WAYA: MEANS US IN WAYUNIKI (WAYUU NATIVE LANGUAGE). WAYA It is not a brand that can be described in something exactly, on the contrary, we declare it diverse. Each handmade fabric that is created here shows us that connection that exists between the woman who created the Wayuu Mochila and the woman who later, with her style, carries it around the world, in order to affirm that they are the same and in their authenticity only They seek to keep the history of our roots alive. We believe that in every woman there is no self, but rather we. The representation of those two women who inhabit each one of us, two sides of the same coin, made up of an ancestral heritage, a deep and wise root, away from noise and connected to the earth; and the other, fast and determined, that keeps pace with the city and knows the world without fear. That is why, in each piece we bring to life, these two truths are represented: the weaving made slowly and with intention captures the essence of the weavers and their wisdom, and the design molds this authenticity to make it shine in the modern world. Thus, each stitch is a meeting of two worlds, an invitation to that "we" that we have inside. Each piece, a portal of connection that manages to take desert women around the world who will never physically leave it, but who are linked to its threads, and awaken that ancestrality that inhabits modern women and that reunites them with the earth. THE MEETING OF TWO WORLDS Pieces created with ancestral communities and their original techniques, intervened through design and quality processes, seeking to bring together two worlds and their two flagship women. The meeting of two worlds. Our protagonist is not only the Wayuu woman, but the culture that formed that thought and that way of being. Highlighting her values and beliefs. OUR VALUES At Waya, we are not only honored to deliver a handmade fashion product woven by artisans from La Guajira (Colombia), but while we have their hands, we help each of them improve their quality of life and that of their families. So maybe we jump a bit and our brand can define something: a sustainable brand with positive impacts. Sustainability Our processes are committed to a social responsibility of respect for their culture, economic of fair treatment and environmental of careful and artisanal processes. Brotherhood Inspire brotherhood between women, because if there can be a meeting between two opposing women, between two closer we want there to be no distance. Inspire May that Wayuu woman that we invite to inhabit our world through the pieces we wear, inspire us to conquer our best self. EMPOWERING CULTURES Waya believes in the empowerment of indigenous communities, by having better crafts in La Guajira, Colombia. By doing this, we seek to preserve their weaving skills, improve their living conditions, while telling a story through a backpack. We believe in a sustainable fashion brand that is having a positive impact on the world and that tells a story through a Mochila! "I am also Nosotras" María Canela Gómez, founder of the brand in 2015, is the one who begins this journey of us, where she seeks to honor her Guajiras roots, through the essence of Waya. Her mother and father Guajiros, she since childhood she lived closely with Wayuu artisans, friends and relatives of her parents and grandparents. Based on this, and its affinity for fashion, Waya was born as a social project with a very special mission: to bring our Wayuu culture to every corner of the world, while at the same time creating links with our artisans, which allow us to honor them as our reason to be, and make them part of our family. This mission is not only Waya's, as María Canela considers it to be her purpose and life project. She assures that it is more the personal growth that their artisans have given them, through their wise teachings and that her greatest gift has been to learn from them to find in the simple, the purest and the most beautiful! ¨The women who inhabit me bring with them the desert that is my root and my land, and the world that is my sky and my horizon; and in every step that I take, I honor them both ¨ Maria Canela Gomez Waya Bags CEO