Sustainable Income Through Art #Bloggers4Haiti

Croix des Bouquets is a reknowned artist community

Haiti may be a poor country but the people here are proud.  Rather than wanting handouts or taking to begging in the streets, Haitians want to learn practical skills that will allow them to work and generate a steady income for their families.  They believe in creating a better future for their children by earning money to send them to private school but require funds in order to do so.

Beadwork by Jean Baptiste

Haiti is country full of color and creativity where art is ingrained in the culture.  Everywhere you go there are beautifully painted signs and Tap Taps, painted buses that serve as the country’s taxi system to transport people to where they need to go.  By selling their art, Haitians are rebuiliding their lives.

Painted Tap Tap, a Haitian mode of transportation

Today we visited atéliers in Croix des Bouquets where Jean Baptiste, one of the country’s most reknowned beadwork artists, has a studio.  Just down the road are countless ateliers of metal work artists who craft sculptural pieces, wall hangings, and pendants from hammered oil drums. Oil drums have been recycled and fashioned into art for years but they didn’t sell.

Outside Jean Baptiste's atélier

Through Willa Shalit and Fair Winds Trading, artists have learned what the global community is looking for.  Artists work together to develop a vision for the pieces that will be part of product lines that are sold in stores like Anthropologié and Macy’s but also learn how to create invoices, generate packing lists for customs in order to import the items into the United States, and develop pieces with designs that appeal to American consumers but will also be refined enough to sell in retail stores.  They also learn English so they can communicate with their buyers- whether individuals or large companies. Each atelier employs 8 Haitians, a significant number when there are so many atéliers.

Just one of many atéliers in Croix des Bouquets

Fair Winds Trading not only helps the metal artisans broker deals with companies like Macy’s for their Heart of Haiti line but also horn artists who are creating a line with Rachel Ray and are always looking for new ways to teach Haitians practical skills that will help them generate income.

Rony (L) who manages the metalwork atélier that creates pieces for Macy's
Heart of Haiti with Jean Baptiste holding some of his beadwork

Today we visited Ofeda, a camp of 200 smart women with an entrepreneurial spirit who kept repeating the need for training, and a real desire to be taught.  Willa had met a woman from Ofeda before and during their visit, she shared a book of embroidery that had survived the earthquake.  The book was essentially a portfolio of her skills and was the inspiration for a new project- a line of greeting cards with a block print that will incorporate embroidery that will be sold in Haiti and possibly beyond.

Willa Shalit, CEO of Fair Winds Trading, explains the
embroidered card concept to Ofeda women

Willa brought embroidery thread, needles, and blank cards to the women, explained how the embroidery book sparked this idea, and showed them samples of designs. The women were asked to create samples of their work and will be paid for any completed cards upon her return in two weeks.

Materials like embroidery thread, needles, and cards
were left for the women to create samples

This project meets the need for travelers who often find substandard, or no, greeting cards in Haiti, and allows the women to earn $1 per card that should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.  This is just one of many examples of how building capacity in the Haitian people serves as a way to better their lives.  The women we met today were very excited about earning income to provide private school tuition for their childrens’ education and funds that could help them become property owners in the future.

Example of a card with block print and embroidered details
featuring the Ofeda stamp on the back

Today’s visits made me realize that the best way to help Haitians is to empower them by teaching them practical skills they will have for the remainder of their lives.   So many people and organizations have come and gone, never to return.  It’s important to support the organizations that are building capacity through sustainable programs not only to help Haiti get back on its feet but to share these skills with future generations.

Tomorrow we'll be leaving Port au Prince for a trip to Jacmel, a coastal town which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive and is the home to paper maché artists.  I don't know if I'll have wifi to share tomorrow's journey with you but hope to do so upon my return to Port au Prince on Tuesday.

For more information about my trip and #Bloggers4Haiti, read yesterday's post:

• Haiti: 2 Years After the Quake #Bloggers4Haiti

The majority of this trip was personally funded but I did receive a scholarship from Everywhere to help me defray some of my travel costs.  Thanks to HP, Snapfish, and The Mother Company for donating products to share with the people of Haiti and T-Mobile for lending me devices to document it.  All opinions are my own and based on my experience.