The Pulsera Project

Obsessed with this pic from the folks at @spanishmedicatoledo ! 🌈

Amazing pulsera fashion pic by @_designsbyangelica 😍

Mission

We're happy to let you know that last week we expanded the available time slots to speak by video chat with long-time Central American Pulsera team member Jorge Morales.

Any school that is hosting a pulsera sale is welcome to sign up -- it can be a great way to further your class or club's connection to the project.

Jorge is familiar with almost every aspect of The Pulsera Project, grew up in Nicaragua, and has traveled extensively throughout both Nicaragua & Guatemala for his work with the project. Though he now lives in Canada, he still spends much of the year in Central America working with project partners and developing new programs.

Find full details at www.pulseraproject.org/jorge

Mission We partner with Spanish teachers, classes, clubs and students to provide free Spanish language activities, projects, lessons,curriculum and cultural connections

For those who like to plan ahead we just opened up all weeks in the Fall for pulsera sale sign-ups! We still have spots left for Spring semester pulsera sales from the end of March through early June for those looking to bring a pulsera sale to life this school year. The sign-up form is located at www.pulseraproject.org/guide, and as always we’re available here or [email protected] to answer any questions or help you set things up!

Grest pics from the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica at Millard North High!

We are back in the field!

Part of our Central American team was in Guatemala recently meeting with and learning from new artisan organizations that we'll be partnering with in the coming years.

As we slowly move past the effects of COVID-19 on both the U.S. and Central American sides of The Pulsera Project, we're working hard to hire new artisans and pulsera-makers so that we can bring new bracelets to schools in the U.S. and generate more Fair Trade opportunities for workers in Central America.

It was a packed 10-day trip through communities in several of the beautiful municipalities of Guatemala, such as Palín, Chimaltenango, Santiago de Atitlán, San Lucas Tolimán, Nahualá and Quetzaltenango.

Seeing these photos fills us with hope and enthusiasm for the future, to return to work with more artisans and continue to impact artisans, families, and communities of Central America.

Foreign Language Week is coming up March 6th-12th, and there's still some time to sign up for a pulsera sale to add some excitement into the way your class celebrates!

Details about signing up can be found at www.pulseraproject.org/signup, and you can always email us at [email protected] with any questions!

Our annual year-end review was just published on The Pulsera Project website -- thank you so much to everyone who joined us for another year of coloring the world!

Overall this was a pretty bumpy year for The Pulsera Project, with COVID-19 continuing to create a mess of uncertainty in schools around the U.S. and all the complications that came with that.

Looking forward we are super hopeful and enthusiastic that 2022 will be the year that things really start to pick up again, both in the U.S. and with our artisan & impact partnerships in Central America.

Our full recap of the year can be found here:

www.pulseraproject.org/yearendreview2021

We've been getting a lot of questions recently about whether pulsera sales are still happening this semester -- the answer is yes! Sign-ups are currently open for the entire Spring semester for any & all schools that feel they can safely host a pulsera sale in their school communities. If you have any questions about signing up, feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected]. We hope everyone's 2022 is off to a good start, and we're looking forward to working with many of you this year!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas weekend! Here are some recent end-of-year pulsera sales in action — thank you to everyone who has lent their support to the project this year!

Schools Pictured:

Lynnbrook Senior High
Texas A&M
York Community High
Louisiana Tech
Sussex Academy

Just a friendly heads up that this coming Monday will be the last day to sign up for a 2021 pulsera sale! If you've been thinking about trying to lead a sale before the holidays, now's the time. Sign-ups are also open for the entire Spring semester :) Have a great weekend and thanks to everyone for their support this year!

In recent weeks our core group of artisans in Nicaragua have been meeting to learn and share advanced techniques for making our signature "Lana" style bracelets. The idea is to perfect the different designs & patterns, discuss color combination choices, and improve the fine details of this pulsera style so that in the future they can share what they have learned to others interested in making them as part of our artisan team.

In true Pulsera Project spirit, these gatherings have been super colorful and lively, with threads and bracelets everywhere, interesting stories being shared and, as always, funny jokes and friendly banter between the artisan team.

Beautiful handwoven pulseras from the Sanik cooperative in Guatemala! We always include a bunch of these in the boxes sent out to every pulsera school sale.

Recent Pulsera sales in action! 🧶

UNC // Harriet Tubman Charter // Louisiana Tech // Patel High

As life starts getting closer to normal, we've been hard at work in Central America finding new artisan partners to join the Pulsera Project family. Our core group of artisans in Nicaragua gathered recently to host a workshop where they specifically covered the technique for making the "flor" and "culebreada" style of pulsera.

We always love getting to bring new folks together through the exchange of art & community, and we're looking forward to much more of this in the coming year.

Happy Halloween 🎃

Vibrant colors of Central America 🌈

You can never have too many Pulseras ✨

Spanish Honor Society students leading a Pulsera sale at Dr. Kiran C. Patel High in Tampa 🌈

Scenes from an ongoing Pulsera Sale led by the Spanish Club at Windthorst High in Texas!

A Pulsera sale in full swing led by the SNHS at Atasocita High 🌈

Handwoven Pulseras and “Bolsitas” at a student-led Pulsera school sale at Lady Bird Johnson High in Texas 🌈

Spanish Classes

Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off this week, and there's still time to sign up for a pulsera sale for those of you looking to add some excitement to the way your class or club celebrates! Full details and sign-up link at www.pulseraproject.org/guide.

Spanish Classes Free Spanish activities and service-learning projects, for Spanish teachers, Spanish Classes and Spanish Clubs.

Our most recent professional development workshop with Pulsera artisans in Nicaragua addressed a wide range of topics related to gender. Through videos, readings, and hands-on activities, artisans reflected on the social privileges that “machismo” offers men, the limitations on women, and on gender-based violence.

