The Pulsera Project | Color The World

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Spanish Clubs

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The Pulsera Project began when we brought back pulseras to the U.S. from a single youth shelter that we discovered during a vacation to Nicaragua. A year since selling the first handfuls of bracelets at two schools, the Pulsera Project now buys pulseras from many people, all of whom are empowered to make a brighter future for themselves with each pulsera they make. Who Makes the Pulseras?

Ex-QuinchosNicaraguan FamiliesOur project began by supporting only former street kids. We realized that they weren't the only ones who could benefit from an expanded market for their art.Thousands of Nicaraguans spend every day selling pulseras and other crafts in the sprawling markets of Managua and Masaya.However, much like the youths of Los Quinchos, these people have almost no market for their artwork. Weeks can go by with only a few pulseras sold.We now purchase thousands of pulseras from many families who benefit greatly from this new outlet for their art.The youths of the Sí a la Vida shelter, located on the volcano island of Ometepe, had been making and selling pulseras long before the Pulsera Project was born.Part of a larger arts and crafts program, Sí a La Vida youths are masters of weaving amazingly intricate designs and pulseras with lettering.Recently the Pulsera Project encouraged the best of pulsera art by sponsoring a competition among artists of the Pulsera Co-Op and Sí a la Vida. The winner was crowned "El Rey de Las Pulseras" - the King of Pulseras. (Some girls are learning the art, so soon we'll have a Queen!!) The youths of Los Quinchos no longer make pulseras for the Pulsera Project, but they were the Pulsera Project's original pulsera makers. When we first visited them at their farm in 2009, we saw that in addition to climbing trees, playing soccer, and helping the mamitas, making pulseras was a universal hobby. Since our first vist two years ago, many of the Los Quinchos youths graduated from the shelter and so the Pulsera Project began a fair-trade cooperative for shelter youths who had moved on. These young men and women have grown into master pulsera makers, and over the past two years they've also become our good friends and part of our Nicaraguan family.

Pulsera Co-opThe Pulsera Project's artisan cooperative is made up of 21 former street kids who have grown into an outstanding group of young men and women that all graduated from the Los Quinchos youth shelter.The co-op is like a giant family. Twice a month they all get together for a reunion where they eat together, talk about their futures, and share their latest pulsera artwork.Many of the project's most intricate and beautiful pulseras come from the hands of these young men and women--to them the art of pulsera making is something truly special. Not only do their pulseras represent something beautiful and colorful that came from a dark past, but also they take great pride in the number of US students who love and wear their artwork all across the country. Sí a la VidaLos QuinchosMERCEDESMARVINAURORAFREDDYDANIELSAULMOISESSERGIOLUISISMAELLAZAROALEX C.Juan de DiosJORGESAMUELHASSONXOCHILMARCOSARIELAARONMARTHAGABRIELAROBERTOPICACHUSILVIOFREDOJONHECTORCHRISTIANYURANDARLINGWALTERYURANJOELJOELARMANDOJUAN CARLOSWILLIAMBERMANELVINMARTIN JIMMY(The Pulsera King!)HomeSpanishClassesWhatWeDoHowitBeganContactmissionProjectspastprojectsPulseraTeamaskjdfhhjsdajkfgaldjkakhdjCooperativeSiALaVidafamiliesCoOpWhatarepulserasMaster Page 27testimonialsWhereoldpicspulserapicturesGetInvolvedSpanish CLUBSSStudent GuideschoolsGalleryPartnersColortheWorldallstoriesTripDetailsstoriesGuideFAQNEWS