Designing Change with Camino Nuevo

If you’ve been following along, you’ve probably read that our babysitter/nanny/sanity-saver was in Nicaragua for the past 30 days, on a Manna Project summer internship. While there, Amanda met the women of Coosmech, a women’s cooperative that designs beautiful jewelry pieces, called Camino Nuevo.  Each piece of jewelry is handmade by Nicaraguan women. These women are former residents of Chureca (which is home to the largest open-air landfill in Central America).  They lived in poverty and many used to spend their days scavenging in the garabage dumps until this program was created. 

Thanks to Camino Neuvo, these women are combating poverty with their own hands; the cooperative is creating leadership opportunities and offering a steady income. And these women’s hands  just so happen to be incredibly talented. Amanda brought a bunch of gorgeous pieces back with her, and I am so excited to share them with you. 

Each piece comes packaged with a paper, explaining a bit about the cooperative and its mission. My favorite part is that each sheet has a space for the women who made the piece to handwrite her own name, which adds such a personal touch.

My favorite pieces are the triple wrap bracelet, and the Ivania bracelet, the beads are made from recycled paper and come in a few different color options. You may shop the full collection here.

These amazing women even took time to sit with Amanda, and teach her how to make her own bracelet, which she has been rocking non-stop since coming home!

The women of Coosmech are truly designing change. Check out Camino Nuevo on instagram, to see more!