Trades of Hope
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Join Us
  • Our Story
    • Our Story
    • Our Impact
    • Sparks
    • Fair Trade
  • Artisans
  • Gifts of Hope
  • Blog

Haiti Vision Trip: Jess's Story

10/3/2013

 
PictureJess learns how to roll beads with Jacqueline, an artisan.
It's still a little hard to believe that a just over a week ago I was sitting in Three Angels  Guest House with 8 other team members from Trades of Hope.  Our days were filled with time growing closer as friends, but more importantly they were spent meeting artisans and individuals at Heartline Ministries/Haitian Creations and the Apparent Project.  

Honestly this wasn't my first trip to Haiti, and I don't anticipate it being my last.  However, it’s been nearly 10 years since my last visit to this country and I admit my perspective was widely different now that I am a wife and mom versus a 17 year old in high school or a 22 year old college student.  I saw the dilapidated homes, the garbage laden roads, and the half-clothed babes with new eyes.  I kept thinking, “How is this possible?” “Why does the poverty look so similar to what I witnessed over a decade ago?”  “Why hasn't this changed?  How could I raise my children here or like this?”  I knew an earthquake ravaged these grounds in 2010 but I quickly learned that natural disasters do not merely change a landscape or culture, but mindsets need to change as well.  Haiti is a country familiar to many missionaries, many charities, and many organizations with good intentions to "help" and "heal" this land.  The heart of these organizations is in the right place, but the reality I saw included nearly 80% of the population living on less than $2 per day.  Many are waiting for a hand-out and not a hand-up.  We have to shift our own mindsets on what charitable giving is and where it can help instead of hurt.  I witnessed this when Shelley Clay, manager of Apparent Project, showed us two new kilns that were donated to AP so the artisans could now work in pottery and with different textiles.  These gifts -helped create more goods-helped create new jobs-helped employ more moms and dads-helped to keep more families together.

I heard stories of lives being transformed here.  Haitian Creations and the Apparent Project, two organizations Trades of Hope partners with, were shifting the paradigm on orphan care and child relinquishment.  There was opportunity for hope and change for these mothers that no longer had to choose between giving up a child to an orphanage {or as a restavek*} because they didn't have food {let alone a job} to give and provide for them.  These people were learning a trade and working in a dignified work environment; they are breaking a cycle of poverty and a cultural mindset that their baby will be better taken care of by an orphanage or a white person other than his/her birth mother.  The workers filled both atmospheres with joy and determination.  At Apparent Project quiet and sweet Jacqueline taught me how to roll a strip of cardboard from a cereal box onto a bamboo skewer, thus creating a bead that was to be glued, sealed, and strung onto string with others to be sold as a bracelet, a necklace or earrings.  Jewelry made out of these beads would ultimately be providing income for her, her two boys of age 6 and 7, and the nearly 200 other Haitian women and men who have employment with Apparent Project.  At Haitian Creations the artisans are able to make beads from fabric scraps in their homes which are purchased by Chandler Busby and made into signature design pieces.  These are simple, lovely, and repurposed creations that restore hope and a future for families.    

I have witnessed the power of our purchases making a difference.  It makes me all the more honored and humbled to be a Compassion Entrepreneur as we partner with these groups and others like them around the world to support economic growth and change in impoverished nations.  Compassion is clearly part of our title with Trades of Hope.  It is defined as "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."  I certainly felt compassion for the people I met in Haiti and those living there to teach and manage these organizations, but my empathy to their suffering is void unless I step up to act.  I can clearly see why I am here for a time such as this, having seen these things to support the alleviation of the suffering...ti kal pa ti kal.**

*restavek-a child who has been given to another family as a servant in order to have their basic needs met.

**"Little by little" in Haitian Creole


Picture
An artisan teaches Jess how to make pottery at Apparent Project.
Picture
Jess, with other CEs, and a beautiful Haitian teacher at the Three Angels School. (a school that Gifts of Hope has supported).
key west tours link
11/20/2013 12:56:31 pm

It truly is very good to find out this information inside your article, and your Jess's Story is is so nice.



Comments are closed.
    Picture

    About Us:

    Trades of Hope empowers women out of poverty around the world while creating entrepreneurial opportunities for the modern American woman by selling ethically produced fashion accessories and home decor.

    Picture

    share this:


    Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletter

    Categories

    All
    2015 National Tour
    Artisan
    Bangladesh
    Ce Blogs
    FAQ
    From Our Founders
    Gifts Of Hope
    Haiti
    Style Sessions

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011


    RSS Feed

    PLEASE NOTE:
    Any pricing in past blog posts is subject to change. Please check our online store here for current prices.

Our Company

About 
Catalog
​Impact Report  
Blog 
​Fair Trade + the FTF  
DSA Code of Ethics 

The DSA 
Terms of Use 
Privacy 

Get Involved

Join
Host
Artisans
Shop
Picture
Picture
Support
Returns 
Contact
Picture
  customerservice@tradesofhope.com  - Copyright 2015 Trades of Hope. All rights reserved.  
✕