From natural fibres to the ancestral Guayusa leaf

It is interesting to observe how some people discover a certain element and make incredible things out of it. Such is the case of Adriana Marina with her organizations Animaná and Made by us, in Spanish Hecho por Nosotros, as well as the story of Waykana at the head of Demetrio Santander and Juan David Gómez, which was announced in the panel "Innovation & Sustainability in International Business'' organized on May 8th by Fairleigh Dickinson University in the United States.

Source- Natural fibre rope making (Accessed 30 June 2021)

Fashion and healthy energy are pillars that support a great value chain that benefits its consumers and generates a powerfully positive impact in communities far from the world we know. Such is the case of artisans from the Andes, Patagonia or northern Argentina, such as the indigenous producers of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest.

While Adriana seeks to provide recognition and value to the artisans who worked with natural fibres, mobilizing hundreds of people and bringing together several actors in the same scenario, with a common goal: a systemic change in the consumption and production systems; Demetrio Santander and Juan David Gómez found a common thought with indigenous agricultural communities of the Amazon: sharing a vision of a healthier and more energetic life through the ancestral Guayusa leaf.

Both natural fibres and guayusa are powerful elements that nature offers us, with numerous benefits for both the environment and health, in addition to being sacred elements for each of the communities.

If we talk about, for example, natural fibres in Andean textiles, each colour pattern and geometric shape has a meaning and represents valuable concepts about the universe. In this way, every time cloth is woven, the community connects with the universe and remembers the ancient wisdom. While, on the other hand, the ancestral guayusa leaf, the indigenous Kichwa people in the Amazon, have used their leaf as a source of natural energy and a way to connect with the pachamama, (the mother earth), and their community.