Last year’s earthquake in Haiti took the lives of more than 200,000 people. It’s an unimaginable catastrophe and its aftermath inspired people to open their pocketbooks.
A year later, there is so much work that still needs to be done, especially after the deadly cholera outbreak that has killed thousands, and the ongoing political unrest.
Heart of Haiti is working to keep money flowing into the country and empower local entrepreneurs at the same time. Macy’s is now working with Fairwinds Trading to get the work of Haitian artisans out to the world. More than 450 Haitian artisans have been featured and 4,000 to 5,000 people have made money from the project. If you buy some of the products, the artisans receive 22 percent of the retail price of anything sold.
Here are some of the beautiful products you can buy at Macy’s.
Fairwinds Trading was created by Willa Shalit, daughter of movie critic Gene Shalit, who is fascinating by the way. Shalit created Fairwinds in 2005 to get goods from Third World countries to American consumers. She has also worked in Rwanda and Tanzania. If you’re a blogger and you’re interested in traveling to Haiti and learning about Fairwinds Trading first hand, Shalit is taking a group over on Februrary. Bloggers will meet the artisans and see where they work and the impact they are having on their communities.
I don’t know about you, but I love it when something I buy has a good cause behind it. And this definitely seems like a good cause.
I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective Blog With Integrity.
All opinions are my own.