Gifts that Give Back Archives

December 14, 2015

— 17 Comments

Save a Life in your Sleep: Goodbye Malaria

“If you think you’re too small to make a difference you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito”.‐ African proverb

The figures are staggering. According to the World Health Organization: “About 3.2 billion people – nearly half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria. In 2015, there were roughly 214 million malaria cases and an estimated 438,000 malaria deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 89% of malaria cases and 91% of malaria deaths. In areas with high transmission of malaria, children under 5 are particularly susceptible to infection, illness and death. More than two-thirds (70%) of all malaria deaths occur in this age group. In 2015, about 305,000 African children died before their fifth birthdays” making malaria the leading killer of children in Africa. (Source: WHO 2015 statistics).

Although these figures are frightening, what is even more shocking is that these deaths are entirely preventable. Per the World Health Organization, “Increased prevention and control measures have led to a 60% reduction in malaria mortality rates globally since 2000”. This is amazing progress that brings hope that we will be able to wipe malaria off the face of the earth forever.

Eradicating malaria is the dream of South African-based Goodbye Malaria, an organization I interviewed the last week to learn how a team of African entrepreneurs, predominantly women sprayers and socially minded businesses, are coming together to “save a life in your sleep” and eradicate malaria in their lifetime. Here’s their story.

November 30, 2015April 7, 2019

— 16 Comments

GIFTS THAT GIVE BACK: Introducing Bloom and Give

“Not many people have the opportunity to do work that they love and are passionate about” says Partha Raghunathan, co-founder of Bloom & Give. “I feel very fortunate to do this work”.

Have you ever wondered how you could make your life more meaningful and find a way to give back to do good? It is a question many of us have asked ourselves yet few have dared to do. For Partha Raghunathan and Madhu Rajendran, two Indian-born men living in Texas and working in the tech field, it was the desire to do good and help others that eventually lead them both to leave their comfortable positions as engineers at a tech company and start a new socially minded business together called Bloom & Give.

Bloom & Give sells beautifully handcrafted scarves and bags made in India using techniques passed on from generation to generation. However, what makes Bloom & Give so unique is their mission: To change girls’ lives through education in some of the most gender inequal areas in India. Although both Partha and Madhu are Indian, they have lived in the United States for over twenty years and confessed they are a bit removed from some of India’s social issues. It took a trip to India with a good friend to the state of Rajasthan to seal their fate.

I had the opportunity to speak with Partha and Madhu to learn more about their amazing business and journey together to change girls lives in India. It was a fascinating conversation with lots of laughs as well as delightful inspiration to hear how they were able to find a higher meaning and value in their work. Here is their story.

MADE IN INDIA, WITH LOVE

It all began during a visit back to India with one of their good friends, an American textile designer named Hallie Gray. Partha and Madhu, friends for over twenty years and fathers of daughters, traveled to Rajasthan to help Hallie source her products. During the trip, they had their first exposure to block printing, an art that had been around for over 5,000 years and is still practiced today. It was breathtaking to watch and life-changing for Partha and Madhu.

While spending time with the artisans, they learned more about their lives and realized that girls education was a huge issue in that region of India. Both fathers of daughters, they realized how fortunate their girls were to be receiving a good education in the United States while many girls in India do not have the same opportunity. It was a pivotal moment that eventually lead to the creation of Bloom & Give.

The breathtaking Jaipur Jal Maha. Photo credit: Bloom & Give

The breathtaking Jaipur Jal Maha located in Rajasthan, India where Bloom & Give sources their product and supports girls education. Photo credit: Bloom & Give

Partha and Madhu were at first nervous about entering this new space of creating products for women and giving back to girls education. Typically owners of such companies are women, not men. Yet after much thought they realized that creating Bloom & Give would be a way for them to give back and truly change things in India.

