Suppliers' Notes

For more than twenty years, knowledgeable shoppers in Antigua, Guatemala, locals and international tourists, have been buying colorful home textiles from Colibri.

This business was founded by an American expatriate who wanted to provide long term help to the Mayan women who were her neighbors and had been widowed in the time of Violence. She helped a handful of women to turn their skill at weaving traditional clothing into more commercial pieces.

The original group of fourteen weavers has now grown to 450 women in fifteen villages. The highland village women who craft these pieces in their homes conserve the ancient art of back strap loom weaving while contributing to the economic needs of their families. All staff members of the Colibri store team are also indigenous Mayan and have benefited from fair pay and an equitable working environment.