Knitting Hope
Amazed in seeing the beautiful artisan heritage throughout Peru, we were very sad to see how many families in these villages live in impoverished conditions and have little hope of a better life.
That's when we knew we had to help and became instantly inspired to start the Liani Swim Knit Hope initiative with the Santa Rosa Women's Knitting Community in Peru to support artisan women while preserving their beautiful knitting heritage.
Much more than just giving fair stable jobs, we also focused on new skill development and provide the means that would allow participants to further generate, process and share new knowledge with their community and ultimately help the role of women in rural villages to become more independent both financially and socially.
NEW SKILL DEVELOPMENT
We sought to develop a new kind of social entrepreneurial program that merged technological innovation with social settings. We would give artisan women new technologies (that they never had access to prior)- smartphones, cameras, instruments, new tools, etc- and also taught participants how to use phone apps for communication, store online documents, email, bookkeeping, inventory management, etc. Additionally, we promoted participants within the program to be the communal leaders and circulate the new knowledge and access to new technologies to the community.
The result was even more amazing as we found our participants were beginning to incorporate and utilize the technologies developing new skills and knowledge. Furthermore participants wanted to be more involved in our vision, learn, and share the experience with other artisans women.
TOGETHER WE CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Our goal is to share with the world the participant's beautiful handmade with love products that are not only a product, they represent hope and Peru's rich artisan traditions that have been passed from generation to generation. It's not just teaching artisan women beyond basic skills or giving them access to supplies, it's actually how they and we can use social entrepreneurship as a tool for changing the world and making a difference.
You have in your hands an exclusive and unique handmade piece as special as you are. That's why each detail and element behind the bikini are all hand knitted with love and with a spirit of hope. Knitting is a beautiful art that has been passed down from generation to generation and has become a big part of daily life that takes place in the convenience of home allowing mothers to watch over their families.
