Awamaki

Brief history

Awamaki was founded by Kennedy Leavens, Paula Reiss and Miguel Galdo in January 2009. Awamaki's principal program is the fair trade weaving project which, as of 2015, supports five associations of women from impoverished rural Quechua communities in the Patacancha Valley.

Prior to this, the program had run for five years under the auspices of another local NGO called CATCCO, after important changes in the board of directors, the project was set up anew under the name Awamaki. Awamaki's mission is to collaborate with the people of Ollantaytambo and its surroundings to create lasting economic opportunities and to improve social well-being.

Awamaki has grown and increase the number of its activities, but remains centered around the common objective of using international resources and market knowledge to help improve the incomes and wellbeing of economically marginalized individuals. Currently, the Awamaki Women's Cooperative Program includes 60 women in two weaving cooperatives in Indigenous communities, a knitting cooperative of over 15 women and a sewing cooperative of three. Additionally, Awamaki has initiated collaboration with a group of 10 young Quechua adults, engaged in the hand-spinning of luxury alpaca yarns for export.

Awamaki's homestay program is expanding as more tourists choose homestay accommodations. Awamaki's newest women's cooperative, the Spanish Teachers' Cooperative, which will teach Spanish to volunteers and tourists while providing rural women with the opportunity to improve their income

Awamaki Lab

Awamaki Lab hosts young designers in an internship that connects them to the textile weaving production process. The designers incorporate the textiles into contemporary pieces which are later reproduced by a local sewing cooperative of underemployed women. The sale of these pieces online provides yet another channel of sale for the weavers.

Stemming from the Weaving Project are the Awamaki Knitting Project and Awamaki Lab. The Knitting Project works with a cooperative of 14 women from Huayroncoyocpampa, a neighborhood just outside Ollantaytambo. The homes of these 14 women were destroyed in floods that swept through the valley in 2010, and in an effort to earn extra income, the women formed a knitting coop and established a partnership with Awamaki. With a similar business model to the Weaving Project, the knitters have had much success in their first year and are looking to expand their market access with international sales.

Background

The Awamaki Sustainable Tourism Program works to connect women, families and the rural poor with the economic opportunities that tourism brings. Tourism programs include: homestay program, Quechua community visits, weaving education tourism program, artisanal workshops and Spanish language classes.

Awamaki works to encourage visitors to stay longer in Ollantaytambo and spend their money in ways that produce tangible benefits for the local economy through homestays & workshops with local artisans.