Friday, April 20, 2012

From Trash to Treasures!

A month ago, our friend and fellow board member, Gina Bueso, and friend, Iliana Callejas, offered to teach anyone on the north side of St. Helene how to take plastic trash bags and turn them into products to be sold at Gina's shop at the Roatan cruise ship dock. This past weekend, they showed me what they had already created! Now they are taking what used to be trash littering the ground, and turned them into beautiful treasures that will eventually provide them with money to feed and clothe their families!
I could already see a difference in the countenance of the women participating. They have more confidence. They know they can do this and do it well. And they are having fun doing it!! They laughed as they told me the only ones not liking this new endeavor are the men... because the women are spending so much time crocheting now, they're not cooking enough for them! ;-)

The ladies voted on a "head" of the women's group that will keep track of hours worked per person. The women will be sharing the money coming in equally between themselves based on the number of hours worked. By doing it this way, it causes the women to come together, interact and socialize. From what they have told me, they are not accustomed to doing that, and are enjoying it very much.

As in everything ALF does, we don't give it away for free. There has to be a "buy-in" so there is "skin in the game." In this case, the crochet hooks given to the women were not free. It is a loan of $1.50 per hook to be paid back after their products start selling. It is a minimal amount, but it is something, and it begins to teach them business skils, work ethic, and self-respect.

There were not enough hooks for them to each have their own, so they've been sharing until I could bring more down. But before I could get more hooks to them last weekend, one of the ladies' husbands started making them out of wood and bamboo... and they work perfectly!! They are shaped and sized to match a store-bought size 6.5 hook EXACTLY!! (Yet another product to produce and sell??)

We are excited for these strong, beautiful women to be productive members of their family and community! Be watching for a way to purchase one of these hand-crafted bags for yourself soon!!