Jewelry Making funds my Mission Work in Haiti

I first began making jewelry as a way to raise funds to go on mission trips to Haiti. On one of the trips I took along some jewelry making supplies, and showed a couple of the women how to make jewelry. They loved it! It was creative, it was fun, and it gave them a sense of accomplishment.

It occurred to me, that if I could teach more women, they could perhaps start a co-op, and make some money. Like the old proverb about teaching a man to fish.......you feed him for a lifetime.

Well, today there is a successful jewelry making group, and the items they make are brought back to the states and sold. 100% of the proceeds are returned to the group in Haiti. So far, over $3000 US dollars have been raised. And the work continues.

I first learned jewelry making to raise money for our women's ministry, so that we could provide need based grants for our annual retreat. I was so surprised at how quickly we raised a good amount of money.

That inspired me to continue making jewelry and to raise money for mission trips in this way. We continue to have sales at church periodically. We also give presentations on Haiti at other churches, and include the jewelry sales as part of it.

God is so good, and continues to provide us the means to do our mission work in Haiti.

Because we wanted to do our best to keep things fresh, the next thing we did was to have group classes and taught jewelry making. For a modest fee we taught folks how to make a necklace or a bracelet. They had great fun learning, it was a social event, and they had a wonderful finished item to take home. Everyone was happy.

Did you know that when Christopher Columbus discovered America, it was Haiti where he actually first landed? The word Haiti means "land of mountains". Haiti is the second country in North America to gain independance, in 1804. This was done through a successful slave revolt against France.

Today much of the population of Haiti still practice vodou as their religion. I have personally talked with people who have witnessed it's power over people.

Haiti has had a long history of dictators, 20 some coups of it's government, and has 28 political parties. It is currently a democratic country, but its long history of corruption permiates into every facet of life, unfortunately.

Haiti is currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with an average annual income of only $400. Haiti has 55% illiteracy, 10% of the child population will die before age 4, life expectancy is 50, and half the population are under 15 years old.

There are many homeless children. 7% of the child population ends up in a domestic form of slavery. These children are called restavecs. Their families can not afford to feed them, and so they are given away to others who promise to care for them in return for them doing domestic work. Instead of caring for them, they are often brutalized, are not allowed to go to school or socialize with other children, and many become sexual slaves.

Haiti suffers from 70% unemployment, a lack of clean drinking water, only 40% of the population has clean water, and most recently food prices have nearly doubled causing an already poor population to suffer even deeper. Most families are fortunate if they eat one meal, every other day.

Haiti is also 95% deforrested. Trees are cut down to make charcoal to cook food over an open fire. For every new tree planted, 4 are cut down. This is a rate that has spun totally out of control. When the rains come, with no trees, top soil is washed away into the ocean, often destroying entire villages in floods. With less fresh water being absorbed into the aquifer, salt water begins to intrude into the fresh water supply.

With so many problems, and so much suffering, it is difficult to know where to begin. I decided that at least for me, the answer was one child at a time. If I can make a difference for one child, then I have helped to end the cycle of suffering. Through education, it is my hope that there will be opportunities to earn a living. I strongly believe that real change needs to come from the Haitian people, not from outside sources telling them what to do. It is my desire to help empower the Haitian people through education to take ownership of Haiti's problems, and to be creative and driven to improve life there.