Ergonomic benches for Mexican backstrap weavers

Summary

This project: teaches carpenters how to make the ergonomic bench. It trains weavers to use the bench to protect their health and increase their income potential, while also preserving weaving culture. progress report read updates from the field

How Donors Like You Helped

Thanks to donors like you, a total of £883 was raised for this project.

Received £883 from 30 donations from people around the world like:

(Anon.)

shyamala

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More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

The ergonomic bench provides indigenous weavers with relief from pain and physical disability. Unlike the traditional kneeling posture, the ergonomic bench works in harmony with the body. It enables women to produce more textiles of better quality and increase their ability to provide for their families, while preserving their culture. We help carpenters learn to make the bench and we teach weavers to train each other to use the bench well, so that local communities can be self sufficient.

Activities

We provide an educational resource kit to help carpenters increase their skills & livelihood while ensuring that the ergonomic features of the bench are preserved. We provide training to enable women to get maximum benefit from using the bench.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: £883

Funding Information

This project is now in implementation and no longer available for funding. Received funds will be used to accomplish concrete objectives as indicated in the project's "Activities" section. Updates will be posted under the "Progress Report" tab as they become available.

Donors' contributions and pledges to this project totaled £883. The original project funding goal was £4,874.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

The ergonomic bench helps women increase family income, safely. This project helps local carpenters make benches for women in their communities, & helps women protect their own health while providing better nutrition & education for their children.

Project Message

What used to take me three days to weave now takes two. With the bench I can weave for hours with no pain! My weaving comes out better, with straighter edges and more evenly packed weft.
- Maria, Beneficiary of the original project in Guatemala

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Karen Piegorsch,
President
4901 N. Calle Luisa
Tucson, AZ 85718
United States
5204001017
Email:

Project Sponsor

Tech Museum Awards

Organisation

Synergo Arts
4901 N. Calle Luisa
Tucson, AZ 85718
United States
(520) 400-1017
http://www.synergoarts.org

Learn more about Synergo Arts and the project team.

Synergo Arts's Funded Projects on GlobalGiving

Ergonomic benches for Guatemalan backstrap weavers

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Mexico and can also be found under Economic Development.

For more information about Mexico, read the Human Development Report on Mexico or the Wikipedia entry for Mexico.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on September 18, 2011.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on August 14, 2007.

Latest Update from the Field

Thank you to our donors!

By Karen Piegorsch - Project Director, September 18, 2011 11:50 PM

To our generous donors,

Thank you so much for your kindness in support of Synergo Art’s efforts to implement the ergonomic weaving bench project in Mexico.

Two of Synergo Art’s highest priorities when it comes to development are full transparency and working collaboratively with local communities. With this in mind, we are sad to report that this project is being deactivated until we secure a firm commitment from a local collaborating organization in Mexico. Although Mexican indigenous artisans have consistently expressed interest in the project, to date, necessary collaborations with local organizations have not come to fruition.

We have used the funds raised through August 2009 to help create bilingual educational resources including: a weavers’ training manual, a carpenters’ training manual, templates, engineering diagrams, and a 10-minute educational video (now on YouTube, please see links below).

Funds raised since September 2009 will be reallocated to the Synergo Arts weaving bench project in Guatemala. This project aims to enable the local people to carry on independent of outside support. For an exciting update from Guatemala please click the link below. If you would rather that your donation be applied toward another GlobalGiving project, please let us know by September 23rd. If you are interested in further discussing our decision or our grassroots approach to working with indigenous communities you may contact us at info@synergoarts.org.

Thank you for helping us help artisans protect their health, increase their income potential and preserve their culture.

Sincerely yours,

Synergo Arts

Links:

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