After the Hurricane

October 17, 2016

In the past few weeks Haiti has once again been ravaged by disaster. Wind, flooding, cholera, the list goes on. In a nation that has historically struggled through economic distress and more recently the earthquake of 2010, Hurricane Matthew is a disaster that Haitians could not afford.

Officially 500 have died because of Hurricane Matthew with unofficial death tolls nearing 1,000. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been displaced because of the hurricane that swept across the nation ripping apart homes with 130 plus mile-per-hour winds. The World Health Organization is sending a million doses of cholera vaccine to the island amid fears of a widespread outbreak.

In the short term Haiti needs help. They need food and shelter.

In the long term Haiti needs a lot more than just food and shelter, they need a change in their economic outlook through opening up trade with other nations and creating jobs for the local Haitians. When aid organizations continue to send stuff even after a natural disaster has ended they tend to put local businesses out of business. How can a rice producer sell their goods when food packages from the United States are free? How can a textile company still produce clothing when we are packaging up all of the “doesn’t sell on clearance racks” overstock and shipping it to Haiti? There are countless stories of this happening in Haiti and in other nations, and it is a real hindrance for their economic growth.

This is where Vineworks steps in and tries to make a difference.

We buy fair trade items from Haiti and other developing countries.
We pay the artisans a fair wage up front
We invest all of our profits into development in that country and around the globe.
We provide jobs, economic growth, and a way out of poverty.

Vineworks is committed to the nation of Haiti and that is why we are doubling our giving to Samaritans Purse and Feed My Starving Children for disaster relief for all purchases made with the coupon code HAITI. More importantly we are there for the long hall creating jobs, giving hope, and ultimately changing lives.

As our friends at the Apparent project have said, “People are always asking how they can help! While the urgency of the disaster has us all grabbing our wallets to GIVE… we know that generosity, as much as it is needed in a crisis situation, doesn’t fix the problem of poverty. Poverty is what makes people vulnerable and why over a 1000 people died here in Haiti and less than 5 in Florida. The ability for people to WORK- to build homes, to get education, to invest in their families is what can turn this thing around and empower people out of poverty!”