Haiti Craftsman Demonstrates Skills and Haitian Resilience

Haitian craftsman Johnson Augustine demonstrates his artistry to a group at SERRV in New Windsor.

Nine months have passed since the devastating earthquake in Haiti which left more than a million people without shelter. Despite facing immense challenges, IMA's mass drug administration program for Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) integration is back on-track and exceeding targets.

Founded in 1960, IMA has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with its 'Partnership. Health. Haiti.' event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. hosted by CNN's Gary Tuchman. During the event, TOMS Shoes, creator of the One for One shoe donation concept, announced a donation of 800,000 pairs of new shoes to Haiti. These shoes will be distributed to children during the regularly scheduled NTD treatment program led by IMA.

Restoring basic health services and protecting children against soil-transmitted worms and other diseases are essential to improving lives blighted by disaster. There is great hope for the future because the Haitians are resilient people. Even in the midst of harsh conditions, the people have Haiti have always found the means of survival and opportunities for improvement.

Augustine uses basic tools to create his art. Here he sketches some flowers with chalk before cutting it out with a hammer and chisel.

Recently, visitors to the SERRV gift shop in New Windsor were treated to a demonstration of the remarkable skills of a Haitian craftsman, Johnson Augustine. Augustine, who lives with his family some 30 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, was on a visit to New Windsor as part of a partnership exchange with CAH, the Haitian Foundation for the Development of Haitian Artisans.

In little over an hour, Augustine, who uses traditional tools such as a hammer and chisel with a heavy steel plate as an anvil, scraped, shaped and hammered a piece of rusty steel drum (formerly used to hold oil or petroleum) into a beautiful silvery piece of art replete with lifelike trees and birds.

SERRV's gift shop visitors watched intently as Augustine created a remarkable artwork from what many would think is just a rusted piece of old metal junk. Augustine discovered his own skills almost 25 years ago as he grew up next to a lot where old pieces of metal and machinery were dumped. Now he supervises a workshop affiliated to CAH with as many as 15 young men learning the skills required to transform the worthless into valued art.

Some of the largest pieces are priced in the hundreds of dollars. 'This is far better than driving a taxi,' Augustine said, referring to time spent some years ago as a taxi driver. When pressed as to which were his favorite designs, he said, with a big smile, 'I love them all!'

SERRV and IMA are both located on the Brethren Service Center campus in New Windsor, Maryland 40 minutes west of Baltimore. SERRV not only supports Haitian craftsmen through CAH, but has provided support to IMA both for its 50th anniversary and the upcoming 5km 'Run for Haiti' scheduled for November 13 in Westminster, MD.

For more information on IMA's work in Haiti please click http://www.imaworldhealth.org/where-we-work/haiti.html

To sign up for the 'Run for Haiti' please click http://www.imaworldhealth.org/press-room/ima-5k-run/walk.html