From Rubble to Revival: This Mission Means Business Greif criteria for sustainable activity: It must be good for people, the planet and profits rom the air, you can see mountains ring the expansive city, which is flanked to the north and the west by the ocean. It looks like a tropical paradise at that altitude. From the ground, it’s a much different story. Stepping out of the air terminal and into the white sunlight, the first thing you notice is the heat…you quickly begin to identify with a baking potato. You make the long walk to Immigration, sited away from the terminal in a dim, low-ceilinged concrete warehouse. Two desks with agents and two lines crammed with F This Mission Means Business 1 of 7 Aug. 25, 2011
Transcript
From Rubble to Revival: This Mission Means Business
Greif criteria for sustainable activity: It must be good for people, the planet and profits
rom the air, you can see mountains ring the expansive city, which is flanked to
the north and the west by the ocean. It looks like a tropical paradise at that altitude.
From the ground, it’s a much different story.
Stepping out of the air terminal and into the white sunlight, the first thing you notice
is the heat…you quickly begin to identify with a baking potato. You make the long walk to Immigration, sited away from the terminal in a dim, low-ceilinged concrete warehouse. Two desks with agents and two lines crammed with
F
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your fellow passengers separate you from the checked bags and freedom.
With nothing to declare, and only carry-on bags, you breeze past the bright-eyed and t-shirted volunteers waiting for their gear.
You’re out the final door and onto a sidewalk, mercifully under cover for the trek past the greeters holding up signs – none with your name. Finally, where the sidewalk ends, you find your hostess Isabelle and the guard who will stick to your side for the next two days. You chat cheerily about the flight, the weather, the agenda and hope to high heaven that your guard won’t have to be as menacing as he seems.
So begins your adventure. I had the fortune to accompany Scott
Griffin, Greif’s VP of Sustainability (and Commercial Excellence, but this trip was about sustainability) as he joined with representatives of the Clinton Global Initiative to participate in a news conference and then make connections for Greif’s “Buckets to Backpacks” project.
We made our way first to Croix des Bouquets, where Serge Jolimeau and his cadre of metal artisans work their craft.
Roads are for the most part compacted dirt, rutted and narrow.
Long piles of trash line the roads. Where neighborhoods were, rubble remains, their occupants now moved into the tent cities covering every square inch of what once were green parks and golf courses.
Even the Presidential Palace, the pride of the country, sits in ruins slated for demolition, a symbol of power capitulating to the even greater power of nature.
This is the reality of Port-au-Prince, 20 months after the earthquake that destroyed the homes of nearly 1.8 million Haitians, and where 600,000 are still without homes.
Why Greif Is in Haiti Greif joined the Clinton Global Initiative in 2009. It was there that President & COO David Fischer and Scott Griffin first saw the steel drums transformed into art. With Haiti already a focus area of CGI because of prior natural disasters, former U.S. President Bill Clinton had commissioned Mr. Jolimeau of that island nation to design and create the piece as a Clinton Global Citizen Award.
It was a natural fit for Greif. Then came Jan. 12, 2010 and the
earthquake…and a renewed commitment to the country. Used steel drums were no longer available and the artists’ work would dry up without them. Greif arranged to send 1,000 drum lids immediately, and promised to send more until their supply of used drums was once again secure.
A second life for drum lids
The global sales of their art would contribute to their country’s economy – and help revive Haiti as a market for drums. Back to the Present At the press meet-and-greet in Croix des Bouquets, about 50 artists, photographers and reporters jostled for space in front of a roped-off lectern. President Clinton was there to visit the artists and announce Greif’s gift of 40 tons – four shipping containers full
– of steel. Scott was there to speak as well, to represent us all at Greif.
President Clinton introduced Greif: “Greif is a company with an
international reach located in the heartland of America in the state of Ohio, which has had a lot of its own economic problems. In spite of the challenges they face, this company has a great feeling for what it can and should do for people around the world, and especially in Haiti. And the commitment they are making today as a member of our global initiative will help more of you to do your work, to increase your income and to cut your costs. I’m thrilled about it. So I ask you to join with me in welcoming here from the United States and the State of Ohio Scott Griffin from Greif.”
After taking the stage, Scott responded:
“We received a call in 2010 about the need to secure steel. It was
through the help of the Clinton Foundation that allowed us to bring in two container
loads of steel. I’m here today to tell you that we will continue to make these shipments until the artists and the communities return to pre-earthquake status and procure the steel they need to make their art.… Our newest commitment for 2011 is to work with the artists on safety. Greif is committed to bringing safety training to the artisan community so that they can continue their work in the safest and most environmentally
responsible manner. We are committed to keeping our support to the steel drum artisan community in Haiti so that new generations of artists can pass this beautiful tradition along to their families and continue to give second life to these steel drums.
Scott (top middle) and Clinton (bottom right) each study their notes before their respective speeches at the news conference
Before the news conference. The AP reporter, left, and our guard, ever on alert, left of center in black shirt
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A fraction of the steel drum lids from Greif in Latin America – and the art they could become
“On behalf of Greif, I’d like to thank President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation and all the beautiful people of Haiti that make this job so rewarding not only for myself, but for all our 16,000 employees at Greif. We wish you all the best and we look forward to returning in September with safety training.”
