Exclusive! Chelsea Clinton Travels to Haiti Inline
Photo: Courtesy of Clinton Foundation1/7Caribbean Craft was our first stop in Port-au-Prince. Co-owner, and native Haitian, Magalie Dresse led the tour. As a long-term partner of the Clinton Foundation, Caribbean Craft was great to finally see in person and it was terrific to meet the local artisans. I’m proud we support this woman-owned business where beautiful and unique products are reaching local and international buyers including West Elm, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie, HomeGoods, and Urban Zen. We’re working to help Magalie expand her business even further—employing more women (and men) and reaching more consumers around the world.
Photo: Courtesy of Clinton Foundation2/7Here are papier-mâché panda ornaments which we saw artisans working on during our visit. Through our partnership, these will be sold at West Elm for the holidays!
Photo: Courtesy of Clinton Foundation3/7Immediately following our tour, I had the chance to participate in a No Ceilings conversation with Magalie Dresse and Carine Roenen from the Fonkoze foundation. Magalie and Carine talked about the work they’re each doing to empower women to better chart their own lives and take care of their families, focusing on everything from helping women learn to read to accessing credit. This was the eighteenth No Ceilings conversation overall, and the fourth held abroad! I’m grateful for the impact No Ceilings is having in informing and driving the conversation around full participation for women and girls but we still have so much work ahead to achieve that goal.
Photo: Courtesy of Clinton Foundation4/7Papillon Enterprise
Before talking with the small holder farmers alliance and others about work together, I had the chance to visit Papillon Enterprise, another woman-owned business where local artisans produce a variety of stunning handmade products from recycled and locally procured materials. With support from the Clinton Foundation, Papillon Enterprise has been able to expand their market access and their production (while we were there, they were waiting on two new, bigger kilns we helped procure so artisans could make even more beads, pots and more). I also got to visit the on-site day care where all of Papillon’s 300 workers can bring their kids while they work.
Photo: Courtesy of Clinton Foundation5/7CGEP Acceso-Haiti depots in Mirebalais
On the second day of our trip, we visited the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership’s (CGEP) Acceso-Haiti depot in Mirebalais, which serves as a hub for local farmers to come store and sell their peanuts.
Here, Clinton Foundation president, Donna Shalala and I learned about how the CGEP ecosystem—including depots like the one we visited—are empowering local farmers. Across Haiti, CGEP is helping more than 1,500 local smallholder farmers increase their peanut yields dramatically and better sort and store their peanuts. The three farmers we met have seen their incomes more than double, even triple, since we started working together—and all are now sending all their kids (including their girls) to school.
