KUSKAYA is the solidarity brand of Textil El Amazonas S.A. BIC, created in 2002 with the idea of preserving traditional handcraft techniques, fomenting the development of rural communities by respecting their lifestyle, and promoting handmade production.
We seek to generate a space where the mastery of the weavers joins together with an original contemporary design, as well as with high quality mercerized Pima cotton yarn. We promote the preservation of traditional techniques, such as the waist loom, working with a group of approximately 30 weavers that live in a rural community in Cajamarca, and we sell the products in stores that are in Lima, Peru and the U.S.A.
At the end of each year, we evaluate all the weavers that are actively working with us at that moment, measuring: production time, production volume (number of woven products), total amount paid during the current year, and attitude (leadership, loyalty, teamwork and trust). The artisans with the best scores receive a special prize during our end-of-the-year event, and we all share a sisterhood workshop organized by ACEPTA, where we address emotional health as well as team building.
We keep the information about the weavers with whom we are working updated (age, education level, number of children, among others). This way we have the current data that helps us program technical training and workshops that are relevant and useful for them.
During the year we organize workshops for the weavers, where we address issues such as: personal development, mental and physical health, nutrition, environmental awareness, weaving and finishing techniques, among others.
In 2022 we began a plastic recycling campaign with the weavers through the making of eco-bricks (plastic bottles that are filled with compacted plastic waste). We reward this effort in our yearly get together at the end of each year and give all of the eco-bricks we collect to RECIDAR, a company that uses them to build structures for schools or educational projects.
- Reinforce the habit of recycling, through the continuation of the eco-brick campaign.
- Measure the social and environmental impact that the eco-brick campaign has by surveying the artisans.
- Evaluate the possibility of working with the local town council, so they can use the eco-bricks instead of transporting them back to Lima.
- Create a health campaign so that all our weavers get a Papanicolaou exam as a preventive measure.
