Much of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has been leveled by Tuesday’s earthquake, leaving as many as an estimated 100,000 people dead, thousands of people homeless and an estimated 3 million people impacted. As yet, little aid has arrived in Haiti, although rescuers and relief supplies are said to be on the way destined for Haiti’s airport from many nations.
The Good Shepherd Foundation, through Hand Crafting Justice, has been working in collaboration with a co-op in the north of Haiti, where a partnership with the Religious of Jesus and Mary enabled to create a project called ‘The Artisan Project of Port de Paix, Haiti’.
Within six cooperatives, women living in desperate poverty produce useful and decorative crafts in order to support their families with food, clothing and give their children an opportunity to go to school. A wide range of products is sold, such as popular hand-painted wooden cross pendants (pictures opposite), miniature market paintings, triptych nativity, dolls … All sale proceeds go directly to the women of Artisan Project in Port de Paix. Although this part of the country was less affected by the earthquake, both the structures and equipment are anyway impacted and the women beneficiaries of the project all lost family members and friends.
Therefore, taking into account the disastrous situation and using our contacts in Haiti, we are proposing to sell the products from the Artisan Project available at Casa Generalizia Buon Pastore in Rome at a higher price in order to raise extra much-needed revenues. This will enable our Foundation to focus not only on the emergency support but also on the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, which the country will desperately need to recover from this disaster.
For more information, visit website: http://www.haitiartisancrafts.com/index.html
In addition, donations are more than welcome and can be offered to the following current account
FONDAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE BUON PASTORE
IBAN: IT36 D056 9603 2070 0000 6805 X22
BIC-SWIFT: POSO IT 22
Contribute to help these innocent people to give them a sign of hope in the midst of disaster and poverty!
