More and more weavers and organizations are expressing interest in making the ergonomic bench available to backstrap weavers. We share their eagerness!

The demand is obvious and the need is clear: relief from pain and disability, and increased earning potential for women artisans who depend on their textile craft for their survival.

We’ve made tremendous progress. Preparations are approx. 85% complete for the start-up kit that will enable carpenters to make the bench. The donations this project has received through GlobalGiving through 2008 have been used to help make the video, including the services of a script consultant, and travel costs for bringing Juana Ramos to Tucson for filming. Thank you for helping make this possible!

Synergo Arts is committed to a grassroots approach that helps artisan communities become self-sufficient rather than dependent on outside support. We seek to help the local people establish their own infrastructure for the bench, including fabrication, promotion, distribution, microfinance, and training.

Thank you for your support!

I am grateful to be able to report that the last two weeks of November were spent filming scenes for the educational video for carpenters and weavers. The generosity of GlobalGiving’s donors has been instrumental in making this possible! I’ll be devoting the rest of this year to “post-production” tasks for the video and to raising funds to enable Synergo Arts to finish preparing the other essential educational resources for the carpenters and weavers.

The most immediate priority is to be able to offer the start-up kits so that carpenters can make the benches for the women. Hand-in-hand with that, we need to be able to implement train-the-trainer programs so that weavers can help each other learn to use the bench.

On behalf of the project and myself personally, I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone whose support is making it possible for Synergo Arts to fulfill this project. Thank you!!

I also want to mention that there is an inspiring article in the current, Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Fiberarts magazine (pages 52-55). It describes the weaving-bench project as an example of the healing potential of ergonomics in the lives of artisans who depend on their craft for survival. The article emphasizes the importance of ergonomic design to enhance creative flow and personal expression along with the more obvious benefits to health and earning potential. If you have a chance this month, please take a look at the article and share it with others who would be interested learning about in this empowering project!

On a visit to Guatemala in March we continued developing the infrastructure to help the local people produce and distribute the bench. Two groups of carpenters have been identified. Our resource kits for carpenters have been designed to ensure that the ergonomic features of the bench are preserved. This benefits the backstrap weavers while also helping local carpenters develop new skills.

During this visit in March Karen Piegorsch and Juana Ramos were invited to join the Museo Ixchel (the famous museum of indigenous clothing and textiles in Guatemala City) for their annual celebration of the International Day of the Woman. We were honored to make a presentation on the ergonomic bench to the participants from the museum and their fair trade partner organization, Pro-Teje.

Currently our major focus for this project is raising the remaining funds to complete production of the multilingual DVD. We are eager to get this important resource into the hands of the backstrap weavers who need it!

Pictures:

• cycle of benefits diagram on poster during our presentation at t (GIF)

An interview I gave with Global X last August aired recently on YouTube. It's about the program we're doing with backstrap weavers.

The interview follows a three part format: "Who are you?;" "Tell us a story;" and, "How do you see the world in 2017?"

If you'd like to see it, please link to it from the Synergo Arts website (www.synergoarts.org) or go directly to it at YouTube via the link below.

Thanks for your interest in helping Synergo Arts help women artisans!

Links:

• see our interview with Global X on YouTube!

Many thanks to the folks who have helped support this project so far!

There has been a lot going on “behind the scenes” to get the benches into the hands of the women who need them. Here is some of what we have done recently:

- During Juana Ramos’ visit to Tucson in October (please see the October 2007 progress report) we created an educational poster for the weavers, refined the trainers’ manual, and developed script and storyboard for the DVD.

- With the help of woodworking consultants we have come up with ways to adapt the bench design so that it can be made from different types of locally available wood without losing the ergonomic functions so crucial to the weavers. Now we are preparing the kit for carpenters.

- During a trip to Guatemala in November we made a series of presentations with organizations interested in working with us, in both Guatemala and Mexico, to (a) set up training for carpenters, and (b) help distribute the bench and education to weavers.

- Also while in Guatemala in November we interviewed and got bids from DVD producers. Pending funding, we are ready to produce the DVD!

Links:

• Updates to the webpage include a new videoclip in Spanish!

Educational DVD:

We are delighted to report that Juana Ramos is visiting us here in Tucson, October 6-20th! Juana, a Mayan woman who speaks Spanish along with her native Kaqchikel, is from San Jorge la Laguna, a small town on the shores of Lake Atitlan. She was the primary trainer for the 150 women who began using the Bench during the pilot project. Juana will be helping us refine the educational content and ensure the cultural appropriateness of the educational DVD.

This DVD is an important way to make information available to backstrap weavers, enabling them to learn how to use the Synergo Weaving Bench safely and to maximum benefit –after all, the transition from kneeling to sitting while weaving is a major change. In thinking about that change, it’s important to realize that this project originated within the indigenous community in Guatemala: the women themselves recognized that kneeling is stressful. They had been looking for alternatives to the traditional working postures, and asked Synergo assistance in designing a viable way to sit while weaving. However, even though the Bench is intuitively easy to understand, it takes time for our bodies to adapt to new postures. The DVD will help the women adjust the bench to fit their individual bodies. It will help them learn new body movements, and develop the strength and coordination necessary to use them while weaving!

Now is an important time for the fundraising efforts of Synergo Arts and we are grateful for your support. Donor contributions are essential for us to proceed with this part of the project. And, once the DVD has been created in Spanish, we plan to translate and dub it in the indigenous languages in order to make this education accessible to all.

2007 User Centered Design Award

We are excited to report that the Synergo design team has been honored with an award for the Synergo Weaving Bench. The Human Factors & Ergonomics Society’s Product Design Technical Group presented us with the 6th Annual User Centered Design Award at the HFES annual conference in Baltimore on October 2nd.

Pictures:

• This photo shows how the women are taught to fit the Bench to th (JPG)