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...
"Batik." How do you pronounce this word? Most English speakers say buh-TEEK with emphasis on the second syllable. The word, of Javanese origin, is pronounced BAH-tik in Indonesian, with emphasis on the first syllable. According to some sources, the term evolved from Javanese amba (to write) and the Malay word titik (dot). Writing with dots…
Mystique
When I start digging for origins, ...
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...
As we noted in our two previous posts, beads carry great significance in Ghanaian culture — marking key moments in your journey through life. What’s more, they can signify your status within society.
A priest, for instance, would wear beads made of organic materials like bone, cowrie shell, or elephant teeth. A queen mother would wear white beads, symbolizing purity, as well as silver and blue...
In our last post, we noted the significance that people in Ghana attribute to beads. As we saw, beads can celebrate and commemorate your birth. Here’s how they reflect the later stages of your journey through life:
Waist beads represent an intimate adornment once you reach adulthood. To quote our friends at SUN TRADE BEADS in Accra, “they should be worn discreetly and not be seen by just anyone...
In Ghana, beads are more than beautiful objects; they are symbols with specific meanings for each person. To quote our friends at Sun Trade Beads in Accra, they help “narrate your life from birth to death.” At the start of your journey, for instance, beads tell your story in the following ways:
One week after your birth, you’ll have a naming ceremony, and you’ll receive a small string of beads....
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...
