By Beth Doherty

To see a youtube video supporting this article, click here.

To see the work of these women, click this link and email below to purchase.

In a little barrio in the northern limits of Asuncion Paraguay, a tiny women's revolution is happening.
A group of women from Bañado Norte, one of the poorest regions of Paraguay (South America's second poorest nation) have taken matters into their own hands, and are learning crochet.

This might not sound like much of a revolution or even a particularly big deal, but the fact that the crafts have an international market in Australia means that these women are becoming “architects of their own progress”

In 2008, I spent six months working in the community of Bañado Norte, and was touched and saddened by the experience of women and children there.
A large majority of women in this community are single mothers; and many of those whose husbands and partners remain are abused. Only one in ten people in this community are formally employed, and alcohol fuelled violence is common.

In my piecemeal Spanish, I spoke to different women around the community, and asked them if they were interested in forming a craft group.

They responded enthusiastically, and off we went to purchase materials.

The first shipment of crochet arrived at my house just three weeks before Christmas, perfect timing to have a Christmas craft market at our Canberra home.

Almost 1,000 dollars later, the beautiful tablecloths, serviettes, cards and placemats had disappeared off the tables and into the homes of friends and relatives – and the women of the Bañado had each received some money for their work. The rest of the money was put into a community fund, with which the women hope to build a women’s centre or a dispensary.
Mentors of the group Nadia Villalba Ferreira (24) and Nancy Falcon (23) go to visit the women every couple of weeks to pray together, chat, and come up with new ideas. This outside support gives the women a sense of the international nature of this work.

“The women have come up with a name for themselves “Kuña Py’a Guazú” – which means women with courage, women who are brave, women who have value. The phrase is taken from their Guarani language (the indigenous language of Paraguay, and parts of Bolivia and Argentina) and attests to their strength and hope for the future”, said Nadia.

This week, the second package arrived, a box full of earrings, necklaces and accessories - all made of crochet.

All of these will be sold in parishes around Canberra. Images of the crafts and information about promotional events will be made available by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To see a short Youtube clip of these women, click here.

To purchase some of the amazing jewellery and crafts which are pictured, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.movinghearts.org.au

All funds raised from the sale of these crafts will go to supporting these women and their community.