Our Projects
2020 – Present
Project Partners
Warao women upliftment and livelihoods development with Vetiver handicrafts
A programme and initiative which is helping indigenous and migrant persons find a greater sense place and stability in Trinidad & Tobago – in a sustainable way.
With the challenging and destabilizing realities taking place in Venezuela in recent years, IAMovement has been aware of the movement of Venezuelan nationals to various countries, including Trinidad & Tobago. Being an organization with a positive and solutions-oriented outlook, IAMovement has empathized greatly with the situation, and has carried the general perception that a strong humanitarian approach is needed to support the various crises aspects of the growing Venezuelan presence in T&T, and indeed, that many positive things can come of a healthy and supported integration of Venezuelan migrants into Trinidad & Tobago’s society.
With this in mind IAMovement partnered with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) to execute the Warao Women Icacos Vetiver Handicrafts Training and Livelihoods Development Project in October 2020 – which has since carried forward continuing to work with PADF on this and other related initiatives until this day. The initial project aimed to train 20 Warao indigenous community members in Icacos on sustainable livelihood opportunities through Vetiver craft creation. The project also incorporated a business and take-to-market elements to support the crafters with this initiative.
As a result of the successes of the initial project IAMovement further partnered with PADF for the Green and Alternative Livelihoods project in 2021 and then further phases in 2023 and 2024. The initiative evolved to not only include Vetiver handicraft training but also the Vetiver System (VS) trainings, Cocoa Production, Pasta Making and Agricultural models as well with migrant beneficiaries in the communities of Santa Cruz, Chaguanas, Moruga, Arima and Forres Park. Trained crafters were also further upskilled learning to refine their products for various markets. Another major element was the establishment of the relationship between these trained crafters and The House of Vetiver which supports crafters in the promotion, marketing and sale of their handicrafts creating additional opportunities which may have been inaccessible to them prior. A major success of this relationship was the opportunity provided to crafters to support a large Vetiver basket order by the Massy Group as tokens for a large corporate event they had in the past – and also where a core and growing group of migrant Warao crafters are carrying forward with The House of Vetiver, to continue providing more refined, improved and higher level designed products for take to market. By combining the natural crafting skills of Warao women, with the goals of The House of Vetiver to support sustainable livelihoods in communities as well as sustainable products, and the passion of all those involved – a growing line and range of fully sustainable and ornate vetiver crafts are finding their way into the hands of a growing number of equally supportive and passionate buyers – leading to all-round positive outcomes for all.
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