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

November 27, 2015October 27, 2016

— 14 Comments

2015 Gifts that Give Back Holiday Guide

As today marks Black Friday in the US and people are scrambling about for the perfect gift for the holidays, why not consider a beautiful gift that also gives back to someone in need? I have worked hard over the years curating an ongoing list of Gifts that Give and even keep a permanent page on my blog under the same name. Why? Because I know people like to give gifts year round, not only for the holiday season, and why not give a gift that also helps someone in need.

The following list includes some of my absolute favorite gifts, many of which I’ve given myself and have supported. There are many gifts that I have already featured on my blog too. New additions this year include beautiful products from : Bloom & Give, Kurandza, Society B, Mission Belt, Seattle Chocolates, Rwanda Path to Peace, Sevenly, and Thistle Farms.

As this list is continually growing please let me know if you have any gifts that give that I should include. Thank you!

“For it is in giving that we receive”. – Francis of Assisi

Mosebo Village, Ethiopia

Me with the children of Mosebo village.

Family in an unauthorized slum. Delhi, India

By selecting to purchase a gift from one of the organizations below, your gift will not only give delight and joy to the recipient, it will also give back to someone in need. I can’t think of a better way to give than that!

Here is a list of some of my favorite gifts that give! Feel free to contact me if there are other organizations that should be included in this ever growing list.

Products that help women and girls:

fashionABLE (scarves and leather goods)

www.livefashionable.com

“Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa. Our commitment as a non-profit is to the development of people — fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty. So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs, and then we send the net profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women”.

fashionABLE scarves

Infinity Scarf

fashionABLE scarves

To read my post regarding my visit to fashionABLE click here.

Anchal (scarves, pillows and quilts)

www.anchalproject.org

Designing Change Stitch by Stitch” Anchal creates absolutely stunning scarves, pillows and quilts each handmade out of recycled saris by Indian women rescued from prostitution.

Gorgeous Anchal scarf

Each side is reversable

Anchal blanket

Bloom & Give

www.bloomandgive.com

Bloom & Give sells beautifully handcrafted scarves and bags made in India using techniques passed on from generation to generation. Each product is designed in the US by one of Bloom & Give’s designers, and made in India with love.Bloom & Give donates 50% of their profits to support girls education programs in India through their partner Educate Girls to improve the lives of girls in Rajasthan.

A Bloom and Give scarf

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

November 11, 2015April 7, 2019

— 14 Comments

Gifts that Give Back: Introducing Thistle Farms

Thistle Farms stands for the truth that, in the end, love is the most powerful force for change in the world. – Reverend Becca Stevens, Founder of Thistle Farms

I am a huge follower of journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s work. The couple have dedicated their lives to promoting women’s rights around the world and it was after reading their eye-opening book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” that I made up my mind to devote my life to giving back and making a difference. I know it sounds rather cliché but honestly, I was so moved and intellectually awakened by their book that I began my work volunteering abroad, fundraising for building a school in Nepal and all the other social good writing and advocacy I do.

Their most recent book and documentary “A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities” expands on the overall themes in “Half the Sky”. It was from watching the documentary on PBS last year that I learned about the inspiring work of Reverend Becca Stevens and Thistle Farms, and I was delighted when they contacted me for an interview on my blog.

Like many amazing organizations, Thistle Farms and its residential program Magdalene, all began by one woman who wanted to make a difference and promote change, Becca Stevens, an Episcopal Priest from Tennessee. Becca was finishing her last year of Divinity School at Vanderbilt and became inspired to give back to the community. After talking with police officers, homeless people and other social services within the community she realized a strong need to help women get off the streets and away from drugs, trafficking and prostitution. Many people believe that prostitution and human trafficking exist only in third world countries when in fact it is a huge problem here in the United States as well.

