Welcome

Pala Village Market, LLC is a single member, single manager, limited liability corporation. In other words, a very small business. Pala Village Market grew out of a church’s mission effort to work with a village of Mayans in the mountains of Guatemala. The village is remote, the area is very poor, and the Mayans in general are at the bottom level of the social structure within the country.

 

Since the arrival of the Spanish, the Mayan people have been considered cheap labor. In the mid-1800’s, Mayans became the low-cost labor for agricultural use, mostly in growing and harvesting coffee, sugar cane, bananas and pineapple. Lack of resources, education and opportunity has characterized the Mayan social development. Education of females is especially limited. The “first” language of the village is a Mayan dialect. Without going to school, many residents of the village cannot speak or write Spanish.​But, the women know how to weave textiles. Among Mayan women, weaving is a long-standing tradition that helps to preserve their identity and dignity. Weaving is done by hand, on a “back-strap” loom that is portable and can be rolled and placed in a bag when there is an interruption in the work.Pala Village Market seeks to utilize the skill, creativity, and artistic expression that already exist among the women to create an economic opportunity they otherwise would never have. Pala Village Market works with a weaving guild of 32 women. The process has been one of learning and evolution as women who had no idea what a “scarf” was developed prototypes and adjusted their weaving styles to craft appealing items. Each scarf takes about 16 hours to make. The designs and color combinations are created by the weavers although samples are kept so popular designs can be repeated.

 

The women are paid an amount for the scarves that exceeds the retail price of similar textiles being sold in the markets in Guatemala. The finished items are shipped to the US and sold through church contacts, holiday fairs, and special events. Proceeds from the sales (after paying shipping, taxes and a limited amount of marketing costs) are returned to the village in the form of expanding the program or supporting other community development projects.​

 

The women grow in confidence and gain a sense of accomplishment as they collect payment for their latest round of hand-woven items. For the majority of the women, getting paid for their labor is a first-time experience and gives them great pride in being able to contribute to the family’s finances.