Who We Are ...
We are Artizan International, a dedicated nonprofit organisation working to support and empower people with disabilities. Our mission in Ecuador is to ensure that disabled people are lifted out of extreme poverty through crafts training and employment opportunities, so that they can live independently, with dignity and hope for their futures. Furthermore, by providing them with opportunities to demonstrate their skills to their local community, we are striving to create an inclusive society where every individual, regardless of ability, can thrive.
The Challenges our artisans face ...
In Ecuador, thousands of individuals with disabilities face barriers to education, healthcare, and employment. Many live in poverty, with limited access to mobility aids, rehabilitation services, and opportunities to learn critical skills. The lack of infrastructure and support systems often leaves them isolated, making it difficult to live with dignity and independence.
What We Do
Our organisation provides:
Accessible craft training programs: We offer tailored training for adults with disabilities, in high quality, saleable crafts, including paper-making, jewellery, screen-printing and sewn textiles.
Fully equipped home-workshops, for each of our graduating trainees: enabling them to become independent, self-employed artisans in their own right.
A dependable, regular livelihood: We purchase a quota of their work every month, to provide them with a regular income with which to support themselves and their families.
Community transformation: We are raising awareness about the talents of disabled individuals and encourage the local community to create inclusive spaces where they are welcomed and respected as positive, creative contributors to their society.
Why We Need Your Help
We have already made significant progress, but we need your support to train and equip our artisans to increase their skills and meet the ever-tougher demands of the marketplace, to provide them with sustainable livelihoods for the long-term. Your donations will go toward:
Providing a fully equipped, accessible space for vocational training in a diverse range of high quality, saleable crafts.
Purchasing professional sewing machines, screen printing equipment, paper-making equipment, jewellery making tools and other essential crafts equipment for our artisans to use in the home-workshops.
Providing materials for learning new skills and techniques.
Training and supporting our local project leaders, on whom our artisans rely for learning new skills, distribution of crafts materials, collection of their finished work and pastoral care.
Expanding our reach to new outlets within Ecuador and here in the UK, to increase the market for our artisans’ work, ensuring their livelihoods for years to come.
Providing transport for our artisans to and from our training centre.
Providing emergency assistance to our artisans when required.
Your Impact
By contributing to our campaign, you will directly improve the lives of disabled individuals in Ecuador. For example, a donation of:
- £10 Provides a set of jewellery-making pliers, to equip an artisan's home workshop.
£25 Provides materials for an artisan to learn new skills in papermaking, jewellery, screen printing or sewing.
£30 Provides a set of new screens for screen-printing textiles by hand.
£50 Helps to provide vital training and support for our local project leaders, Carlos and Jessica, who in turn support all of our disabled artisans in every area of their work.
£100 Helps to maintain our project minibus, so that we can provide transport for all of our artisans to receive training, materials and pastoral care.
£400 Provides an industrial sewing machine for a disabled sewer.
£800 Provides a professional embroidery sewing machine, to enable our artisans to produce exceptionally high quality textiles, taking their skills to a whole other level. This will help them reach a wider market, making the whole project more sustainable for the long term.
£1000 Covers the rent for our training centre for a whole 6 months.
Join Us!
We invite you to be part of this transformative journey. Every donation, big or small, brings us one step closer to creating more sustainable livelihoods for people with disabilities in Ecuador, giving them hope and a positive future. Let’s ensure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, has the opportunity to live with dignity, independence, and hope.
Together, we can break barriers, empower disabled people who would otherwise be living in poverty, and create lasting change.
Donate Today and help us build on the work we have begun in Ecuador, so that everyone has a chance to thrive!