After a year of using a particular kind of sealer on our beads that is very hard to get in Haiti, I decided to launch out and go local. I found a great clear varnish that is made in Haiti, will be cheaper, and will make for a better quality bead overall. Very cool.
So I went to the store to try to find little jars to divide up the gallon of varnish so that the ladies could buy it in small quanities. I scoured the store looking for something like a canning jar, but the closest thing that I could find that was cheap enough was baby food.
Giggling, Novens and I cleared the shelf, buying 100 cans of baby food-( I’m sure that people thought we had an orphanage)- and then went off to the artisan house to figure out the rest.
When we got the where the ladies were working, I explained to them how we were going to start something new. Each of them would need a small amount of varnish, a paintbrush, some paint thinner and some glue. They would each need three small jars.
I showed them the baby food and said… now we need to use these jars.. only problem is, they’re full of baby food. We didn’t have any containers in the house to put the food in and not wanting to waste the food, I popped the top off of a can of pureed pears. I licked the lid and mmm mmm.. it was actually really good. Seeing the look of delight on my face the ladies dived in…. baby food for all… peaches, pears, guava, banana (they like that one the best)… everyone filled up on baby food. It wasn’t the kind of “feeding program” I’d ever imagined… but it was certainly the most fun and with the most giggling involved. Hooray for baby food.. and for amazing beads and jewelry that keep food on the table day after day for these ladies.
So I went to the store to try to find little jars to divide up the gallon of varnish so that the ladies could buy it in small quanities. I scoured the store looking for something like a canning jar, but the closest thing that I could find that was cheap enough was baby food.
Giggling, Novens and I cleared the shelf, buying 100 cans of baby food-( I’m sure that people thought we had an orphanage)- and then went off to the artisan house to figure out the rest.
When we got the where the ladies were working, I explained to them how we were going to start something new. Each of them would need a small amount of varnish, a paintbrush, some paint thinner and some glue. They would each need three small jars.
I showed them the baby food and said… now we need to use these jars.. only problem is, they’re full of baby food. We didn’t have any containers in the house to put the food in and not wanting to waste the food, I popped the top off of a can of pureed pears. I licked the lid and mmm mmm.. it was actually really good. Seeing the look of delight on my face the ladies dived in…. baby food for all… peaches, pears, guava, banana (they like that one the best)… everyone filled up on baby food. It wasn’t the kind of “feeding program” I’d ever imagined… but it was certainly the most fun and with the most giggling involved. Hooray for baby food.. and for amazing beads and jewelry that keep food on the table day after day for these ladies.