Help young entrepreneurs Dara and Brett train future Bottle Builders like Kelvin's mom. Kelvin lost his leg in the earthquake. His mother carried him everywhere. Today, he is four years old, walking on a prosthetic leg and running with crutches, playing soccer with every child he can find. Kelvin's mother recently moved out of Cite Soleil and is eager for her work. Kelvin's mother will begin to work with Dara, 23, and Brett, 20, to learn how to make the bottle furniture and market the product.
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Haitian government estimated more than 300,000 people were injured, many with long-term disabilities. Today, an enormous percentage of Haitians, as high as 10%, qualifies as disabled. Additionally, 70% of the population does not have salaried employment and lives on $2 a day.
To address these intersecting issues, Building with Bottles looks to create a sustainable business model in Port-au-Prince.
The program will be expanded to include 10 cottage industry set-ups in Port-au-Prince, 10 trained and employed furniture makers, 10 local seamstresses employed at each site, 20 employed bottle collectors (2 per site), and 1 Haitian Project Manager. As the program continues to develop, all furniture makers will be encouraged to take on apprentices and additional bottle collectors after the microloan has been repaid.
