EVERYWHERE Travels to the Heart of Haiti

Konpliman! In just a few days, Danica and I will embark on the trip of a lifetime as we travel to Port au Prince, Haiti to meet the artisans behind Macy’s ‘Heart of Haiti’ initiative. Everywhere has had the honor and pleasure of being a part of the Heart of Haiti awareness campaign since it’s launch in October 2010. Formed out of a partnership between BRANDAID, Fair Winds Trading and Macy’s Inc., Heart of Haiti brings aid via a collection of Haitian artisan made, home décor products available for purchase in 25 Macy’s stores nationwide and on macys.com.

This past November, with the support of the BlogRollers, Everywhere created an “Ambassador program” to serve as the cornerstone effort to our campaign. We reached out to influential bloggers and asked them to take on Heart of Haiti as a personal cause rather than to simply write a blog post about it. Twelve ambassadors signed on, each writing numerous blog posts, encouraging their readers to consider Heart of Haiti as a gift that gives back, telling stories about the artisans, sharing information about how the art is made, and how this initiative is making a difference. The commitment from our ambassadors more than exceeded our expectations, so much so that we decided to honor one stellar blogger by awarding them a trip to Haiti led by Willa Shalit, the amazing woman behind Heart of Haiti.

Choosing one blogger from this extraordinary bunch may have been our most daunting task. Luckily we had help from a panel of advisors including representatives from Fair Winds Trading and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Ultimately our panel selected Ananda Leeke, a blogger based in Washington DC who bills herself as an “author, poet, & innerpreneur” and we can tell you that she is all of that and more!

The trip was originally conceived to be a quick jaunt to Port Au Prince (after all, it’s just a two hour flight from Miami) with the featured Ambassador. As word spread throughout the blogosphere, new travelers signed on, agreeing to sponsor their own trips in order to be a part of this incredible opportunity. We’re honored to be joined on this journey by a diverse collective of some of the most inspiring women we know; Travel Tastemaker Johnica Reed, Cause Marketing guru Sloane Berrent, Top PR Expert Heather Whaling, Photographer/Designer Deana Jirak.

On Saturday, February 26th we’ll begin our trip with a visit to Croix-Des-Bouquets. We’ll tour the site where 40 ateliers, including renowned artist Serge Jolimeau, hand cut, hammer and shape the various works of metal art featured in the Macy’s Heart of Haiti collection. From there we’ll visit Einstein Albert’s wood studio where he and his team of artisans create a collection of sustainable guma tree wood products.

The following day will bring us to local celebrity nun and founder of “Peace Quilters,” Sister Angela and her ensemble of women quilt makers. Later that day, we’ll tour the Caribbean Crafts large papier-mache operation along with the tent camps where many of their pieces are constructed.

Our last visit will be with the AFYA Foundation where we’ll meet artisans who lost limbs as a result of the earthquake and are being rehabilitated to eventually work with Heart of Haiti.

And finally, we’ll close out the trip in Jacmel to experience the return of their annual Carnival festivities. Jacmel Carnival is perhaps best known for its handmade costumes and masks created by local artisans. We’re thrilled to be able to experience firsthand, this rise from the ashes celebration during the final leg of our visit.

Stay tuned to http://heartofhaiti.tumblr.com and the blogroll below for updates and posts from the ground in Haiti. Our HOH ambassador, Ananda Leeke will be sharing a detailed re-cap of her experience post-trip on www.anandaleeke.com.

http://www.johnicareed.com/
http://www.thecausemopolitan.com/
http://prtini.com/