- November 26, 2024
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Port-a-cribs were filtered throughout a room of 30 to 40 women. As the mothers sat at tables working to make jewelry and baskets, the babies played alongside them. This scene was duplicated in two more rooms. This is what Palm Coast resident Mike Legaspi saw when he and a group of volunteers from Palm Coast United Methodist Church visited The Apparent Project’s artisan guild in Port au Prince, Haiti.
The church had been collecting cereal boxes for the women and delivered them as part of its missions trip this summer.
“The other amazing part is they are taking these simple raw materials and turning them into something,”Legaspi said, as he picked up a necklace the morning of Nov. 24, outside the church’s fellowship hall. “I’ve never seen stuff like this.”
The material Legaspi speaks of is the same that they were delivering: cereal boxes.
The artisans use a recycled cereal box, put them at an angle and then roll it into a bead, finishing it with a shellac-like polish for preservation.
Legaspi said the church collected the boxes, threw them into a large suitcase and took “hundreds” on the trip.
“When we went to deliver the stuff, our eyes were opened to this bigger better project,” he said.
Because all schools have tuition, there are a larger percentage of uneducated children. The Apparent Project is helping to correct this by working with artisans in Haiti to sell their craft in order to make a living and pay for school tuition.
“Through addressing educational needs, homelessness, joblessness,nutritional problems, medical needs, and building emotionally and spiritually enriching relationships, we are trying to bring dignity and wholeness to the whole person, strengthening each to be a support and encouragement to others,” the nonprofit’s website states.
Gail and Gary Dukes attended the Haiti trip and wanted to take the connection a step further.
The Dukes wanted to bring the work that they saw abroad back to the states. They secured several items on consignment to sell in Palm Coast. All of the money from the sales go directly to the artisan who made the piece.
“It was nice that they were really trusting to give the product to us,” Legaspi said. “We didn’t have to lay out any cash up front of them.”
The will continue to sell the items and hope to maintain a relationship with Haitian relief.
“The connection was so strong to see kids who weren’t getting the proper education because their parents couldn’t afford it,” Legaspi said.
To purchase items from the relief effort, call 445-1600.