Each of these workshops and meetings is very enriching for our team and artisans in Nicaragua — it facilitates an awareness at a deeper level of the problems experienced in the country to help advance an understanding of possible strategies to positively affect the development of the people, families and communities in which our project works.

As part of our ongoing professional development program for Pulsera artisans, our team recently hosted a workshop to reflect on the concepts of community and sustainable development.

The concept of development is usually related to infrastructure, technology, or the availability of money, but it was super interesting to hear opinions that link the development of a community more to the organization and solidarity that exists within it, to the harmony between families, and access to recreation and education for girls and boys.

Here are a few photos from this workshop in San Ramón, Matagalpa I’m northern Nicaragua.

We're excited that pulsera sales are starting to begin again at schools across the country! Sign-ups are now available for the entire 2021-2022 school year. Let us know if you have questions about setting something up with your class or club this year and we'll be happy to answer them. Looking forward to working with you guys again to keep coloring the world!

Photo via Sachem North High School's Interact Club from their sale in 2020!

As part of our ongoing professional development series for members of the project, a few weeks ago our team facilitated a workshop on Fair Trade practices with our core group of artisans in Nicaragua.

One of the fundamental values ​​of The Pulsera Project is to embrace and promote the principles of Fair Trade, so we felt it was super important to share this experience with our artisan team. Through concrete and context-specific examples we explored the advantages of ethical & fair-trade practices in business relationships, not only in the context of the Pulsera Project, but also in terms of the world at large.

Here are some photos from this memorable and enlightening experience!

The Pulsera Project | Color the World

Starting in September we are excited to offer video calls with our Social Impact Director & Artisan Coordinator, Jorge Morales. Jorge’s years of experience with the project can enliven your Spanish class with up to 30 minute talks about everything from Nicaraguan culture and daily life to the educational values, partners, and pillars of the Pulsera Project.

Any school that has already signed up for a sale is welcome to book a conversation with their class. Though the calls are scheduled in 30 minute intervals, we're happy to work with you and your school to create enriching presentations or longer discussions based on your class needs. Contact us at [email protected] with questions or requests, or simply indicate them in the form when you sign up.

Due to limited availability, we ask that schools sign up for no more than three conversations with their classes per sale. Jorge is a native Spanish speaker, but is also conversationally fluent in English, so please indicate the language you would like him to speak when you sign up!

For now dates are available the week after Labor Day (September 6th), and we hope to open up more times in late September. Sign-ups and more info can be found at www.pulseraproject.org/jorge

The Pulsera Project | Color the World The Pulsera Project is a non-profit organization that educates, empowers and connects Central American artists with students in more than 1,600 U.S. schools.

Haciendo Pulseras - Mayamam (English Subtitles)

Travel to the small town of Cajolá, Guatemala where the women of the MayaMam Weavers cooperative make beautiful woven pulseras with indigenous designs using a traditional back-strap loom technique!

https://vimeo.com/356312088

Haciendo Pulseras - Mayamam (English Subtitles) This is "Haciendo Pulseras - Mayamam (English Subtitles)" by The Pulsera Project on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Spanish Classes

Looking for a fun & free service-learning project for your Spanish Class or Spanish Club as schools return to in-person learning this school year? Check out The Pulsera Project---a nonprofit Fair Trade partnership between U.S. Students and Central American artists!

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Students sell handwoven "pulseras" in their schools made by nearly 200 artists in Nicaragua and Guatemala. In the process they develop their inner global citizen while learning about a completely new side of Latin American culture, about Fair Trade, and about real-world social justice issues.

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Our free educational materials tie the whole project together in the classroom through authentic activities crafted around ACTFL standards. Activities are based around the lives of people we work with and allow students to gain a deep understanding of what life is like in Nicaragua & Guatemala.

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In addition to sustaining jobs for artisans in Nicaragua & Guatemala, proceeds from pulsera sales are invested in a wide variety of social impact programs that benefit the artisans & communities throughout Central America!

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Check out www.pulseraproject.org/spanishclasses to learn why students & teachers over 3,000 schools across all 50 states have fallen in love with the Pulsera Project since 2009.

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Feel free to email [email protected] or comment on this post with any questions, and we'll be happy to answer them!

Spanish Classes Free Spanish activities and service-learning projects, for Spanish teachers, Spanish Classes and Spanish Clubs.

We're happy to announce that July 28th at 7:00 pm EST, we are offering a free Zoom webinar on using our educational resources to incorporate global citizenship in your classroom, including using our digital and in-person escape rooms. The webinar will be led by our friend and rockstar Spanish teacher Hannah Joseph. We hope to see you!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/1GMNphjJtm8mKw4W7

Starting in September we are excited to offer video calls with our Social Impact Director & Artisan Coordinator, Jorge Morales. Jorge’s years of experience with the project can enliven your Spanish class with up to 30 minute talks about everything from Nicaraguan culture and daily life to the educational values, partners, and pillars of the Pulsera Project.

Any school that has already signed up for a sale is welcome to book a conversation with their class. Though the calls are scheduled in 30 minute intervals, we're happy to work with you and your school to create enriching presentations or longer discussions based on your class needs. Contact us at [email protected] with questions or requests, or simply indicate them in the form when you sign up.

Due to limited availability, we ask that schools sign up for no more than three conversations with their classes per sale. Jorge is a native Spanish speaker, but is also conversationally fluent in English, so please indicate the language you would like him to speak when you sign up!

For now dates are available the week after Labor Day (September 6th), and we hope to open up more times in late September. Sign-ups and more info can be found at www.pulseraproject.org/Jorge