Hello–

For the last 4 years I have been working with a sewing co-op I started in Berlin. El Salvador. I have made 9 trips to ES over the years and have brought down sewing machines, fabric, cutting supplies etc. in order to teach women in a very rural area of El Salvador how to sew. In return, they made beautiful quilted bags that I designed and then sold up here at the local French Market and at home shows. The proceeds from the sale of these bags have gone to an education fund set up for the children in the town where the sewers worked. Over the years we have purchased new desks, teacher’s desks, white boards, filing cabinets, poured concrete floors for dirt floor schoolhouses and patios for them as well. The time has come for the sewing team to venture out on their own. They have begun designing their own bags and plan to market them in El Salvador. My work is finished, as they have become self sufficient.

I have truly enjoyed my work over the past few years and have learned so much about my friends in Berlin as well as about myself. I am humbled to have been a part of this project and leave it with a heavy but happy heart. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years. This project is not something that I ever would have been able to do myself, and for that I thank you.

Warmest regards,

Lisa Bock