(To strip the paint off the used drums, the artists would burn the steel in an open pit. They would then hammer and chisel their steel canvases without protection for their hands or eyes, or any part of their bodies, for that matter.)
Not convinced that those gathered understood the import of what was announced, President Clinton took the microphone one more time. (You will need to be signed into Greif Connection to view this video. Be patient, and the video does eventually focus on Clinton.)
Next stop for Clinton and crew was Caribbean Craft, the company that coordinates Haitian artists and exports their products to a global wholesale market. Caribbean Crafts artisans receive fair wages, health and accident insurance, a pension system and interest-free loans to meet their own needs when crises strike. It was through the help of Caribbean Craft that we could
ship the steel into Haiti from our Latin America business.
In another presentation, Clinton announced a business loan program that would be available to qualified Haitian businesses, and Caribbean Craft was announced as the first recipient. (After you read the AP report, be sure to toggle through the photos, too.) Fashion designer and Urban Zen founder Donna Karan was there in support; she is preserving Haiti’s creative culture by developing a line of sustainable fashion and home
décor products made by Haitians in Haiti. This extended press conference with
Clinton was just the beginning of our mission, however.
It’s mid-afternoon, and we are driven with our guard to a restaurant where we reconnect with Isabelle for a late lunch. It’s also our designated meeting point with Donna Karan and leading fashion photographer and Nomad Two Worlds founder Russell James.
A Brief Digression The subject is water … more to the point, it’s about how clean water can be transported where there is no infrastructure to carry it into the home.
For centuries, women and children have been carrying buckets of water on their heads; this can severely damage the spine and lead to complications during childbirth. The buckets (and jerricans) are usually reclaimed from a previous use, usually as containers of chemicals that could leach into the plastic.
As part of our sustainability program, springing out of our concern about potable water as a sustainable resource, Greif came up with a better idea.
From the scraps of our flexible IBCs, we could create backpacks to carry water. Better yet, we could create a kit with all the materials needed, including a spout made by Tri-Sure® Closures and plastic buckles we
would have made, to sew a backpack. We could then sell these kits to enterprising third-world entrepreneurs for under a dollar apiece. They would assemble the backpacks and in turn sell them for a profit.
As a sweetener, these backpacks are totally recyclable. Back to Lunch We showed the prototypes to Donna and James to hear their opinions. Overall, they were enthusiastic about the backpack, and saw a need for it. At the production level, they had invaluable advice: the open seam was too harsh on the edges; the strap threads separated with a little poking on the warp; the color white would show dirt. All easily solvable.
In quid pro quo, Donna asked for help with the steel drum art she wanted to merchandise. The glossy finish on the existing pieces wouldn’t appeal to her high-end buyers. Scott would make the contacts within the industry; Donna would get the patina she wants. The Haitian artists would gain access to a new, profitable market. The Haitian economy would benefit with the stimulus of new dollars flowing in; Haiti would become a stronger market for drums.
Everyone wins. After the meeting, we head to our hotel –
the Hotel Montana, which was partially destroyed in the earthquake. We can relax a bit; it’s in a secure area. It has electricity, air conditioning and running hot and cold water. (My room did, anyway. Scott says he had only cold water in his. I don’t feel sorry for him.)
We go to dinner with our guard, who has a fascinating family history in Haiti and a strong bond with his country. He would be interested in hunting wild hogs on Soterra’s land. And yes, he does carry a weapon. Greif’s prototype water backpacks. One for the
back, one that can be converted to carry on the head
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Through her Foundation, she also has connections with the water sector – including water.org and Pepsi – and will be happy to share them, as well as her marketing ideas for the product, which she believes is on par with the necessity of bed nets.
The Next Day We begin with another meeting with another NGO (non-governmental organization) – this time, ONEXONE, founded by Joelle Berdugo Adler, President and CEO of Diesel (the jeans label). Joey is working on developing a village in Haiti where fabric would be created and clothing sewn, and wants the buildings to be LEED Gold certified.
It’s a good meeting. Then we’re off to two more meetings. At
Habitat for Humanity Haiti, we talk about the rain barrels we are donating to its new-build Santo community. At ProDev, we talk about how they will help distribute 600 to 1,000 water backpacks in a first large-scale trial.
Meetings done, it’s time to go back to the airport to catch the flight home. Our guard and another who seems to be an airport porter elbow and jostle us through the overburdened line three wide and snaking out the terminal. Without their help, we would have waited three hours to get in the door. Once inside, we must pass through three stations of security. Every space is packed with people trying to make their flights, and there are only two flights going out that afternoon. Here is where the devastation of Haiti truly gets personal for the traveler.
We can connect her with wind energy experts – one of our own fabric factories in Turkey uses a wind turbine to generate power. She is a passionate, avowed capitalist who sees the long-term benefit in helping another economy rise from the ashes. She suggests that a company of water backpack sewers could co-locate in her planned factory.
But we’ll be back. Haiti gets under your skin.
Joey and her plan for the complex
Mr. Jolimeau’s workshops. The news conference with Clinton took place at the covered patio dimly visible at the back, between the two buildings.
