Amazing Before and After

I often think "What if the Rescue Center wasn't there? What if there was nowhere for these kids to go? Where would they be right now? Would they even be alive?" When I think of the kids that I've posted here...I'm pretty sure the answer would be No. They probably wouldn't be alive if the Rescue Center wasn't there to take them in and love them and care for them. These kids were in desperate need of nutritious food and health care and without it they would have died. Every day, kids like these die in Haiti because of poverty. It's heartbreaking and I hope it motivates you to do something to help them in the same way it motivated me when I realized this was happening in a country SO close to the US.

These amazing transformations are what is happening at the Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center in Cazale, Haiti. These before and after pictures speak for themselves. These kids were starving to death. Now they are smiling and active and even a little bit chubby! This is why we help this amazing place. They need funds to feed and care for these kids so that they have hope for their future and a chance at life.

Please take a moment to marvel at these before and afters and think about how you can let your creativity make a difference in the lives of children that will be at the Rescue Center in the future. Create something to donate in honor of these children or shop for something amazing to make a difference.

Darlens Before:

Darlens After:

Marie-Lange Before:

Marie-Lange After:

Soline Before:

Soline After:

(portrait of Soline by artist Alexis Studenberg)

Kervenson Before:

Kervenson After:

The Co-op Begins

Last November, before the earthquake, I met this family in the mountains of Haiti. I've written about them before because their impact on me was very strong.

This desperate father was trying to figure out how he was going to take care of his family when he had no job and no possibilities for work in the future. I talked with someone at the Rescue Center where we were working because I wanted to figure out how this man could find a job. The response I got was "there are no jobs." All I could think was WHAT is he going to do??? How are you supposed to feed your kids when there are no jobs and no food pantries or shelters to go to for help? It was one of those moments when reality hit me hard.

Marie-Lange, one of the children, was admitted to the Rescue Center because she was obviously severely malnourished. Seeing her little ribs sticking out made me realize that we needed to do something to help people in this area earn a living. It's so overwhelming to think of this problem as a whole. Our hope is that we can start to make a difference one little step at a time by providing outlets for people to sell the things they create and by teaching classes to people with an interest in the arts and a need for income to be able to support themselves and their families. We want to lesson the amount of families that have to suffer in this way.

We have started to receive items from Haiti and we will be listing new things in the weeks to come. We listed our first items last week and are very excited to say that most of them have already sold! Below you will see a few of the items that have/will be for sale. We will be also be sharing more about these items and the artisans who create them. We are so excited about the possibilities and the hope this will bring to families in the Cazale area.

You Can Make a Difference

Buy Art.

Feed Kids.

A Print For a Dream

We have listed an adorable print created by artist Rose-Nadine who is currently living in Cazale, Haiti on our Etsy site. You can read more about little Rose-Nadine in the post below. We are hoping that by selling these prints we can help bring her family closer to their dream of having their own home. They have been living in a tent since the earthquake and now that Rose-Nadine is so much closer to recovering from her injuries, it is time for them to think about what there life be from now on. We hope that with the help of many, they will no longer be struggling just to get by. Will you help to make their dream a reality? How often can you say you helped someone's dream come true???

You can go HERE to our Etsy site to purchase a 5 x 7 of this beautiful drawing OR you can donate even more on the RHFH website to help this family have a home!

Rose Nadine

I had the opportunity to spend time with Rose Nadine in April while we were in Haiti. Her and her Mom are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. They went through more after the earthquake than I can ever imagine. You can read more about their story on the Rescue Center's Blog and learn how you can help their family have their very own home.

And The Winners Are...

Congratulations to Cindy~ who won the yellow and green set
and
mtcmom~ who won the multicolored set!

Please email me at artistsforhope@gmail.com with your info.

Way to go ladies and we hope you love them and have lots of opportunities to talk about where they were made! Thanks to everyone for sharing about Artists For Hope.

There is Still Time....

There is still time to Blog, Facebook, or Tweet about Artists For Hope so you can be entered to win 2 sets of these fun recycled plastic bracelets lovingly made in Cazale, Haiti.

The Giveaway will end TOMORROW NIGHT and the winner will be announced on Thursday! Good luck to you all and thank you SO much for sharing about these amazing women and the children at the Rescue Center with others so even more people can be given hope. We appreciate it and they appreciate it more than you could ever know!