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The Comuna Loma Alta is located on the slopes of the Chongón Colonche mountain range, Colonche parish, Santa Elena Province, Ecuador.
Its productive activities are based on agricultural development by obtaining the raw material as the straw nozzle from the mountain range, allowing its communes to have a source of employment from harvest to production of finished products. In the Commune there are 27 women artisans dedicated to the development of handkerchief accessories, being a handicraft and identity resource activity of this town, through the fabric make hats, portfolios, kitchen accessories, among other products, these women are single mothers, wives, who with this activity help in their home and need work opportunities to ensure the health and education of their children. In the field research process we diagnose several problems in weavers as they lack inputs for the transformation of the raw material, the ancestral conservation of the fabric, the fair payment of their work to be able to offer a product with high quality standards and competitive to an internal and external market. |
| This project, which began in 2023, aims to help the straw weavers of the Loma Alta Commune in the comprehensive process of product production, from the harvest to the production of the finished product with high quality standards, placing them on the national and international market by promoting the conservation, use and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Chongón Colonche Cordillera. |
| We recognize that UNESCO on December 5, 2012 considered the traditional fabric of the Ecuadorian straw hat to be the Inmaterial Cultural Heritage of Humanity, one of the design elements of the weavers.
This project will fully address the process that will strengthen the capacities and leadership of women in Loma Alta by contributing to their social, political and economic empowerment through actions that promote their participation, rescue the ancestral fabric, strengthen their economic initiatives, generate value for their creations and have a source of income to improve their family core and the identity of the high Loma Commune's straw nozzle hat at the national and international levels through a project to develop research, innovation and development. For women weavers it is vital to get the funds for the implementation of this project, they are currently organized, producing fabric, but they are aware that they need to take a new step that will allow development in a comprehensive and sustainable way the start of the sale of their accessories made with love and dedication. For this reason, it is important to highlight the participation of the technical team of Responsible Hub, the Foundation for the Development of Beautiful Hearts and the weavers from the stage of diagnosis and design, allowing to obtain information about their personal, group and community realities and needs. A proposal that strengthens the sense of love and conservation of the planet, biodiversity, application of new techniques and innovating in the material for the fabric, new designs and texture and colors that produce interest in new buyers, development of the brand, use and management of social networks as a tool to position the brand and open new markets in Ecuador and the United States, among others that allow the project to be sustainable in time. We seek to implement economic strategies, seed capital, technical assistance, dialogue spaces, mentories, new market niches, new agreements and allow us to implement this 4-step project in a 12-month period. For the implementation of the Responsible Hub planning will donate a percentage of the sale of each product produced by the weavers, in addition to the fair payment for their work. |
| Generate empowerment impact on women in the Alta Loma Commune from the weaving of straw nozzle products promoting the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. |
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| 25 women artisans |
| Indirect beneficiaries: 125 family members |
| Time of execution: 12 months |
The 6-month training plan is designed to train women weavers throughout the project process with qualified and certified trainers.
At this stage they will be provided with the implements for the development of the pilot plan products and for their sales,
At this stage we will help in the adequacy of the headquarters, a place where they come to work in the process of the fabric.
Through meetings we will create the entire communication structure for the project that includes creating the guidelines of your messages and graphics under the Design Thinking methodology.
A trade, financial and sales structure will be created to ensure the sustainability of the project |
| Fundación Corazones Hermosos, CECAPROF, GAD Parroquial de Colonche, Dirección Comunal de Loma Alta, Responsible Hub. |
| The project is an effective tool for the economic and social empowerment of women in the Loma Alta community, generating new sources of income that not only improved their quality of life, but also strengthened their role within the family and society.
Training, production and marketing are addressed in order to improve the products produced in straw, providing sustainability and resource management, responsible practices, establishing a model of development that is economically viable and environmentally responsible. It rescues, values and preserves the ancestral culture by reconnecting with its ancient traditions and skill, the project helps women weavers to continue to transmit to future generations the strengthening of the community fabric. |
