Why We Invested: Du Anyam
R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund has joined Beneficial Returns, an impact investment manager, in a loan to Du Anyam, an artisan enterprise founded in 2014 to improve the lives of women and their children in rural Indonesia. Beginning with 8 women weavers in East Flores, Du Anyam now works with over 1,600 women across 54 rural villages in Indonesia.
Du Anyam (mother’s weaving in the local Flores language) has helped to reintroduce traditional wicker crafts to modern markets while creating sustainable income for these artisans. By providing entrepreneurial training, and creating both domestic and international distribution channels, the enterprise enhances the women’s financial stability while also improving their families’ access to nutritional food, healthcare and education.
Delzur: Weaving a Tapestry of Cultural Reverence and Ecological Harmony
Since 2015, Emilia Torres and her team at the Hilo Sagrado Foundation have demonstrated ingenuity and resilience in their mission to improve the quality of life for Indigenous women in rural Colombia. Hilo Sagrado, or “Sacred Thread,” works with Wayuu communities in La Guajira peninsula – a desert region in northeastern Colombia – to provide Wayuu women with the tools to gain economic independence and escape poverty.
FAIR WEAVE: Weaving a Way Forward
In the Phnom Srok district of northwestern Cambodia, Khmer women have been weaving since the 13th century. Beautiful handwoven blankets and textiles are made on traditional looms with skills handed down from mother to daughter for generations. FAIR WEAVE is a social enterprise that enables Cambodian women to use their traditional weaving skills to earn a decent income, improving the financial future of the whole region.