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Helping the children of Fabretto involves more than just the children, it also means helping their families.
In 2002, we started the Cusmapa Women’s Pine Basket Initiative, a micro-business for mothers of children enrolled at our Cusmapa center. The women of this remote mountain village often have few marketable skills, and even fewer opportunities for gainful employment. This program provides them with a chance to earn some personal income, gain new skill sets, and feel pride in their achievements.
Located in the northern region of Nicaragua, Cusmapa’s landscape is filled with pine trees. A traditional art form in the northern Atlantic Coast of the country has always been basket weaving using the long pine needles gathered from the forest floor. However, this traditional Nicaraguan folk art was not practiced in Cusmapa until a group of local women attended a workshop and learned how to do the pine needle weaving.
In 2002, Manon Cypher, an American Jesuit International Volunteer came to Cusmapa with the objective of facilitating the formation of a women’s pine needle basket initiative. She began her work with 5 local women, the nascent group that would eventually become Pinos Fabretinos.
Today, Pinos Fabrettinos offers over 40 local women the chance to earn wages over and above their regular family income. The women make the baskets at home, on their own schedule, and produce as many or as few as each wishes. When ready, they bring the baskets to the Fabretto center where the baskets are tagged and packaged for sale. Pinos Fabrettinos items are sold at local markets and by the Fabretto Children’s Foundation in the United States, primarily at our events. For the women of Pinos Fabrettinos, the income they earn from the sales of their handicrafts affords them some measure of independence, pride, and an ability to contribute financially to their families’ welfare.
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The Fabretto Children's Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, tax ID #36-3894824.
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Web site maintained by Photonics Graphics |
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- Please visit our Online Fabretto Shop for our available selection of pine needle baskets, and other items such as crafts from our woodshop, notecards, and Nicaraguan pottery.
Baskets and other handicrafts from our Cusmapa Artisans are always available at our Events.
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