Today marks the one-year anniversary of Haiti’s devastating quake, which took the lives of 230,000 people and left more than 1,000,000 people homeless. As the people of Haiti continue to piece back their lives, Heart of Haiti is doing its part to help local artisans regain a sense of purpose by working with their hands to earn income to rebuild their broken community.
Through an initiative founded by Willa Shalit (daughter of Gene Shalit) and her company, Fairwinds Trading, a for-profit company that uses business as a strategy for the economic empowerment of people, beautiful works of Haitian art are available for sale in the U.S. at Macy’s. These hand-crafted beauties are made from local raw materials such as recycled oil drums, wrought iron and stone bringing new beauty and life to to old materials.
My favorite piece is this colorful fish try ($40).
This lovely “Tree of Life” frame is also stunning ($25)
Purchasing one of these handcrafted masterpieces directly benefits Haitian artisans who receive 22 percent of the retail price of each item in the collection.
Disclosure – I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity. All opinions are my own.