Our founder, Ingrid Rodriguez, was born in the city of Retalhuleu in Guatemala. She grew up with a loving family who tried their best to provide her with everything she needed to survive as a child. Ingrid’s grandparents were proud native Guatemalans from a region called Aldea de Grandeza, San Pedro Sacatepequez, in San Marcos Guatemala. Ingrid remembers seeing her grandfather working in the fields for long hours and her grandmother, Balvina Francisca Fuentes Godinez, was a stay-at-home worker, raising five boys and 2 girls. Due to the lack of financial stability, her grandparents couldn’t send all their children to school. Only the boys were fortunate enough to go to elementary. Ingrid recalls one day when her grandmother opened up and shared that she never went to school because her parents did not have enough money to send her. As Ingrid grew up, she realized the harsh conditions that her mother and her community worked in and how the money earned was not enough to provide a stable life and send all the children to school. At an early age, Ingrid became aware of the disparity between boys being able to get some type of education compared to girls who were left out most of the time.
In 2004, Ingrid migrated to the United States of America seeking a better life and financial stability to help her family back in Guatemala. Ingrid has been able to work hard and graduated from college in 2018. Even though Ingrid has achieved a successful life in America, her heart is still troubled by the conditions that some women live in Guatemala. This is the main reason why Ingrid decided to start the company, Samaj, which comes from the phrase “Rukikotem Samaj” which means “Working together in harmony” in Mayan. Ingrid’s mission is to provide school supplies to children all over Guatemala and work with local organizations to ensure all children have access to school, especially young girls like her grandmother and mother. Ingrid’s mission is to build a k-12 school in rural Guatemala and provide opportunities for children to have a better life in Guatemala and not have to leave to another county seeking those opportunities.
Ingrid’s vision is that through the sale of these unique handmade Native Guatemalan products, employment opportunities can be generate in Guatemala where the artisans are paid a reasonable living wage. Through the sale of each bag, Ingrid wants to ensure that the artisans that worked so hard to put the product together don’t have to continue living in harsh conditions. Ingrid has dedicated a set percentage of each sale that will be donated to a non-profit organization working in Guatemala to help native Guatemalans start their own business.
