Update on ElderCare Artesian Program

It's been 2 months since I returned from Haiti when we started the ElderCare Artesian Program....teaching elders and their families how to make crafts that Americans will buy so that they can provide for themselves.  We have been learning an amazing amount and Hannah has continued to train the elders and adjust the program as necessary.  Here are some great statistics:

• 13 Elders and 14 of their children participate in the program.
• They have made 185 pieces of jewelry, notecards, bags, pillowcovers and more.
• They have made $573 to help support themselves and their families.
• Many of them have saved some or all of their money in lockboxes that we keep safe for them at Grace Village.
• We have sold $711 worth of product to short term missionaries at the guesthouse and at the Healing Haiti golf outing.  Profits will be used to purchase more supplies and expand the program.

Here are some samples of the things they are making:

 

Two pieces of exciting news: 

 

We are working out the details to be able sell these items at the Feed My Starving Children Gala on November 8th.

 

We are hiring a Haitian woman to run the program in Haiti starting on November 1st, so that elders and their families will be able make more items and therefore make more money for their families!

 

We are already seeing an impact in the lives of the people that are participating in the program.  One woman, Leronide (the daughter of Elie) has saved every dollar she has made in the lockboxes we provide for them.  She told Hannah that she plans to save enough by December to buy everything she needs to open a store that sells food staples on non-market days in Titanyen.  I love that through us, God can inspire and provide the opportunity for entrepreneurship that this woman would not otherwise have!

Leronide