Knitting Peace is a social enterprise that provides opportunities for poverty alleviation and empowerment to incarcerated women in Bolivia. Sonia Gallardo, a Bolivian native and long time Los Angeles resident, founded Knitting Peace after a visit to Bolivia, where she learned that these women had to continue to work while incarcerated in order to sustain themselves and their children.
During Sonia’s first visit to the jail, she discovered these women held a love for knitting, which Sonia learned how to do at the age of 9 and had since then secretly wished to pursue as much more than just a hobby. On that same visit, she realized that almost 70 children lived in that jail with their mothers, because they had nowhere else to go.
It was then that Sonia decided to begin Knitting Peace, a social enterprise that provides opportunities to incarcerated women, while pursuing her love for knitting and design.
| Knitting Peace provides these women the opportunity to engage in work they can be proud of, provide for themselves and their children while engaging in therapeutic healing work through the art of knitting. |
* Frequently Asked Questions
Why Bolivia?
Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, where indigenous women have limited options to survive and usually have many mouths to feed. Most Indigenous women don’t have the opportunity to go to school because they have to work from a very early age in order help support their family. One of the strengths Bolivia has is the high quality craftsmanship of its artisans. Indigenous women in Bolivia are practically born knitting, weaving and crocheting; they learn as a means to endure the cold winters in the Andes where alpacas and llamas are abundant. Knitting Peace recognizes this strength as an opportunity that can be leveraged into financial freedom for these women and their children.
Why are the women incarcerated?
The majority of the women that find themselves incarcerated within this correctional facility are being charged for theft, or drug related trafficking. The vast majority of these women have found themselves in situations where stealing or making easy money became a very tempting option, in order to feed themselves and their children.
Why do children live in the correction facility?
In Bolivia, because so many children find themselves on the streets, federal law allows incarcerated women to live inside the correction facility with her children, until they reach the age of 6. Inside the correctional facility, the children are permitted to attend an outside school during the day, and are escorted back every afternoon. They play in the courtyard alongside the inmates, with the joy and freedom that only children have. After they turn 6, the children must leave the facilities and live with family members or an orphanage.
| The intention of Knitting Peace is to serve as a bridge that leads to opportunities, empowerment and sustainability. |
Are the women paid for the Knitting they do?
Knitting Peace pays each knitter per finished knit product. This organization holds a fair wage policy, and pays each knitter based on a daily rate, setting timelines to finish each product The knitters have expressed that they feel motivated by the fair rates they are being offered, the beautiful designs and high quality material they are working with.
What do the knitters do with the money earned?
Living in a correction facility in Bolivia can be financially draining. The inmates must continue to provide for themselves and their families. The correction facility provides 2 meals a day and a cot to sleep on. The mothers must continue to find the means to provide for their children’s basic educational and health needs. By being inside the correctional facility the women are limited from actively seeking work, making their survival all the more challenging. The inmates depend of whatever work they can get from the outside, in order to provide for their own basic needs as well as the needs of their children. The money earned goes towards school supplies, clothing, food, health care, and basic supplies such as toilet paper, dental care, as well as legal fees related to obtaining their sentence.
Why does Knitting Peace choose to work with incarcerated women?
Knitting Peace as an organization does not judge or condone the inmates for the actions leading to their incarceration. Knitting Peace has the intention of assisting the inmates in realizing they have talents that can be used to create opportunities for poverty alleviation, empowering them to see that they have the freedom to choose.
Elizabeth Jarosz interview of Sonia Gallardo
