Help Purchase Glasses for Rural Peruvian Community

Shawn Riffe is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Help The Hand-Knitting Mothers of Pampas Grande, Perú purchase glasses for those who need it in their rural town!

Executive Summary

Shawn Riffe Barrenechea, co-founder of Metrolineas, a new Slow Fashion brand, embarked on a mission to economically empower rural communities in Perú. During his search for Peruvian artisans, he reached Pampas Grande, a town of ~1,000 residents, while an annual medical campaign was volunteering in their town. Shocked by the lack of consistent healthcare in Pampas Grande, Shawn pledged to try and find a way to support the health needs of the town as well. The following week he returned and met The Hand-Knitting Mothers of Pampas Grande, a group of Quechua women striving to improve their financial situation through the sale of their hand-knitted garments. Unfortunately, they had lost hope due to the supply chain challenges given the isolation of their town and the impact of COVID-19 around the world.

Inspired by his own upbringing and their resilience, Shawn pledged to team up with Las Madres Tejedoras de Pampas Grande and do all in his power to help them flourish. Having consulted his Nurse Practitioner twin sister, who stressed the importance of eye care for children's education in Pampas Grande, he is now launching a crowdfunding campaign with his friends & family to fund eye exams and purchase glasses, starting with children, for the town.

The $5k Donations will go directly towards the purchase of glasses for those who need it in Pampas Grande, Perú starting with children first.

Metrolineas will donate 50% of it's profits from the sale of alpaca pieces hand-knitted by las Madres Tejedoras de Pampas Grande until April 30th with a minimum contribution of $500.

Disclaimer

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.

This cause is important to me because I was blessed to be a part of the incredible journey of the creation of the Andes Balaclava. A journey that brought me to the small town in Peru called Pampas Grande where I met and teamed up with las Madres Tejedoras de Pampas Grande.

Full story below:

The Creation & Journey of the Andes Balaclava

My name is Shawn Riffe Barrenechea and I am one of the co-founders of Metrolineas, a new Slow Fashion brand based out of the Bronx on a mission to empower rural, international communities by forging sustainable, economic bridges to global markets. I travelled across the Andes Mountains in search for Peruvian artisans in the most isolated corners.

In the Summer of 2023, my search led me to Pampas Grande, an isolated town 12,000 feet above sea level roughly 4 hours from my home town Huaraz. By chance, or maybe destiny, I arrived during an annual volunteer medical campaign led by the NGO SOPA.

At 0:57-0:59 of the video you can see me on the right side in sunglasses, brown sweater, and brown scarf :)

I was shocked to discover that the only medical support this town of roughly 1,000 people receives, occurs only once a year by volunteers and is not even guaranteed. I introduced myself to some of the community leaders that day but told them that I would return next week (transportation getting there is limited) because their health is the priority and my initial purpose to find Peruvian artisans is secondary.

The following week I returned and had the privilege of meeting a group of Quechua women known as The Hand-Knitting Mothers of Pampas Grande who were not just surprised of my arrival but also that I even found them. Meanwhile, I thought it was funny how the whole town was congregated in one spot the first day I arrived making it extremely easy to find anyone.

These incredible women are farmers who make very little from their harvest and organized themselves to sell their hand-knitted alpaca wool products. However, given Covid's impact and the isolation of their town, they had given up hope on their hand-knitting business which was intended to help improve their financial situation.

I listened to their stories and saw the lack of opportunity in their town. They are hard working women who support their families, some are single mothers, and want not only a better opportunity for their children but for their entire community.

Having been raised, along with my twin sister, by a single mother and being an Ancashino as well (from the state of Àncash, Perú) I told them that I would do everything in my power to support their hand-knitting business and through their hard work we would also find a way to support the community of Pampas Grande.

Why focus on Balaclavas?

Other Non-Profits & For-Profits have attempted to market and push their hand-knitting work with little to no success due to the following:

Given the isolation of Pampas Grande the logistics to move their product to the US Market is extremely challenging.
Lack of understanding US Market trends to sell their product and the inability to differentiate themselves in the market.
Donations alone are not sustainable and not necessary when there is a group of organized women ready to work.
They focused on the story and forgot about the product. Both are needed and both are finally here.
Negative impact from Covid finally reduced all support to their hand-knitting business to zero.

So Why Balaclavas? Because All the Cool Kinds Are Wearing Balaclavas! source: vogue.com

After brainstorming what unique product we could come up for introduction into the US Market we decided on creating the first ever balaclava of it's kind: The Andes Balaclava, Hand-Knitted in 100% Baby Alpaca* Wool

*Baby Alpaca is not actually a baby alpaca but instead refers to a higher quality fineness fiber grade of alpaca wool.

Please Note: Alpaca Wool is Hypoallergenic and not itchy!

The Impact - Women Empowerment through Financial Independence and Eye Exams/Glasses for the People of Pampas Grande, Perú

"Women's empowerment has a great influence on health, nutrition, education, and the overall well-being of societies as well as the children and households. This study investigates the effects of women's empowerment on poverty reduction and focusses on household deprivation, in terms of education, health, and standard of living... The results indicate that increased women's access to education, asset ownership, decision-making power on children's health and education, and access to medical facilities, have caused a significant decline in income poverty and multidimensional poverty." - NIH Study titled: The Influence of Women's Empowerment on Poverty Reduction in the Rural Areas of Bangladesh: Focus on Health, Education and Living Standard

Our research indicates that women empowerment has an enormous positive effect on the lives of the whole community and reduces poverty in rural areas. Where do you think the Hand-Knitting Mothers of Pampas Grande are focused on spending their additional income from the sale of their hand-knitting products on? The health and education of their children!

Given that my twin sister, Sheila Riffe Barrenechea, is a Nurse Practitioner, I sought her advice and she reached out to the community leaders of Pampas Grande to discuss with them on what was the greatest benefit from the annual health campaign. After her conversation, she explained to me that eye exams/glasses had the greatest impact given that it is easily actionable and the obvious fact that children need to be able to see clearly so that they can read and become more educated.

Therefore, the funds will directly contribute towards:

Providing eye exams for the whole community.
Covering costs of glasses with what remains of the funding, prioritizing on children first.

Risks & Challenges of Putting Las Madres Tejedoras on The Map

The main risks & challenges are the end-to-end supply chain and the creation of a high quality balaclava that fits for the US Market. The best part is, both have been solved!

The supply chain begins with ensuring that the 100% baby alpaca yarn used meets all requirements for the Origin Mark Gold 100% Pure Baby Alpaca as designated by the International Alpaca Association:

Followed by building relations with a trusted local family bus business from Pampas Grande:

Through several iterations of trial and error we co-created with the Hand-Knitting Mothers of Pampas Grande the Andes Balaclava, Hand-Knitted in 100% Baby Alpaca Wool: