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Our
team grew from 20 on February 2nd to more than 210 on May 30th
, with 143 working in our home and workshop, and the rest in Leogane -
soapstone -, Croix des Bouquets - steel drum art - , Jacmel - paper mache - ,
Cite Soleil - cut metal - , and in Carrefour - for our new beaded products.
Our goal is to have, after the Atlanta show in July and New York Gift Fair in
August, the team in La Vallee - basketry - back in production and to welcome
100 more artisans in our new facility. Those 100 are the ones we could not
hire back because of lack of space. What we do to assist
our workers
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When
Joel welcomed 20 artisans in our backyard beginning of February, to support
our artisans in their everyday battle we decided to provide them daily with a
free meal and 25 Gdes for transportation fees. Since then we have not found
the courage to stop helping them thru their current predicament, with their houses destroyed and their multiple family needs- making sure that they have at least a solid meal a day. Early
February, we have purchased and given, with our own money and some grants by
customers, 250 tarps, bundles of wood for the establishment of temporary
housing and have made big distribution of packages containing rice, beans,
tuna, toilet paper, feminine napkin, oatmeal, wipes, sugar, salt, etc... To help
us with this assistance program, please let us know by sending a message
to: regi.drexco@gmail.com Temporary
production facility
We are still working from our house and in
a shared building by the international airport. It's not obvious: the logistics
- and costs - associated with having two production posts, at one hour drive
distance, are very demanding. But we have started preparing the land for the
erection of our metal building that has arrived in Miami and is ready to be
shipped to Haiti. So soon this headache will be over.
The tent finally made
it to Haiti after 3 months! A very special thank you to VivaTerra for
financing in part the purchase of this structure that allows us to continue
working even on rainy days. The VivaTerra Corner, as we name it, provides
space for the production of our paper mache items. On behalf of our artisans
we would like to thank Bonnie Trust Dahan and Susan Donaldson Ely.
Upcoming show Atlanta July 2010 Thank you We
would like to thank all those who helped us keep on going. This has been a
very tough time for us, our workers and the independent artisans we work
with. It is still very tough. But when we see some of our workers eagerness
to work, to go on with their lives - how can Yvresse go over the loss of
his only daughter born 15 days before? How can Philippe still smile when
he saw his mother die? - The hardships of the rebuilding appear lighter. We
especially want to thank the following (in no particular order): Melody
Bales of Lady From
Haiti in Naples, FL.- one of our long time and most faithful
customers; The
people from ATA (Aid
To Artisans) - Colleen, Anne, Alden, David to name just a few; Jonathan
Williams of Tesoros Trading
Company - without you we might have quit... The
people from VivaTerra
- Susan being our most enthusiastic supporter; The
people of Ten
Thousand Villages - Doug, Kathleen, Craig and Joyce (also to name just a
few); Elizabeth
Lutzi from Pine Island Cruises and Variety Store in St. James City, FL. Thank
you to our European customers, Bouthic Ethic in France, the Gecko Shop in
Switzerland, and to Cecilia Gonzalez of Starboard - for supporting Haitian
artisans and for your effort in re-establishing the business relationship
between our companies. Thank
you to Kristi Forbes of AmericasMart Atlanta for her kindness and her support.
The box of toys sent to our daughters in New York shortly after we arrived
meant a lot to us. A
very, very special thank you to Marideth Sandler of The Trade Partnership who has given us so much of
her time and has opened so many doors for the artisans of Haiti. We
would also like to thank:
Our
life has changed and will never be the same but together we can bring
brighter days to the artisans of our Haiti |
