Product Features: 

• Dimension: 8.75" H x 7.25" W x 2.4" D
• Weight: 1.03
• Color: Brown
• Material: Alder wood
• Made in Guatemala

Story Behind the art:
I was born March 17, 1962 in a small village. When I was 12, I began to work in wood. I only made it through third grade of primary school. I didn't finish school because my parents needed help with their work. My father worked at sawing lumber and I helped him. In those days, we didn't have any power tools and everything was done by hand.

For about ten years, I worked with my father sawing wood. We did this until there were no more trees around our village. When the trees were gone, we didn't have work anymore as there was no more lumber to cut.

So I started looking for something to do and I bought some wood out of curiosity. I made a violin with it. I began crafting violins and sold them for the next five years, but I also enjoyed playing them.

In 1990, I got married. Soon afterward, I began a three year course on organic farming and sustainable development that was taught in my village.

With the course organizers, our project was born. The name comes from a children's story where, thanks to reforestation, s and other animals of the forest had a place to call home. Also, in the Maya world, the is the nahual of abundance and prosperity.

The idea of this project was to reforest the village and in this way, be able to give jobs to the people. Because we had cut down all the trees and hadn't planted more, and we didn't wait for new trees to grow. The project's objectives were to protect the environment and produce wood in a sustainable manner.

Then we got the idea to look for a commercial outlet for the lumber scraps and we began to use the smaller branches and trunks to create works of art, candleholders and trays to be able to use the whole tree. There used to be a lot of waste because we only used the main trunk, so this is a different way to take advantage of the wood.

We sent all the samples we made during the course to the capital to sell. That helped a lot because we began to sell our designs and were able to earn enough to continue supporting our families.

In 2002, this forest project won an award from the World Bank and the Soros Foundation of Guatemala. We used the money to set up a carpenter shop with power tools, since we got electricity in our village in 2001. With the award money, we also extended the reforestation to two more communities and a forest consultant was hired.

The handmade touch of artisan skill creates variations in color, size and design. If buying two of the same item, slight differences should be expected. Note: Color discrepancies may occur between this product and your computer screen.

Imported