More Bracelets!

We have more bracelets listed!

We also have some exciting new items by some wonderful artists
that will be coming VERY soon so check back often!

We love this Problem!

We are once again sold out of all the bracelets listed...but we will have more for sale very soon so please check back often on our Etsy Site.

Thank you SO much for helping the children and women in Cazale! You really are making a difference in someone's life!

More Bracelets and some CUTE kids

We listed more bracelets on the etsy site. More have sold already, but if you go quickly you might be in luck...

This adorable little guy is Nadiege's son, Daniel. He had just finished eating a bowl of rice and beans and then crawled through the dust when I took this picture. He was cleaned up shortly after, but I'm so happy I caught him while he was still messy. The kid is too cute.

Older children are always helping
and loving on younger kids in Haiti.
Those deep human connections are very important and something I think we really lack here in America sometimes.

The cutie on the right is Nadiege's daughter. Quite a difference from the pictures below. Isn't she beautiful?

Purchasing the bracelets these ladies made will help these kids and their moms to have a brighter future. What better reason to buy some new jewelery, right???

Nadiege

Nadiege spent the day with us in Haiti learning to make bracelets and I really enjoyed spending time with her and was very moved by her story.

This photo was taken from the Rescue Center blog. Two employees of the RC found Nadiege and her two children living outside where they burn their garbage. They were able to find her a tent and realized quickly that she was very ill. She couldn't walk at all on her own. They took her in for testing and found that she is HIV Positive. Thankfully, both of her children are negative.

They moved her tent back to an area where several earthquake victims have been recovering. I was able to spend part of the day in this little "community" that has been established under the Mango and Coconut trees behind the RC. It was amazing to see all of these different people and families from so many different circumstances that have come together. They take care of each other and watch each other's children and laugh and talk together. I love the relationships we were able to witness there as these people heal and try to figure out what their futures will hold.

Nadiege shared with me about her kids. She has two adorable kids! Dad is not around to help them. She really wants a place to live. Our hope is that in the future we can establish ongoing projects through the art co-op in Cazale so that women like Nadiege can have their dreams come true. Until then, I'm extremely thankful for the caring people at the Rescue Center and Clinic that didn't just walk past Nadiege and her two children, but found her shelter and moved her to a loving little community that can help her and support her for now!

New Haitian-made Bracelets

We have started listing these fun recycled plastic bracelets that were made by women from our new art co-op in Cazale, Haiti on our Etsy Site. The perfect summer accessory! They are colorful, eco-friendly, and help provide for the basic needs of our artisans and their families!

All of the bracelets we had listed have sold already! We will be listing more soon. Thank you for helping these beautiful women and children!

Denise

It was truly an amazing week in Haiti. Meeting the ladies who we would be teaching the class to, I was very moved by how eager and excited they were to work and learn something new. They wanted an opportunity to be able to take care of themselves and their families. It gave me a lot of hope for the future possibilities of what an art co-op could be in the mountains of Haiti and what it could mean for the people who live there!

One of the ladies who came to the class is Denise. She is a victim of the earthquake and is living in Cazale with Lori, who runs the clinic there. Lori actually gave up her own house so that several people who needed a place to recover would have a place to do so. A lot of people who were taken to the Comfort Ships for care with very serious injuries had nowhere to go after their surgeries and amputations. Thankfully Lori welcomed them in and they are doing SO much better now.

Denise was trapped under her house for four days. Even more amazing than that was her newborn baby, Annika, was with her. Her parents were also in the house but they did not survive.

Isn't her baby gorgeous?

Annika had to have her arm amputated because of severe injuries. Denise had many injuries on her arms and legs and also had a badly infected bed sore from being trapped for so many days in the same position.

She tried so hard to learn the process of making the bracelets during our class and was really good at it. She has nothing right now. She has clothes and food thanks to RHFH, and she hopes to be able to have a house for her and her baby someday.

I was privileged to be able to spend some extra time with Denise the day after our class and her positive attitude and smile were infectious. Even after everything she has been through, she has hope and a lot of that hope has come through RHFH and all they have done for her.

We will be listing the bracelets we made in Haiti in the very near future. The money will go to help Denise and other women like her.
Thank you for your purchases and for helping the women and children of Haiti!

Making Bracelets Today in Cazale

I wish there was time to write more, but soon...
Lori, the lady who runs the clinic in Cazale helped to translate, which was hugely helpful and was really the only thing that had slightly stressed me out about teaching this class. I really wish I spoke Kreyol and I hope to learn more before I return.

The ladies learned quickly and really enjoyed making them.

Here's the whole group.
They were all wonderful

In Cazale

We had a productive day of painting, weighing the kids, and sorting LOTS of baby formula. It was much different driving from Port au Prince to Cazale this time, seeing all the tent cities everywhere. I can totally understand why people don't want to go inside, after seeing all the crumbled buildings and cracks in the walls.

Tomorrow we will start painting the mural in the eating area of the Rescue Center. It's so wonderful to see some of the kids we spent time with in December and to see so many new kids that are receiving the care that they so desperately need.

On Our Way...

We are on our way. To Haiti that is!
We hope to be posting from Haiti if the internet and electricity and all that cooperate. It will be an amazing week and I'm so excited about the beginning of an art co-op in Cazale and all that can mean for helping families in the mountains of Haiti.

Thank you to the artists who have contacted us recently and please continue to tell your friends about Artists For Hope and the children in Haiti that are searching for Hope in their future.

Check back soon!