Welcome to the CIS Handicrafts Store!
We bring you these products with fair-trade principles:
Artisans are paid fair prices for their handiwork -- earnings that afford them a decent standard of living with clean water, food, healthcare, education and other essential needs.
Artisans are paid up front for goods. Nothing is left on consignment.
Products, whenever possible, are made of local materials.
Artisans benefit from ongoing training from the CIS
Artisans we support are actively involved in their local communities.
All products we sell are handmade by Salvadoran artisans who are deeply committed to sustainable community development.
The Salvadoran artisans we work with include women and single mothers, ex-combatants, returned refugees, and others from marginalized communities. They have formed cooperatives or collectives that operate with humane working conditions and participative decision-making. As they struggle to provide for their families with income-generating alternatives to working in sweatshops or migrating to the United States, their cooperatives are sources of encouragement and support.
By purchasing from the CIS online store or selling at your community events and local craft stores, you support their creative strategies to meet their family needs and empower their communities.
