SERRV has been working with Comité Artisanal Haitïen (CAH), our partner in Haiti, for more than 30 years. Following the catastrophic earthquake on January 12, we wanted to learn as quickly as possible how CAH staff, artisans, and their families were impacted and what we could do to help.

News began to come through CAH’s director Gisèle Fleurant that staff and artisans were uninjured, although many had lost their homes, and friends and family. We received a list of what the artisans needed most urgently – tents, canned food, linens, radios, and fl ashlights – and we immediately shipped 20 boxes of aid to Haiti.

Just fi ve weeks after the earthquake, SERRV Director of International Development Cheryl Musch traveled with photojournalist Phil Grout to Haiti to accompany Gisèle on her fi rst trip to visit many of CAH’s artisans to assess what they needed and to provide support in this diffi cult time.

Although several artisans had damage to their homes and workshops, the stone carvers living near the epicenter

in Léogane and Gressier were the most affected. Of the 200 carvers with whom CAH works, all but two have lost their homes. Most collapsed to the ground and are piles of rubble.

When asked what they need most, the stone carvers repeatedly emphasized that they need orders for their crafts to be able to rebuild their homes and workshops. These resilient and resourceful men and women want to earn the funds needed to get back on their feet.

SERRV has placed additional orders for Haitian products so artisans can continue to earn an income. And, thanks to generous donations from SERRV supporters, more than 60 families who work with CAH have received a grant of $300 each to use toward what they need most, whether it be housing, food, tools, or other needs.

Tools to Rebuild Lives in Haiti

a nonp ro f i t o rgan i za t i on

2010 SPEC IAL I SSUE

Photos from left: Gisèle Fleurant and metal artisan Pierre Richard DeRosie; a stone carver holds a River Stone Mother and Child statue amidst the rubble. SERRV’s reorder of these statues will be available by August.

On the day the earthquake struck, stone carver Dona Louissaint was sitting on the stoop of his new house, carving. The house had been completed 3 months prior, and Dona, his wife Nerline, and their 4-year-old son Leonardo were just settled in.

The house collapsed to the ground, and thankfully, none of them were injured. Dona took the corrugated metal from the roof of the house and built a temporary shelter for his family (in background of photo).

Dona, Nerline, and others working with them are now carving a new nativity which will be in the Fall 2010 SERRV catalog. They are thankful for the work, which will give them an income to rebuild.

Although most of the CAH stone carvers are men, there are a few women who carve, like 23-year-old Chena Gilles. She is from a family of carvers; she learned by watching her brother and cousins work. Chena and her husband just had their second child, a boy. About the time of the earthquake, she stopped carving to wait for the new baby.

For the fi rst few days after the earthquake, Chena and more than 20 other people from her community huddled together under a straw shelter. Some now have temporary places to live made from reclaimed or purchased building materials, but Chena and her family are still sleeping in a makeshift shelter. They will be one of the fi rst recipients of a tent from SERRV.

“This work is our tool to fi ght poverty. We want more orders to make money to repair and replace what we lost,” CAH metal artisan Jhonson Augustin said, refl ecting on the situation. “We’re thankful we did not lose anyone, and we thank God we have orders we did not expect.”

Jhonson has already repaired the cracked walls of his house. He and his wife, however, are still sleeping outside on a bed surrounded by a tarp and blanket since aftershocks are continuing and they are not sure their house is stable.

Your Support Through SERRV

Soon after the earthquake, SERRV mobilized to send supplies and funds to CAH. Our fi rst shipment of 20 boxes, fi lled with supplies that CAH director Gisèle Fleurant specifi cally requested for the artisans and their families, left in February. And in early March, SERRV sent $23,000 from our supporters.

Now, we are looking beyond the initial relief stage to what we can do over the longer term to assist Haitian artisans. Many craftspeople expressed that more than anything else, they want work. Increased sales of their art will give them better incomes. To grow those sales, Haitian products need a design boost to make them more desirable in the global market, and they need increased exposure to new buyers.

With your support, SERRV will work with CAH to develop their capacity to generate more sales through product design assistance with Haitian and U.S. designers; a Haitian artisan design center, which will serve as a resource for artisans; and promotional materials and staffi ng to reach new buyers. We are committed to investing in Haiti’s future.

“Two years ago I was in Haiti.And it was a very different place fi ve weeks after the earthquake. So many people who have visited Haiti since the earthquake have said that there are no words for the devastation. And there really aren’t. Homes have tumbled, businesses have collapsed, and schools have folded. Clean up is slow with only a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Thousands of people are living in makeshift camps in tents made of linens, tarps, and whatever they could salvage.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. And it is the poor, who were already living on the edge of poverty, who are most affected by the earthquake. They have few resources on which to draw.

The artisans who work with CAH are looking for orders so they can rebuild not just their homes and workshops, but their lives. They are ready and able to work. The making of handcrafts has survived, and in many ways is more important than ever. If artisans can work, they can support their families and rebuild for themselves. And, perhaps more importantly, work brings hope to this broken country.”

—Cheryl Musch, Director of International Development (second from right in the photo)

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. And it is the poor, who were already living

SERRV staff pack supplies destined for Haiti. SERRV staff pack supplies destined for Haiti. SERRV staff pack supplies destined for Haiti.

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SERRV’s Work in Haiti

It was 1976 when SERRV began working with our partner Comité Artisanal Haitïen (CAH). Over the years, we’ve built a strong relationship. Side-by-side we’ve addressed profound poverty in Haiti by supporting artisans and giving them a market in which to sell their products.

When Haiti was rocked by an earthquake in January, our thoughts immediately were with CAH and the artisans with whom they

work. SERRV and our supporters moved quickly to respond.

In this special issue newsletter, you can learn about SERRV’s response to the earthquake, the situation of artisans

working with CAH, and how you can be involved.

You can help nowGive a tax-deductible donation to the artisans of CAH and their families at www.serrv.org/donate

Purchase Haitian handcrafts at

www.serrv.org/Haiti

work. SERRV and our supporters moved quickly to respond.

In this special issue newsletter, you can learn about SERRV’s response to the earthquake, the situation of artisans

working with CAH, and how you can be involved.

Photographs in Haiti taken by photojournalistPhil Grout, who volunteered his time for the trip.