Gifts that Give Back Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015

— 15 Comments

Macy’s Celebrates 10 years with Rwanda’s Path to Peace

Given the scale of trauma caused by the genocide, Rwanda has indicated that however thin the hope of a community can be, a hero always emerges. Although no one can dare claim that it is now a perfect state, and that no more work is needed, Rwanda has risen from the ashes as a model of truth and reconciliation. – Wole Soyinka

Where were you in 1994 during the Rwandan genocide and do you remember what you thought about it? I clearly remember where I was at that time. I was a student completing the last year of college at the University of Wisconsin. The world was my oyster. Nothing could stop me. Of course I’d heard the news of Rwanda and the mass killings but at twenty-two years old, I could hardly relate. It felt surreal and far, far away from the carefree lifestyle I had as a student in Madison, Wisconsin.

It wasn’t until years later when I began to follow my passion for international affairs and travel that I watched the tragic 2004 film Hotel Rwanda and read the 2009 novel by Gaile Parkin “Baking Cakes in Kigali” that I began to truly contemplate the sheer tragedy and horror of what surpassed in Rwanda. Even today, it is hard to believe that in just three months, nearly a million people, 20% of Rwanda’s population, was massacred when tribal hatred between the Hutus and Tutsis turned into ethnic slaughter. It was unimaginable. Neighbor killed neighbor in one of the worst genocides in human history.

Like in most cases with war and tragedy, women and children were the most severely impacted by the genocide. After the violence ended, many Rwandan women found themselves thrust into the unfamiliar role of being sole breadwinners for their families since their husbands, fathers and sons had been killed. Others saw their husbands jailed for committing unspeakable atrocities. If women were going to survive, it was up to them to take action and do whatever they could to improve their lives for their children.

After the genocide, Rwanda was looking for ways to move forward and many women embraced opportunities that would help them heal. It was around this time that an American woman named Willa Shalit, a social entrepreneur, artist and activist, visited Rwanda and vowed to make a difference to help the Rwandan women. She noticed that weaving beautiful baskets has been a part of Rwanda’s culture for centuries and that perhaps this tradition could become a way forward towards peace and reconciliation.

In 2005 Shalit showed the baskets to executives at Macy’s (one of America’s largest retailers) who committed to sell the baskets through a program called Rwanda Path to Peace. Like her counterpart Macy’s Heart of Haiti (which I had the honor of seeing for myself last February), Rwanda Path to Peace is a trade not aid program that is not a charity but a business initiative. Women from both sides of the ethnic divide have come together to weave baskets,creating an industry supporting thousands of Rwandan women and their families. It has had a huge impact on the community lifting the women and their families out of poverty and giving them sustainable hope for the future.

Each Macy’s Path of Peace basket comes with a story.

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015

— 5 Comments

Gifts that Give Back: The Inspiration behind Kurandza

“Kurandza” = “to love” in Changana, the local language of our women in Mozambique

Last fall 2014 after returning from serving three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique, Elisabetta Colabianchi an American from California fulfilled a long-term dream of founding Kurandza. Kurandza is a purpose-driven fashion company that creates handcrafted jewelry and accessories with women in Mozambique. Their mission is to empower women, the majority of whom are HIV positive, through education and employment opportunities. In addition to receiving fair wages for their work, profits from sales go back to this community to fund development projects.

Kurandza got its start while Elisabetta was a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching HIV-positive women the skill of sewing so that they could earn a sustainable income and provide for themselves and their families. Today, Kurandza sells online and are supporting nine women in Mozambique.

Elisabetta with two women from her “Mother to Mother” support group at the local hospital where she worked.

Although I have already added Kurandza to my permanent page of “Gifts that Give Back”, I wanted to learn more about the story behind it. I had an opportunity to conduct and interview with Elisabetta to learn more about her inspiration behind Kurandza and what she hopes to achieve. Here it is.

Elisabetta in Geneva where she participated in a study abroad program at the United Nations through NYU.

A Conversation with Elisabetta Colabianchi, Founder and CEO of Kurandza

Me: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What did you study and why did you choose to be in the Peace Corps?

