TEAM WAYUU - Product - Mochilas

One of the most demanded skills in the Wayuu society is the weaving of Mochila bags, known as Susu in the Wayuu native language. Skillful weaving is seen in the Wayuu culture as a sign of wisdom, intelligence, and creative talent. It is taught to the young Wayuu girls during puberty while they are ritually secluded away from all males and spend time exclusively with their female family members.

Mochilas

The mochila bags are always handmade and crafted by a single female artisan. They are primarily decorated with beautiful geometric patterns and shapes with an outstanding diversity of colors. They are made in different materials, such as maguey fiber, wool and cotton, which are natural and eco-friendly fibers. They are also individually crochet handmade weaved, which gives each Susu a unique creation. A single mochila generally takes a woman artisan nearly 20 working days to complete. The bags are different in style, design, color, and size. However, this community also manufactures other products with similar techniques like hammocks and bracelets.

Wayuu Bag

TEAM WAYUU - Wayuu Community in the Guajira, Colombia

Wayuus, also known as the Guajiros, are indigenous people that live in the Guajira Peninsula in the North of Colombia and the Northwest of Venezuela. They have lived in that region for hundreds of years, in the desert of the Guajira peninsula, and are one of the few Latin American indigenous groups that have resisted the culture and language from the Europeans. The native dialect of Wayuu's people is the Wayuunaiki that belongs to the family language Arawak.

Nowadays, this area is a hot area of migration toward urban areas, which has left the Guajira area and it's Wayuu people among the poorest aboriginal people in Latin America. They have suffered from violence, racism, and discrimination for centuries.

Wayuu Women

Women of the Wayuu community are the societal leaders, shamans (religious leaders), and the center of their families. The mothers are responsible for handing down their culture and finding ways of life to the children, while men are responsible for teaching young boys how to hunt, build houses, and herd animals. It is a society organized in matrilineal clans (children carry their mother's last name). The men of the mother's family, not the father's, are responsible for the children's education.

Team Photos

Brandaid Project Co-Founder Cameron Brohman and the Social Exchange Team

Student Teams at the ARIC Centre

Team Nepal Scarves presenting their business model

Check out our new poster

The Social Exchange Project teams up with The Brandaid Project

The Social Exchange Project has now officially partnered up with the Brandaid Project. BRANDAID Project is a Canadian Social Enterprise designed to brand the exceptional and untapped product lines of artisan microenterprises in challenged areas of the world and launch them in the global marketplace.

It is estimated that artisans receive only 2 - 8% of the retail value of their work. BRANDAID Project works to change this significantly and establish a new IP based model. The model is structured to provide brand and marketing assets for artisan microenterprises, co-design highly marketable and unique collections and help generate sustainable retail sales at substantially better pricing.

With the help of the Brandaid Project, the Social Exchange Project will be able to envision and create a social space within Centennial College in which students can develop and foster their own social business enterprise. With Brandaid Projects help, The Social Exchange Project will strive to achieve the following goals:     

•  Connect the Brand-Aid Model to a student run social enterprise program within Centennial College.  
• Create a global experience for Centennial College students that aligns with College’s brand
•  Create a collection of socially responsible micro-enterprises 

It is the goal of the Social Exchange Project to provide students with the information, tools and contacts they need in order to make an informed decision about their social enterprise. We will be interacting with them through meetings and audience feedback that will help to demonstrate the feasibility and receptiveness of such a program.

Student Teams - Bios

Welcome to our student bio page. Here you can find a backgrounder on the two student groups who will be participating in Centennial College's The Social Exchange Project. We have six students from different parts of the globe who are eager to apply their experience, knowledge and talent to their own distinct entrepreneurial project. 
The Social Exchange Project will allow each student group the ability to put their business ideas into a fully fledge entrepreneurial project, gain hands on Canadian experience and learning, and at the same time, become a socially engaged global citizen.   

Team One: Wayuu Bags from Colombia

Adriana Hernandez

I was born in Caracas - Venezuela on March 29, 1984. My parents are from Colombia, so I have very strong ties with that country. I grew up in Venezuela; however, I studied Business Administration in the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga in Colombia. 

During my time there, I did an internship in the Comptroller General of the Republic of Colombia for 4 months as a member of a Citizen Oversight Committee. 

After my graduation I returned to Caracas to work in the family business for almost 5 years in the treasury and finance department. Then, I decided to move to Canada in order to look for better quality of life. 

In Toronto, I have been studying a post-graduation certificate in Global Business Management and working part-time in a school of languages in the Marketing department. I am looking for opportunities to grow as person and as professional.