2018 Annual Report

MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear Friends and Supporters, This year, we have continued to focus on moving our cooperatives towards independent business success so that they can earn a sustainable income and invest in their communities.

The highlight of our year is the graduation of Songuillay, a cooperative of 42 women in the community of Patacancha. Songuillay is our second cooperative to have graduated. Your support over the years has made this possible, and I hope you can take a moment to read about their amazing success in the next few pages.

With two cooperatives now graduated, we have been investing more in the skills of the three new cooperatives we added last year. One of the groups we added was Qusi Qoylloc, a cooperative of 14 yarn spinners, since demand for handspun yarn was outstripping the abilities of our first spinning group. Having learned so much from our first group of spinners, we have been able to teach our new group to spin at the same quality as the first in much less time.

Meanwhile, we have continued our workshop programs in business training, self-confidence, income awareness, expense control and much more. Partnering with both local agencies and other non-profits, we are working to teach the women a wide array of skills adapted for Quechua artisans. We are excited to see these workshops come to full fruition in 2019, extending them to all of the cooperatives with which we work.

Finally, we have made significant progress on the artisan center for Puskariy Tika, our first spinning cooperative. Their center is nearly completed, making them the next cooperative in line to graduate.

We couldn’t do any of this without your support. Your generosity has had a profound effect on what we can offer the women, giving them an incredible opportunity to learn new skills, start businesses, and lift their families out of poverty. We see them doing this every day and the change they are creating is inspiring. Thank you for making an enormous difference in the lives of rural Andean women and their families.

Warmly, Kennedy Leavens Executive Director 4