Elisabetta: I’m from San Francisco, California, but have lived in many different places that I still consider home. During college in San Diego, I studied Biology, foreign languages and Peace and Justice Studies. I was so fortunate to be able to study abroad in Mexico, Argentina, and in Italy, where I spent my junior year. In Milan, Italy, I took several courses in International Relations at the Italian university and also studied fashion. After college, I moved to New York City where I worked for an anti-hunger non-profit, helping low-income residents apply for public benefits and learn about financial literacy and nutrition. There I realized that I wanted to do similar work abroad, teaching people skills that would help them have a better future. I’ve always loved learning new languages, traveling and adapting to different cultures and making a difference, so I thought Peace Corps was the right next step. I was thrilled when I found out that I would be a Community Health Volunteer in Mozambique and would be learning Portuguese (the national language) as well as a local language, too!

Me: What inspired you to start Kurandza?

Elisabetta: As a Community Health Volunteer, I worked at the local hospital counseling HIV positive women on treatment adherence and the prevention of transmission of HIV to their babies. I noticed that many of the patients weren’t able to reach the hospital every month to pick-up their treatment because they didn’t have an income to pay for the transportation expenses. I wanted to help these women stay on treatment and continue attending their support groups and counseling sessions so that they and their babies would remain healthy. This is what inspired me to start an income generation activity for these women. My friend, Percina, thought that teaching these women how to sew would be a beneficial skill for them for their entire lives, and I’ve always been interested in fashion and creating jewelry, so we thought starting a sewing cooperative was a perfect choice!

With her friend and co-worker, Percina, at Elisabetta’s “despedida” going away party.

Me: What were some of the challenges you faced in starting Kurandza?

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

September 17, 2015

— 8 Comments

Introducing Society B: An Online Marketplace for Good

“Our decision to give back is at the heart of our business. We are the first marketplace of social goods that also donates to charity. Giving 10 percent of our total sales to a reputable non-profit each week blurs the line between for-profit and non-profit, and we believe that is the future of commerce.” – Co-Founder Lindsay Byers-Hirth.

Earlier this month two sisters, Lindsay Byers-Hirth and Kelli Byers fulfilled a shared dream by launching their new socially conscious company Society B. Society B curates the best, socially conscious products available today and sells them to consumers online while also giving back 10% of its sales to a new charity of the week, every week. The selection of products are beautiful and carefully chosen after extensive research to ensure that the products are either fair trade or give back and does good to a specific cause. This cuts out the tedious research for consumers and allows them to easily do good.

I had the opportunity to chat with one of the founders, Lindsay Byers-Hirth this week to learn more about the inspiration behind Society B and what differentiates Society B from other online for profit social enterprises. Here is what Lindsay had to say.

Me: What inspired you and your sister, two working moms, to start Society B?

Lindsay: In early 2000, while attending Iowa State University Kelli and I were both very engaged in charity and the spirit of giving back. We talked often about how wonderful it would be if we could create products to give back to charity. But realistically we didn’t have the time or the money. We held on to our dreams while starting a family and career in different states. Then, last Christmas Kelli and I were both home talking about our corporate jobs and how we both wish we had a better sense of purpose in our work. We were brainstorming ways to create something that would do good when we literally stumbled upon it. We were shopping in Fayetteville, Arkansas and came across a few products that give back from brands we hadn’t heard of before. And we realized that we wished we could find all those do-good brands in one place, and that was really our epiphany.

Me: Once you had the idea, what did you do next?

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

September 10, 2015October 4, 2017

— 3 Comments

Too Young To Wed Launches Exclusive Print Sale

“Stephanie Sinclair has spent the last decade documenting some of the world’s most controversial subjects, from Yemen’s child brides to Texas’s polygamists. But her goal is simple: to record what is in front of her and pass as little judgement as possible”. Her beautiful photographs take us in and make us want to help change the tragic realities we are seeing. Her work also inspires hope that change is possible.

