Heavenly Treasures' partnership with the Free Hands co-operative of Viva Bolivia began in 2005, and Viva Bolivia is now celebrating its third birthday! As they write, "It seems hard to believe that just three years ago we arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia as a ministry of First Free Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington. Since that time, we have grown into a full-fledged 501(c)(3) public charity and are now supporting a number of ministries throughout Bolivia.
We started with little more than a dream and a vision of how we could provide leadership for today and hope for tomorrow in Bolivia. Thanks to the generosity of four supporting churches and numerous friends and family members, we have had our best year yet in terms of the financial stability of Viva Bolivia! To learn how you can partner with us, visit: http://www.vivabolivia.org/support."
FREE HANDS - A fresh start for women from prison and their children
Free Hands (or Manos con Libertad) is a co-operative of prisoners from San Sebasti?n Women?s prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia and those who are on probation outside. Currently there are 15 prisoners and 25 ex-prisoners that are members with between them roughly 80 children. The women make a large variety of hand crafted products to sell.
These ladies are trapped by terrible poverty and a cycle of ever increasing debt and for reasons related to this are, or were, imprisoned. The aim of Free Hands is to empower the members to enjoy a fresh start in life through earning an honest wage with which to support their families.
Furthermore, through this work we hope that the women not only break bonds of debt but reclaim a sense of dignity and self worth.
