Get Involved, Scholarships, Sister Cities
Holiday Crafts Online Store
For the first time ever, thanks to Sister Cities volunteers Katie and Jacey, Sister Cities offers a seasonal online craft store! You can read more below about how you can give and receive!
Looking for an alternative way to gift-give this season? Consider donating to US-El Salvador Sister Cities to receive a handmade gift that supports Salvadoran artisans. After you donate we will send you an item from one of our sistered community co-ops here in El Salvador.
Step 1: Send an email to k.rose.chambers@gmail.com (by December 13th) with:
-the amount you will to donate
-your gift preference
-the name and address of where you would like the gift to be sent (within the U.S.)
Step 2: Donate to Sister Cities via this link!
Step 3: Receive your gift no later than December 20th (we will quickly mail gifts out upon our return to the U.S. mid December!)
GIFTS INCLUDE:
Papaturro jewelry. Minimum donation: $15. This town’s small jewelry production is run by the local community council, made up almost entirely of 20 to 24-year-olds. The youth make leather bracelets and necklaces, as well as earrings and other items out of local fruit and vegetable seeds. They are also in the process of starting sandal-making and reusable bag cooperatives.
Arcatao embroidered napkins (two). Minimum donation: $15. This embroidery studio employs eight local women while producing beautiful, handmade cloth products. They specialize in children’s and baby’s clothes, as well as blankets, napkins, and other household items.
Juaragua jewelry. Minimum donation: $15. Made out of natural materials such as coconut shell (and even dyed with completely natural substances!), Juaragua’s artisan jewelry is made not only to help locals make a living, “but to strengthen the identity of the pueblo.” The artisans often use Mayan symbols as the focal point of their earrings and necklaces to honor this ancestral identity.
San Jose Las Flores bags. Minimum donation: $20. Established in 1988-during the tail end of the Salvadoran Civil War- this sewing studio produces a variety of merchandise, such as bags, embroidered shirts, pants, and school uniforms. The local women sew these products for fair wages, ensuring them with a steady income that can be hard to find in rural parts of El Salvador.
A bag of local, whole bean coffee. Minimum donation: $22. Brew the flavors of El Salvador in your home with this fair-trade coffee grown in Comasagua.
Social Justice Dog Tees. Minimum donation: $25. Inspired after the adorable Rolie Polie, these tee-shirts have become the Sister Cities team’s unofficial uniform. They are also screen-printed by a local friend in San Salvador. Fight alongside Polie for social justice now!
Comasagua pressed-flower mini cards. Minimum donation: $25. Give a loved one the ultimate gift by donating in their name, and we will send them a beautiful handmade print from the card-making co-op of the mountainous town, Comosagua.
Take a look at our real costs in sistered communities to see what your donation could support:
$25: what it costs per month for one of our scholarship students to attend university in San Salvador
$160: what it costs to obtain a US tourist visa for a Salvadoran on next year’s Sister Cities speaking tour
$50: what it costs to buy painting supplies for local social-justice mural
$150: what it costs to provide a scholarship for Salvadoran or US youth to attend the 2016 Sistering Anniversary event (we need lots of help in this area!)
Thank you for your giving to US-El Salvador Sister Cities and local Salvadorans this holiday season!