Images of 3 Iconic Prints for Sale from Stephanie Sinclair’s award-winning documentary photography collection. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair

Too Young to Wed, a non-profit organization, that employs visual media, photography exhibits and campaigns to educate and engage the global community to demand an end to the practice of child marriage, has launched its first print sale in collaboration with Photoville, New York City’s largest annual photo festival. I have written before about Too Young to Wed in a must-read post after meeting Founder and Executive Director Stephanie Sinclair last fall. Her work on shedding light about the injustices faced by young women and girls is inspiring and has already brought about change. It is nearly impossible to view Sinclair’s stunning photography without being deeply moved and wanting to help change the fate of these girls.

This photo of Ten-year-old Nujoud Ali taken two years after her divorce grace’s National Geographic’s “Women of Vision” cover. Nujoud’s story caused parliament to consider a bill writing a minimum marriage age into law. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair

Too Young to Wed: Mission

Every two seconds, a girl is forced into marriage against her will. The younger she is, the more likely a child bride is to experience domestic violence, contract HIV, develop complications from pregnancies or even die during childbirth. Child marriage robs girls of the childhood and the education they deserve, silencing them and preventing them from achieving their fullest potential.

Too Young to Wed’s mission is to protect girls’ rights and end child marriage. We do this by providing visual evidence of the human rights challenges faced by women and girls. Through our storytelling, we generate attention and resources to amplify the voices of these courageous women and girls and inspire the global community to end child marriage. We transform influential advocacy into tangible action on the ground through partnerships with international and local NGOs and by supporting initiatives in the communities where the girls in our stories live.

Sinclair’s work is phenomenal and incredibly moving. Now you can have a limited edition copy of your own and the purchase is for a fabulous cause. Each 8X10 archival print was hand-printed and signed by Ms. Sinclair, whose award-winning work documenting child marriage has been exhibited around the world. Ms. Sinclair’s work will be featured at Photoville at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and like the premiere photo event, which attracted 71,000 visitors last year, and the print sale will run from Sept. 10 – 20, 2015.

Prints can be ordered at tooyoungtowed.org/printsale, and 100 percent of the contributions received from photo sales will directly support TYTW’s mission to protect girls’ rights and end child marriage. Too Young to Wed supports local organizations and persons making a difference in the lives of girls and boys who are affected by the harmful practice of child marriage such as:

The Samburu Girls Foundation, a grassroots organization in rural Kenya, which provides shelter and education to girls rescued from child marriage, female genital mutilation and other harmful practices. practices. To date, the organization has rescued more than 200 girls and placed 125 of them in boarding school.
The women and children of the Kagati Village in Nepal where Ms. Sinclair conducted much of her child marriage reporting in 2007 and an area that was destroyed in the recent earthquakes (child bride, Niruta, 13, is featured as part of this exhibition);
Girl Empowerment Groups – an adolescent girls empowerment initiative designed by the Population Council for vulnerable girls living in rural areas. In this capacity, Too Young To Wed will support the village of Gombat, just outside of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia where Ms. Sinclair first photographed Destaye, who was married at 11 to an Ethiopian Orthodox priest (also part of this exhibition).

Photoville Presentations and Talks:

Sept. 12: Stephanie Sinclair will represent Too Young To Wed in the panel Affecting Policy and Change through Photography from 4-5 PM and will discuss how her work transformed into a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending child marriage.

Sept 17: TYTW will engage students during Photoville’s Education Day, a one-day field trip to the photo village that’s free and open to NYC public schools. Hundreds of middle school and high school students participate in a day of photography and storytelling activities, and they’ll have an opportunity to see how photography can bring about social change.

Sept. 19: Stephanie Sinclair discusses her Too Young to Wed photographs during the event An Evening with National Geographic, from 7-10pm at the Photoville Beer Garden. The evening will begin with photos and videos from the past 127 years—including the most recent stories from National Geographic and their digital platforms. Other photographers included are Katie Orlinsky, Robert Clark and David Guttenfelder with Director of Photography Sarah Leen serving as Master of Ceremonies.

