Our Impact
We work with rural artisans in North Africa to design and produce woolen, woven home goods and accessories. Although we now work with a few men to produce our leather products, from the beginning, Woven With Hope’s focus has been on empowering women. Each purchase enables women to provide for their families and earn a voice in their communities.
For many nomadic peoples across North Africa, women traditionally contributed to the society through their skills in weaving. When the tribes settled in the 1900s, this ancient knowledge was gradually lost, and women lost some of their voice and influence in the family.
At Woven With Hope, our goal is to provide women with support and training to re-learn this beautiful craft. As a weaver begins to earn money, she also earns respect within her home and community, allowing her to prioritize her children’s education and her family’s health.
In the past few years, we’ve watched:
- Mothers find community with our other weavers.
- Family members receiving needed medical care
- Young girls staying in school, pursuing an education in a way their mothers never had an opportunity to
- Artisans embracing their creative spirit
- Knowledge passing down through generations again.
- And so much more!
Our hope is that these small changes would build. We hope that the women and families we have the privilege of working with would get to see lasting positive impact. We hope that their children would receive a better education and, therefore, more employment opportunities. We hope that these families would serve as examples in their communities of creativity and perseverance. We hope that kids wouldn’t wonder if there was enough food for supper or see the family conflict that often happens due to financial stress. We hope that little girls would dream bigger dreams—that they too would dare to hope.