About us

Talking Prints is a social enterprise based in Suriname, South America, founded in 2015 by Zoe Mezas and Pekula Starke.
Mission

It’s their mission to create sustainable jobs for indigenous communities in the interior of Suriname, without the interference of their cultural and authentic lifestyle. These communities live in the rural area of Suriname and they live far apart from the cities. 

It's challenging to get a structural income because there are less job and education opportunities in the interior. In comparison to the cities in Suriname, the rural areas are also less developed.Therefore, Talking Prints creates employment projects for the communities by making trendy items and incorporating their traditional craftsmanship at the same. This way the community earns a fair income and gains a more financially independent life.

 

Impact

Talking Prints travels to different rural areas to work with creative communities. Together with the community, they create new items that can be produced by them locally. 

By supporting the local products of Talking Prints, this social enterprise can organize several training programs for the communities in the rural areas. During these programs, they learn basic business skills such as communicating, work ethic, planning, cost price calculation, and they learn about the importance of producing high-quality products. The moment the workshops are given, the communities respond very well to the new insights and the demand for these kinds of workshops is highly needed.

 

Low- risks for the community

Talking Prints facilitates all the material, machines and they sell the products on the international market so the community doesn't need to worry about sales and investing in materials. The company also makes sure that the transport of all the materials to the interior is organized. This way the workload of the community is further reduced.  

By purchasing the Talking Prints items, the people of the interior can express their creativity, they are able to produce profitable products and they can invest their earnings back into their micro-business like agriculture and producing local food. 

Talking Prints has already made an impact in 3 villages, named Drepada, Balingsoela and Galibi .
In total they work with  more than 15 women. At this moment they are expanding their working area with 7 new villages.
This way they can create more job opportunities for the communities in the interior. Like to know which new products are created? Follow their journey via Youtube channel  or sign up for the newsletter.