The Producers
MAHAPA was set up in 1994 from a supplier-buyer relationship between Mauraro entrepreneur Salve Patriarca and CCAP. With CCAP's thrust of organizing craft producers to spread the benefits of the trading relationship, CCAP fielded a community organizer in Mauraro and convinced Patriarca to give up personal gains in favor of a more "cooperative" set-up - with her workers transformed into co-equal stakeholders in the trading relationship.

The Association started with 28 member families, a great majority of whom are dependent on handicrafts as their main source of livelihood. It has grown in membership, production activities and assets and is now a recognized contributor to the progress of the community. Among the important assets that the association has procured is a second-hand vehicle which is very useful in their handicraft business. They have also established a modest office/center that serves as a meeting place, workshop and storage place of raw materials and finished products before being shipped to Manila. Apart from the growth of the organization, stories of how children were sent to school, houses built renovated, etc. through handicrafts abound among MAHAPA members.

Their Products
The group specializes in abaca angels. It has recently branched out into more functional products and new materials (such as wire frame wrapped in abaca fiber). It is the first in the community to venture into the copper wire knitting which is easier and faster to make.



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