Help Mari save Coastal Ecuador's ancient knowledge

Mariuxi Prieto lives and works in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She works as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and was recognized in the Global Guide Awards top 10 of 2018 because of her love and passion for her homeland. In 2013, she was researching for a special present for her family when she came across an article about a group of ladies who were making different kind of handcrafts with the peduncle of the plantain. She was inspired to learn more about these ladies, so for visiting them she has to hire a driver because she doesn't has a car. It takes three hours to drive from Guayaquil to Barcelona.

Mari learned that these elders had knowledge of ancestral disciplines, such as weaving straw bags, hats, pottery and cooking corn tortillas in ancient clay bricks ovens. During her visits she realized their way of life was in danger of disappearing. They are very poor and young people were not interested in learning these traditions.

Mari has taken on the challenge of bringing life back into the community through celebrating and honoring these traditions and making their craft profitable. She also strives to help people pay for medical care.

Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, there is no work for tour guides. Because of this, she doesn't have funds to continue her work with the elders in Barcelona, a town on the coast of Ecuador. In addition, to assisting the elders, Maria would like to make documentaries about these ancient traditions. The money donated would also be used to set up workshops for the youth to learn traditional skills and set up a platform for selling crafts. Hopefully, this will increase income for the entire community.