My desire is to reach people’s hearts and succeed by inspiring others to do better. That’s the ultimate luxury. --- Ana Maria Sarmiento.
FLOR AMAZONA’s social campaign ‘Wear A Smile’ aims to suport various social projects throughout Colombia and encourages native communities, with a particular focus on women and children, to live better and happier lives. It was founded to give back to the extraordinary people and region that provides FLOR AMAZONA with its unique inspiration. Ana Maria Sarmiento, head designer and founder, works closely with the Wayuu and Embera people to keep alive and recode traditional Colombian handcraft through FLOR AMAZONA jewellery. The projects within the ‘Wear A Smile’ scheme provide these indigenous communities with much-needed education and support with the sole aim of ensuring the faces of La Guajira are kept full of joy and smiles and in turn to transport this love and happiness to the rest of the world.
‘AMIGOS DE LA GUAJIRA’ ‘Amigos de la Guajira’, translated as ‘Friends of the Guajira’, was the first project to be launched in November 2013, which strives to maintain, support and provide resources for the extraordinary children in local schools of the ‘Wayuu’ native community in La Guajira Desert, located in the north of Colombia. The project is dedicated to a ‘rancheria’ of 50 families in the “Aruatachon” Region, where the Flor Amazona team supplied ample resources for the preservation of a school for 72 children between the ages of 4 and 16 years old. Besides financial backing, Ana strives to preserve Wayuu handicraft traditions by working together with its main leader Hugo Jamoy in the development of new designs for FLOR AMAZONA and transforming an essential artisanal work into a luxury product to spread worldwide. The ‘Amigos de la Guajira’ project endeavors to provide the ‘Wayuu’ community with the credibility they need. Through unleashing the leadership potential of the women of the ‘Rancheria Aruatachon’, educating the children to be proud of their roots and entering into society with tailored education and promotion of their skills, Ana’s aim is to transform their lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities one project at a time.