new color, they melt pieces together instead of tying them off. Your tote is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside! It takes anywhere from 4 - 7 hours to create one depending on the skill level of each artisan.
While some would only see a beautiful basket tote, I see the power of investing in someone’s life. Do you need a basket tote? It makes the perfect beach bag, farmer’s market tote, or picnic basket. Do you need to buy a gift? This would buy a special gift. Each basket tote comes with a story card of who made your tote.
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