Women Leadership Empowerment

Guanacottawa is working along side Pangea Builders to build an Art School for Maritza, the leader of the community Nuevo Amanecer in Intipucá, La Union, El Salvador.

With the help of the Ministry of Exterior Relationships in El Salvador, Maritza and a handful of women have been able to sell their art for a living. Artes Nuevos Amanecer is an arts and crafts shop owned by these women. The community Nuevo Amanecer was formally without homes but with the approval of the court they were given land and were supplied by NGOs with the materials to construct their own homes. This shop is the main livelihood for many women in the community just like Maritza.

The members of Gunacottwa first met Maritza back in the summer of 2019 during an excursion under the name of ‘Campamento Kutskatkan’ hosted by the Ministry of Exterior Relationships in El Salvador. Nuevo Amanecer had asked Cipotes en Acción (a new NGO at the time based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who help out people in El Salvador as mandated by the Ministry of Exterior Relationships and out of their own accord) if they could help the community with money for supplies to build a roof so that the ladies who made hammocks could do so in shade instead of under the sun. Cipotes en Acción, went above and beyond and helped them create a little play yard using paint, tires and fallen trees. The members of Guanacottawa were part of Cipotes en Acción during this time and got to help out.

The question of  building an Art School for the community arose. With this in mind money started being collected by the two members of Guanacottawa in hopes of someday having enough money to build a more concrete building where the community can utilize it to its very extent. Sustainability and efficiency is key when it comes to building a structure that is meant to help those with insufficient means for maintenance and renovation. Designing a structure that can be replicated by the community is the goal. By allowing the design of this structure to incorporate both of these aspects it becomes easy to see how the community can benefit from learning and understanding it.

Pangea Builders as their website states is an educational and research organization providing off-grid sustainable buildings for residential, commercial and governmental use. Pangea Builders construct buildings that use both natural and upcycled materials as construction materials. These types of buildings have a special name, “Earthship”, they are passive solar houses that still provide potable water, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production.

The purpose of this project is to bring the community together and for them to gain more knowledge on what is a sustainable outlook and how they can implement that outlook into their daily lives. By accomplishing this goal Guanacottawa will be empowering women such as Maritza who is a leader in the community and will also provide the community with the possibility of learning a different way to do architecture.