Around the world, colors and textures are woven into textiles, such as this one in India, painted onto walls or sewn into garments. Many of these works of art woven into daily life represent a rich heritage passed down through generations. 

Melanie Nvubebarijane is a member of Femmes in Dialogue, a group that brings together survivors of the genocide and war in Rwanda and helps women find peace and reconciliation. 

Viviana Cucul Tun participates in a weaving class that is part of the vocational arts program at Bezaleel Centro Educativo Menonita K’ekchi in Chamelco, Guatemala. 

As the culminating presentation of a children’s arts program carried out by an Indonesian MCC partner organization, Forum for Humanity and Peoplehood, Maria Ulfa (front) and her friends perform a dance. This was part of post-tsunami work in Indonesia. 

In Walata Grande, an Andean village in Bolivia, much of the community’s income comes from handcrafted flutes. 

In Hanoi, Vietnam, puppeteers, standing in thigh-deep water, bow at the end of a water puppet performance. Vietnamese water puppet shows are performed in a pool of water with the water surface as the stage. Puppeteers stand behind the backdrop, controlling the puppets by long sticks. 

Im Ahmed embroiders a piece of fabric in a Palestinian village. 

In the village of Shalua Vita, Bangladesh, colorful headscarves are part of children’s daily dress. 

Emily Lois, foreground, works on a beadwork Christmas ornament that will be sold in Ten Thousand Villages shops. The women of the Namayiana handicraft project in the Rift Valley of Kenya, make traditional Maasai beadwork, some of which is sold through Ten Thousand Villages and other fair trade organizations. 

Colors and patterns saturate everyday life on this street in India. 

An ornately decorated camel walks through the streets of Qom, Iran, as part of a Shi’ite commemoration of the death of the Prophet Mohammed.

Adrienne Nahimana, mother of a student at the Hope School in Mutaho, Burundi, walks toward the third grade classroom.