Chaki Wasi, handicrafts center : An Indigenous handicraft center reviving traditions through the power of the local community
- Nationality
- Ecuador, France
- Group
- La Cabina de la Curiosidad
Best of the Best
La Cabina de la Curiosidad
About Project
It is a town located in the Quilotoa Lagoon, in a volcanic crater with turquoise water, the indigenous community of Shalalá promotes sustainable tourism, in symbiosis with nature, enhancing and magnifying it.
They have a wooden lookout that intensifies the experience with the lagoon, and now they have a handicraft center. The aspiration of the center is the representation of the Andean culture through traditional vernacular techniques and is an educational support to show a way of living in the Andean landscape.
The handicraft center is called Chaki Wasi, its meaning in Kichwa is a thatched house from the floor up. It is a construction with foundations in river stones, the structure is made of Eucalyptus wood tied with cabuya and supported with large chaklla dowels (small wood). The hammer to nail the dowels was a large wooden mallet made in situ. All the fastenings are made with intensely repeated chakllas and the large, thatched roof is made of straw.
The beneficiaries are 24 indigenous families, thus strengthening their economic income, which is so precarious in this area of the country.