DVD: Saving the Weavers: Small Assistance Programs for Maya Women in Highland Guatemala

"Endangered Threads Documentaries is a small California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in 2004.

"Our goal is to produce educational documentaries recording endangered indigenous art forms, especially those in imminent threat of disappearing due to global economic expansion and the resulting homogenization of cultures. Target viewers are museum audiences, weavers, textile enthusiasts, anthropology teachers, students, travelers and the general public."

Length of the video is 43 minutes. It comes in a plastic DVD case and is NEW and unopened. About this DVD the Endangered Threads website says:

"The 36-year Civil War (1960-1996) decimated the indigenous Maya population of Guatemala. Many of those who survived were widows without any means of support for themselves or their children. This documentary focuses on ten extraordinary people who saw the desperate need and dedicated years of their lives to establish small assistance programs and find markets for products made by Maya weavers.

Italian-Guatemalan-American Brenda Rosenbaum and her late husband Fred formed Mayan Hands in Guatemala City. American weaving expert and teacher Deborah Chandler subsequently joined the organization as the in-country manager. The late Jane Mintz of San Francisco founded Maya Traditions in Panajachel, Guatemala, and enlisted help from American Martha Lynd. Vey Smithers, an American from the east coast, opened the store Colibrí in Antigua, Guatemala. Maya leader Alida Pérez founded a large artisans guild in San Antonio Aguas Calientes, and opened a Maya textile museum and store in Antigua.

Candis Krummel left a job on capital hill in Washington, DC, and headed to Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, where she co-founded the Cojolya Association. María Concepción Cuc, a Maya working as a community organizer in Guatemala, moved with her husband, American Felipe Gonzales, to Washington State, where they run Moonflower Enterprises and other Internet businesses. And, Pedro Marroquín, a young Maya born and raised in the Ixil Triangle, worked his way up to direct Codearteco, an assistance program for widows and orphans of the Civil War in San Juan Cotzal, Guatemala.

The documentary includes interviews with the program founders and staff, and scenes of beneficiaries in highland Guatemala. It also provides background information on the devastating Civil War and how it affected Maya women and their children."

Narrator: Lina del Roble

Running time: 43 minutes