Stephen Cassar

Lifted a remote Guatemalan village out of poverty through the JavaSweater program. Mayan craftswomen hand-weave JavaSweaters – reusable coffee cup sleeves that replace paper ones – on backstrap looms, using traditional died cotton and skills handed down through the generations.

Without the JavaSweater program, Mayan women work 60 hour weeks, earning just a $1 a day… barely enough to survive. Young girls drop out of schools so they can help provide for their extended families.

The JavaSweater program enables each household to create their own microbusiness, setting their own hours and earning up to $60 per hour – double what they may earn in one month.

Our prototype village now has clean water, electricity, a school and a medical clinic. Villagers are able to help themselves to a better future, and once again, to hope for a better future for their children.