Ways to help end child marriage and support Too Young to Wed:

Purchase a print during this limited time: Visit tooyoungtowed.org/printsale to support our programming
Donate: Visit www.tooyoungtowed.org and click Donate.
Volunteer: Share your skills and collaborate with TYTW. For opportunities email info@tooyoungtowed.org
Be Social and Keep Educated on the facts by following Too Young to Wed:

Twitter: @2young2wed
Instagram: @tooyoungtowed
Facebook: facebook.com/tooyoungtowed

Hashtags: #endchildmarriage #tooyoungtowed

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Gifts that Give Back Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD

August 12, 2015

— 6 Comments

OFEDA: Women Survivors of Haiti’s Earthquake Creating Hope and Possibility

It was 4:43 in the afternoon on a typical hot and humid January day in Haiti when the first tremor stuck and rattled the ground below Port-au-Prince with relentless terror. Haiti has had its fair share of political, economic and natural disasters in the past yet nothing prepared this poverty-stricken island nation of 10 million people for the destruction and aftermath of the January 10, 2010 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

As the earth shook with violent ferocity and the buildings began to crumble and fall, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were killed and entire communities were flattened. An estimated 1.5 million people were left homeless, and most were in Haiti’s overcrowded capital Port-au-Prince. International aid poured into Haiti along with countless NGOs (non-governmental organizations) who set up emergency services to provide immediate medical treatment, water, food and much-needed shelter.

The “Gingerbread” homes and slums that raise up the mountains behind luxurious Pétionville.

Faced with the urgent needs of providing immediate shelter to the homeless, hundreds of tent communities popped up around the city, some legal and some not. Despite good intentions, many of the tent communities were in deplorable conditions often lacking water and sanitation and safety. Some tents were made from donated plastic tarp while others were more homemade being patched together out of spare linens and plastic sheets. When the floods and unbearable heat came, the situations inside the tent communities become like hell on earth if they weren’t already miserable. Tragically, hardly any humanitarian aid reached some of these communities and families were left to fend for themselves to survive.

As many as 50,000 Haitians slept in this earthquake survivor camp in the Del Mas area in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 21, 2010.Photo credit: Fred W. Baker III via Wikimedia Commons

Gifts that Give Back Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises Haiti SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION

June 22, 2015April 27, 2018

— 14 Comments

The art of making Papier-mâché in Jacmel

Papier-mâché = French for “chewed paper”, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste.

Papier-mâché is an extremely important form of art in Haiti and there is no other place where it is produced in such magnitude as Jacmel. We visited this beautiful seaside town to meet some papier-mâché artisans who supply the colorful papier-mâché vases and serving trays to Macy’s Heart of Haiti program.

Papier-mâché has been made for centuries originating in China, the inventors of paper, back in the Han Dynasty (BC 202 – AD 220) and spreading to Japan, Persia and Egypt and eventually Europe in the mid 17th century. In Haiti, papier-mâché has been made for generations as an important artistic and cultural part of Carnival and other celebrations.

Our group visited the studio of papier-mâché artisan Pierre Satyr where we received a live demonstration of how to make a vase out of papier-mâche by artisan Harry Sylvaince.

The studio of Papier-mâché artisan Pierre Satyr in Jacmel, Haiti

Inside the studio we met Paul Satyr and Harry Sylvaince, two papier-mâché artisans who have been working with Macy’s Heart of Haiti program, a trade not aid program that began after the earthquake to help Haiti’s artisans find a market for their products. Paul “Satyr”, a master painter whose friends call him Satyr, is President of the Jacmel Guild of Artists in Haiti, where he hopes to build a new artisans’ center. Patterns from his collection are inspired by patchwork and made from old rags. When asked about his work, Satyr mused: “We are creating joy from remnants and are sending joy out into the world. We hope that people will smile and feel great happiness when they see and collect our work”.

CULTURE Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD

June 15, 2015April 27, 2018

— 18 Comments

Meet Christelle Paul, Haitian Bone and Horn Artist

Before visiting Haiti, I never would have imagined that this tiny island nation has such an amazing artistic culture. The arts have not only survived poverty, earthquakes and other natural and political disasters, they have thrived and persevered just like the Haitian people.

