10 Days in La Guajira Colombia, January 2016

Hi Everyone,

I am Daniela, founder of Castellano, and I would like to share with you our latest experience living with the Wayuú women, what we achieved and our goals for this year 2016.

Our last trip in La Guajira was unique, and I could say it was probably the best one in the last 2 years since we started our project. We spent 10 days in the vast desert, and gave back water and food provisions to more than 60 families from the Wayuu tribe.  We also worked on our latest collection developing a new range of 100% handmade bracelets that embrace a social cause and contribute to social change through each purchase.

When you live like the Wayuú people without: running water, electricity, bathrooms, showers, internet connection and sufficient food supply, you are able to understand their lifestyle, traditions, and scarce living conditions. The Wayuú people live in an area where water is almost gold in the 45.000 km of land, and children have limited access to food and educational resources. La Guajira, is one of Colombia’s poorest and most forgotten regions.

While I was sitting on the soil, next to a group of boys weaving bracelets, I asked how often they could drink clean water and where they get it from. A boy pointed a big water container with a capacity of 1000 litres of water and said, "We fill the container once a month, but it should be filled four times each month."

Moments like those are what inspire me to do something for the children and the families who are less fortunate than us. I decided since January 2016 to launch a water project and donate 20 litres of water from each bracelet we sell. I also decided that we can donate 100 litres from each handbag and backpack that we sell and bring to your hands.

Thanks for supporting our project and buying bags and bracelets that no only empower the Wayuú women but also that give back to its manufacturers.