July 2021
Cecilia’s Story
The art of backstrap weaving is practiced by many artisans in the highlands of Guatemala and has been indigenous to this region for generations. According to Mayan myth, backstrap weaving originated with Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess taking numerous forms – Moon, Water, Weaving, and Childbirth. Ixchel is the deity of fertility and procreation, and represents female empowerment. Ixchel taught the first woman to weave, and since then the practice has been passed on from mother to daughter, generation after generation.
Cecilia Vasquez Perez is a third generation backstrap weaver. Born in 1965, Cecilia is an only child. She lost her parents at a very young age. Cecilia supports her six children using the old world traditional dyeing customs of her ancestors by weaving on a backstrap loom. Every garment she makes has a story and is hand crafted with love. Through Yuli’s Paradise, Cecilia is empowered to continue the ancient tradition of backstrap weaving. We will be raffling head covers and other Guatemalan items handcrafted with love by Cecilia for the upcoming golf event. Each one is unique and original in its own right. We hope you enjoy them as much as she enjoyed making them for you.
March 2020
Linking Love from a Distance
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. – Psalm 16:8
As you can imagine the coronavirus is affecting our people, our programs, and our methods of delivering basic services like food, medicine, and shelter to the most vulnerable in Guatemala and in our community.
There is a lot of talk out there that the virus does not discriminate and that it levels the playing field for all of humanity. It certainly seems that way as the news points to everyone worrying about friends and family who are particularly compromised, experiencing the inconvenience and economic impact of “social distancing” and “self-isolation”, doing what we feel is right in “flattening the curve”, making difficult decisions, having the luxury of stockpiling items we believe are food for our families and bringing kids home from college.
BUT THE REALITY of being materially poor or homeless right now is that the coronavirus has little to do with daily life when the focus and struggle is still to find a safe place to sleep and secure daily meals to feed their families.
Yuli’s Paradise ,Inc., is that security for so many and we need YOU now.
YOU have always been there for our mission and we know now will be no different. We ask that you continue to see yourself and your family as part of a wider community and, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, think about “linking love…from a distance to meet the immediate needs of our cherished less fortunate.”
Currently, what we need most during this very fluid time is financial donations so that we can alter our programs and ways of delivering our services quickly and efficiently without a break in the flow of those services to our less fortunate. We’re sure over the past few days, you have visited grocery stores, shopped on Amazon and stocked up on the necessities.
We ask you to please go to our website and make a donation to help another family feel that same safety and comfort and take this opportunity to become a recurring monthly donor that would help us in the months to come.
Thank you for caring for our most vulnerable friends during the COVID-19. www.yulisparadise.org
Wholeheartedly,
Yuli
June 2018
Help Guatemalans Affected by Volcán de Fuego Eruption
Yuli’s urges all Guatemalans in the U.S. not to forget where you came from and give something back to those who need so much now. And not just Guatemalans — anyone who cares deeply about this tragedy. We have resources in the country to buy and deliver medicine, food, water and clothes for those in Alotenango and villages nearby.
But we need your help to do it!
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