Heart of Haiti #heartofhaiti

January 12 marks the sad anniversary of the devastating 7.0 magnitude 2010 Haiti earthquake. Willa Shalit and Macy’s have teamed together to create an amazing initiative to help bring income to local Haitian Artisans.

“By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded.^[7] An estimated three million people were affected by the quake;^[8] the Haitian government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless.^[9]^[10] They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.^[11]“

Source: Wikipedia

Willa Shalit, daughter of Gene Shalit, and her company Fairwinds Trading founded a for-profit program that uses business as a strategy for economic empowerment of people, especially women, in the Majority World. The Majority World is where two billion of the world’s three billion people live, in poverty.

“Through a partnership with Macy’s, Heart of Haiti offers artisan-crafted decorative arts and jewelry for sale. All income derived from sales of the products on the Heart of Haiti site enhances an artisan’s family’s nutrition, educates children, and brings access to healthcare and dignity.”

These artisans are extremely talented! These use items like recycled oil drums, wrought iron, stone, etc. to create their beautiful masterpieces. I have been looking over the shopping site for Heart of Haiti and have fallen in love with everything but my absolute favorite is a sculpted birds candle holder created from scrap metal oil drums. Look at how beautiful it is!