We weave in and out of traffic. Stories are experiences woven together. Long hair, baskets, and dough are braided. Knitting and crocheting are basically weaving with yarns.
But when we speak about weaving here, it's in the context of textiles, the interlacing of fibrous threads to create fabric. Every piece of clothing on your body is woven fabric. The sheets you sleep on, bath towels and dishtow...
_700.jpeg "Independence: What's It to You?")
A holiday means you can sleep in today. Or not.
Ear-shattering machine-gun-like percussion jerks you from slumber before the day breaks. Incessant whistle blows, and cheering over a megaphone follows. Torch-runners arrive in the village after running all night. The annual celebration of Guatemala’s independence from Spain is in full swing.
Across the Atlantic in West Africa, the national flag fl...
_700.jpeg "What Makes a Bird a Bird?")
Ubiquitous and radiant, birds are true wildlife anyone can observe without flying to remote jungles. Since their presence is so commonplace, it is easy to be unaware of their magic. Yet they have the potential to mesmerize anyone sitting still long enough.
I only started paying attention when I lived on a forested hill in Guatemala in my forties. (Guatemala boasts more than 70...
Diego was a baby when his dad was kidnapped during Guatemala’s thirty-year-long civil war.
Little Diego had to do his part to help the family survive without the income and protection of a father. His work was to collect firewood from the forested slopes of the Atitlan volcano bordering their village.
What kind of a future can a young boy imagine for himself in ...
As a little girl, Carmelita could only dream of learning to read and write. One of fourteen children, she had responsibilities in the household from an early age. She took care of younger siblings and sold handicrafts to tourists on the streets. There were no resources, time, or hope for sending her to school. Watching her dream for education slowly fade as she grew up, she hoped that her own chil...
Plastic. The woven kind, standing tall among the reusable choices of our day. Not mass-manufactured, but individually plaited by the delicate fingers of a family I’ve known for two decades.
First, you need to endure several hours of winding mountain road travel in a crowded minibus from Guatemala City (the subject of another story, another day).
Next, you ascend a precariously st...
Earlier this year, when the COVID-19 pandemic reached America, thousands of people had trouble getting face masks. There simply weren’t enough to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Beginning in March, we’re pleased to say, Unique Batik took action to address this problem. Working in tandem with skilled artisans and longtime retail customers, we were able to produce thousands of masks — and to make t...
One of the universal truths in this world is wherever you go in the world you will find people just want to provide a good life for their families. At Unique Batik, we strive to present opportunities for the families and communities we work with to do just that.
We also know our work is only one avenue of support, so we believe in advocating for organizations doing life changing and life saving...
As Unique Batik looks for nonprofit partners to support in the regions in which we work, one of the most important attributes we seek is sustainability. Will the organization be able to work effectively not only now, but in the future to make a long term impact instead of putting a temporary band-aid on the community’s problems? One of the most impressive things about Asociacion La Libertad, or AL...
Once one of the most powerful civilizations in Central America, the Maya people remain an integral part of Guatemala. The rise of the Maya civilization began thousands of years ago and spread across what it now southern Mexico all the way to modern day Honduras. The Maya civilization lasted longer than any other Mesoamerican culture that came to power in the area, and as a result, traces of the cu...
