Have A Heart For Haiti

It was a year ago tomorrow the devastating earthquake ripped through the country of Haiti. With the Caribbean being so small, it could just as easily been Puerto Rico. While I’m grateful it wasn’t my own homeland, my heart hurt for the Haitians.

Haiti 2010 by Cap’n Brian, on Flickr

For what I feel was too short of a time, the world opened their hearts and wallets for the Haitian people. Money poured into international aid agencies, many smaller charities sent help parties to assist in the hard work of repairing and rebuilding cities and many individuals grouped with friends to travel to Haiti and help where they could. As the year went on though, we heard less and less of Haiti in the news.

With the upcoming anniversary, Haiti is sure to be back in the news. It’s also the perfect time for us to use our blogging power to create a second big push to help Haiti. The country has received a lot of aid, but still needs so much more. If you like shopping or are interested in an aid trip, here are two opportunities for you to help out:

With the help of the Fair Winds Trading Company, Macy’s has joined forces with more than 200 Haitian artists to give them their first contracts since the earthquake hit last year. These Haitian artists are turning raw materials left in the wake of the earthquake into cultural art embodying the heart of Haiti. Macy’s has made the art available for purchase in their Shop For A Better World section. More information on the Heart of Haiti Project and the products for purchase can be found http://www.macys.com/heartofhaiti.

 

If you’re a fellow blogger, please consider the February Haiti Blogger Trip organized by Willa Shalit of Fair Winds Trading Company. It’s a 2 day trip in and around Port Au Prince. You will stay at the Historic Oloffson Hotel with a trip to visit Heart of Haiti metal artists in their workshops. All details are not set in stone, but if you’re interested, make sure to download more information on the trip to Haiti.

I hope one of these spurs you to action for Haiti. They still need so much of our help.

I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity. All opinions are my own.