Awareness-raising
Awareness raising actions by the Isabel Martín Foundation
The Isabel Martín Foundation carries out awareness-raising tasks. Our objective is, fundamentally, to make visible the inequalities between the countries of the South and the North, promoting the participation and mobilization of people and fostering attitudes of active, coherent, critical and responsible solidarity.
CREATIVE HANDICRAFTS: "A SUCCESS STORY IN THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN"
This exhibition houses the snapshots that our volunteer Carlos Malo took during his trip to India in 2017. Management, board of trustees and himself made this journey to, in addition to monitoring the projects carried out, obtain new documentation and carry out awareness-raising actions about the importance of working for the empowerment of women in the countryside. The exhibition tells the story of the women of Creative Handicrafts, a Fair-Trade cooperative that Isabel Martín herself set-up in 1985 with 4 women from the slums (marginal neighborhoods) of Bombay. It did not help them, it gave them the opportunity to get ahead with their own work and they did not hesitate. Today there are 300 cooperative members, up to 800 at production peaks, and they are self-sufficient, economically independent and respected.
With the exhibition, in addition to making the cooperatives known, we related the process of making each of the garments: design and pattern, cutting, making, ironing, labeling, bagging and storage. All this, carried out in workshops that meet decent working conditions with the space, lighting, ventilation and safety requirements.
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
In addition, the Isabel Martín Foundation offers another exhibition that also includes photographs of Carlos Malo from the same period. "A look into the future" is to talk about the sons and daughters of the women of the Bombay cooperative and the education projects that our NGO finances around its workshops: Nursery, Study Center, Child Development Center and several preschool centers. The objective of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the need to offer these opportunities for the new generations to break the vicious circle of poverty and marginalization thanks to training. It is to continue with the legacy of Isabel Martín and her maxim: EDUCATION | DIGNITY | JUSTICE.
WARLI COLLECTION: EXHIBITION OF THIS ANCESTRAL ART OF INDIA
The Warlis are a tribe of Adivasis who live in the Maharastra region and who, for about 3,000 years, have made a very particular type of painting. A few years ago, two of our patrons received a precious gift from Isabel Martín, a painting of this ancient art. At that time, they did not know anything about this pictorial style and it caught their attention, but, above all, it surprised them: its ancestral technique using natural materials, the stories behind each painting, the hundreds of details, all handmade and with a lot of passion. Today, that huge painting is still hanging on a wall in their house, as a reminder of that special gift Isabel one day brought from India.
The Isabel Martín Foundation wants to show the world the work of these Warli artists, currently authors who want to tell their story, but also make pictures of denunciation.
These exhibitions are itinerant and it have already been in Madrid, Barbastro or Zaragoza thanks to the interest that many entities have shown in making the Foundation's message known. If you are an individual or an entity and you want to spread the word of Fair Trade, the stories of the boys and girls of the Bombay slums or the art of the Warli, do not hesitate to contact us here and collaborate with the dissemination of the message from Isabel Martín.
As part of our awareness-raising activities, we often participate in talks and conferences to which we are invited. Mainly to talk about the Foundation, about Fair Trade, Development Cooperation, volunteering or awareness in the third sector. The scenarios are diverse, from the conference room of the Joaquín Roncal Center to the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zaragoza, as well as schools and institutes.
If you are an institution that supports social issues and you want us to participate in some of your activities, forums, round tables, talks or conferences, you can contact us here and we will inform you of how to collaborate.
The Isabel Martín Foundation actively participates in the distribution of Fair Trade products through markets: The Fair Trade Market that is usually organized in the Plaza del Pilar in Zaragoza, our corner in the Cultural Week of the Santa Teresa de Cáritas Residence, also in Zaragoza, a sales stand at the San Jorge University Solidarity Week, in Villanueva de Gállego, etc.
We are committed to Fair and sustainable Trade, as well as the environment. The products we sell are mainly made by Creative Handicrafts, the Indian women's cooperative that we support, or by entities that guarantee Fair Trade principles.
If you have a suitable place or space and want to organize a solidarity market for the benefit of the Isabel Martín Foundation, contact us.
We firmly believe in the premise that “by doing, you learn”. For this reason, our NGO organizes workshops and workshops focused mainly on Fair Trade and the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the decoration of organic and Fair Trade cotton bags and / or board games, children and adults know, learn, internalize and retain the principles of this alternative trade and the SDGs.