What is the most astounding aspect of Haiti’s art community is the artisans’ unbelievable imagination and creativity to produce art from pretty much anything. Thrown out oil cans became the inspiration for a dynamic metal arts community. Old pieces of newspaper are striped, dyed and used to create papier-mâché masks, vases, floats, and other masterpieces. Even horns and bones from cattle that normally are thrown away, are dried and sanded to make gorgeous jewelry and furniture. The list is endless.

I had never heard of Horn and Bone art until I visited Haiti and met with Haitian Horn and Bone artist Christelle Paul, founder and chief designer at her workshop “Atelier Calla“ in Port-au-Prince. Horn and Bone art began within the walls of Haiti’s prisons in the 1950s. To pass the time, the men in prison enjoyed playing games and they ingeniously discovered they could use old horns and bones to make pieces for card games. The art continued to evolve over the years being passed down from generation to generation.

Photo of Danica Kombol (Everywhere Agency) and Christelle Paul in Haiti.

Christelle has always been passionate about art yet she had pursed a career in banking. One day back in 2006 she was out shopping and noticed that there were a lot of products made out of horn and bone yet none that she really liked. This inspired her to start creating her own horn and bone jewelry based on the designs and ideas she desired. What began as a hobby suddenly grew into a passion. Yet the journey from being a full-time banker to full-time artist was a long one.

Some of Christelle’s beautiful creations.

A series of setbacks such as the 2010 earthquake stopped Christelle from following her dreams yet after a meeting with famous designer Donna Karan, Christelle decided to quit her job and pursue her passion for Bone and Horn art full-time. Her workshop Atelier Calla was opened in October of 2011 and today her team employs 7 artisans within the community who were once unemployed. Her mission is to provide fair wages and work opportunities to help young, unemployed people find a fulfilling, sustainable career in the arts. She is a remarkable woman.

We visited Christelle’s studio to learn more about this unique kind of art and also hear how her studio and workshop have helped other Haitians pursue a career in art and provide for their family.

Artisans at work at Christelle's studio,

Artisans at work at Christelle Paul’s studio, Atelier Calla

Gifts that Give Back Haiti SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION

June 3, 2015

— 20 Comments

Jacmel’s amazing papier-mâché

Besides being known as a beautiful, colonial beachside town, Jacmel is one of the leading producers of papier-mâché in all of Haiti. In fact, this dazzling town of about 40,000 residents is famous for its arts and has dozens of studios and shops where papier-mâché is made, sold and celebrated especially during Haiti’s Carnival.

Our team visited Jacmel to see firsthand how papier-mâché is made and to meet some of the different artisans who sell their art to Macy’s Heart of Haiti program and Artisan Business Network (ABN). ABN is the heart and soul of Macy’s Heart of Haiti program (a “trade not aid” initiative that began after the earthquake to help local Haitian artisans sell their products in the United States). Run by Nathalie Tancrede, an amazing Haitian American woman who left her home in New York after the earthquake to help, ABN works with a variety of Haitian artisans to assist with long-term economic development and training on design, marketing, packaging and exporting so they can expand internationally. ABN has made a huge impact on the artisan community of Haiti which was largely hurt after the earthquake. It was amazing to see some of their incredible work and it just so happened that we were in Jacmel a few days before Carnival.

Founded in 1698 by French colonists, Jacmel has the most creative and yet traditional Carnival in Haiti awash with brilliantly colorful papier-maché masks and marionettes, bands à pieds, and street theatre depictions of politics, religion and pop culture. As we entered town, we could see papier-mâché statues and masks everywhere.

Given Jacmel’s vibrant cultural and artistic scene, it wasn’t a surprise to see art being made en plein air right on the streets. It felt like the entire city was alive and was quite invigorating.

CULTURE Gifts that Give Back Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises Haiti SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION