With a Pulsera Sale Win $1000 in Resources and a Trip Guatemala

Host a pulsera sale and enter to win $1,000 in free language and literacy resources AND a free trip to Central America—all while providing students with a unique cultural experience!

For the third year in a row, Vista and the Pulsera Project are teaming up to encourage teachers around the country to host pulsera sales at their schools, connecting Central American artisans with students in U.S. schools through the sale of colorful handwoven bracelets or pulseras. Pulsera sales bring art and cultural education to schools, while employing Guatemalan and Nicaraguan artisans and investing proceeds to create lasting change in their communities.

Chris Howell, cofounder of the Pulsera Project, explains how the Pulsera Project has evolved since its inception in 2009. “As we listened and began developing partnerships with local artists and advocates, we started to see our entire organization differently—not as a network of people from the U.S. helping people in Central America, but as a partnership that emphasizes humility, solidarity, and self-awareness. We learned to see poverty differently, understanding that economic poverty is but one form of poverty, and that all of humanity suffers if they lack essential human needs, which include community, family, and a connection with the world around us.” Today, over 3,200 schools across the country have hosted pulsera sales, creating fair trade jobs, investing in programs that benefit thousands of people in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and involving hundreds of thousands of students in fair trade service-learning projects.

Pulsera sales are free to host, include dozens of free educational materials, and there is no requirement to sell a certain number of pulseras. As an added bonus, sign up to host a pulsera sale and enter to win $1,000 in free Vista materials and a trip to Central America to meet the artisans. Just submit a video (less than two minutes long) showing how pulsera sales have impacted students, focusing on the project’s core values of humility, solidarity, self-awareness, and an understanding of economic inequality. One winner will be selected based on how well they address these points and demonstrate student engagement in the project. The application deadline for the drawing is April 15, 2025, and a winner will be announced by May 1, 2025. Learn more about the contest.

“We are committed to partnering with educators and organizations like the Pulsera Project, devoted as we are to bringing language and cultural education to our schools, breaking down barriers, and empowering students to make a difference in the world,” says Arturo Castillon, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Vista Higher Learning.