Caribbean Craft sharing Haiti's colors with the world

Magalie is a woman of too many passions and talents. The CEO of Caribbean Craft has a true love for her county and seeks to CHANGE THE NARRATIVE. Continuously promoting the talents and hidden treasures of Haiti, exposing them to the world. Teaming up with the top motivated designers in and outside of Haiti, the best web designers and marketers, bloggers and writers, merchants and vendors that woman shakes the world to better shape the future of her artisans.

With her driving attitude and no nonsense mindset she is a pillar in the Haitian crafts sector and one that only seems to grow more ambitious and eager to see her country come out of its shell and show its true, vibrant colors to the world. Her favorite saying

“ Haiti might be in your heart but Haiti is in my hand the hands of each and every Haitians”.

Magalie is among these few believers and fighters for a bright future, possible for Haiti and it will be written by its creative minds.

 
It was such a pleasure to have her share these memories with us for the third feature of our series Lavi an koulè! Her vibrant spirit is just what this summer is all about.

Why did you start Caribbean Craft?

Putting people to work is of a paramount importance in the critical task of rehabilitating our struggling country, and we consider it an honor and our duty, as citizens, to participate, at our level.

What is your favorite summer memory as a Haitian kid?

It is so difficult for me to choose just one and hope you will forgive me for sharing my top 3 favorite memories. If I close my eyes and think of my summer memories as a child the first thing that comes to mind is:

the bike rides in les Cayes. With my cousins we would tour the town delivering gallons of milk from my uncle farm. We would spend of course extra time wandering around .

The second is the scary story telling nights were we would all gather and the older kids with some adults will share the stories about the Haitian legends. They would keep us up late at night.

The third is our Sundays at the beach: my parents would take me every Sunday for that ride to the north coast and we would spend the day swimming ad floating in the ocean I also like a little monkey enjoyed climbing the trees and step away, find my solo time and read a book up there on the tree observing the world from above.

What is your favorite fruit/food to eat in the summer ?

The summer fruit that I would look forward to every summer is the KENEP . Like grapes I would enjoy that sweet and sour fruit with that constant fear of swallowing the seeds as the adults would tell us if you do you will die!

What is one thing in your life that keeps you vibrant ?

The joy that everything little things brings me. I am a very passionate person they call me the woman with too many passions and it is true from gardening to hosting, caring for my girls. cooking reading ,yoga , traveling dancing working designing I love every single aspect of my life and that keeps me glowing .

How are you planning to incorporate more moments of joy in your life this summer through your business and daily routine? 

First of all I plan to spend more time with my family. A woman who can keep her family happy and united is a true inspiration now a days. Slowing down and going back to the basics that’s what I will do this summer. I also intend to spend a lot of time finding ways to address the needs of our artisans life has gotten so hard for each one of them that I must find an outside of the box solution to be at service to this community.

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW THEIR WORK ON INSTAGRAM. DO NOT FORGET TO GIVE THEM A FOLLOW AND SUPPORT BY SHARING WITH FRIENDS!

"When I think of Haitian Women..."

What comes to your mind when thinking of Haitian Women?

International Women's Day: an Ode to Empowered Women!

In honor of International Women’s Day, we want to share with you a very special, and personal message from one of our jewelry artisans. Ismaella and her mother, Carmelle, have worked with Haiti Design Co since 2013. They have a special bond that is undeniable.

Ismaella is a part of our in-house advanced english class. As a final project for 2018, the students were asked to write an essay about something they are passionate about. Below is Ismaella’s heartfelt essay on her personal role model and representation of women’s empowerment.

Enjoy!

“At Haiti Design Co. we have several teams who work in the workshop and I belong to one of these teams, the jewelry team. Every team has their own name, and mine is Fanm Djanm, which means strong women. The person who gave us this name is our manager, Guerdy, who is a devoted wife, an amazing mother, and is the definition of a strong woman.

There are several of us, and among us there are single mothers and independent women, and all of us are strong. I am a strong woman because of my mother. She is a single mom and a brave woman.

My mother told me that when she was pregnant, she had to run away from her father and leave her hometown and her house because he wanted to hurt her. He had become her enemy for years. A lady took my mom in like a foster mom after her escape, and it was in her house that I grew up.

My mom had to become a street vendor in order to earn money to ensure our survival. She sacrificed a lot for me. She was both my mother and my father as she raised me. She fought to give me what is good and what is best. She has fulfilled all of her parental duties, and I won’t ever stop thanking her for everything that she has done for me.

In Haiti, life is difficult.In an unorganized society, men often don’t respect women, and fathers often do not take responsibility for their children. Women have to become strong to survive and to support their children.

This kind of woman is everywhere. She could be a friend, or a family member, or a stranger. We can meet them throughout the day and not even know it. But for me, I don’t have to look any further than at my work. We are a small community of strong women. We share good and bad times, and because we spend so much time together, we have become a second family.

There is no shortage of strong women who work at HDC. HDC gives us the opportunity to earn money and allows us to become better than we could have imagined. We can go farther, and we can understand that we have potential for great things. HDC helps us realize that we don’t need a man to help us, but that we can take care of ourselves and our families.

In our eyes, you can see hope, in our hearts, there is courage and love. We are women who know how to overcome adversity, women who know how to get up after a fall. Strength is the best word to define us, and that’s why we are called Fanm Djanm.”

Make sure to send some extra love to the strong women in your life today.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Photos by the talented Kelsey Cherry Photography