The Story of Melody Cajumban

One of Elevita's great successes is told through the story of Melody Cajumban from the Philippines.  She was born as one of 11 children of a humble woodcarver.  Melody is now a single mom of two children from a turbulent marriage.  In addition to helping support her younger brothers and sisters in their studies, Melody uses all the resources she can acquire to provide for her children's physical and educational needs.  To do this, for a while Melody ran a fruit stand.  But she came upon difficult times and ran out of capital to continue the stand.  This is when Elevita found Melody.  


Melody now makes gorgeous Gold Wire Ornaments for Elevita.  Her ornaments have sold so well that by December 2011 Melody had enough capital to reopen her fruit stand.  Melody was also able to buy her children some new clothes for Christmas.  In this way, Elevita helped Melody not only provide for the basic needs of her family, but also helped her fund her own small business.  


Elevita recently received a message from Melody's son Roxford saying, "Because of your help, we can eat a delicious food on our table.  Thank you!!!"  and yet another message from her daughter Roxanne, saying, "Thank you for supporting my mother's small business.  It will help us a lot to buy our school needs.  My mother is trying to look for some ways to continue my studies...I am assured now that we can pay our school miscellaneous fees and my [6th grade] graduation fee. Thank you!!!" 


But the story doesn't end here.  In the most recent correspondence Elevita received from Melody, she said, "GOD never leave me alone in my struggles. i am so grateful that you found me. i am extremely happy!!! my tears are falling and i dont know why. realizing how blessed i am...i have able to give a job for an out of school youth 16 year old boy."


Melody's story reminds us of the ripple effect of helping people in developing countries come out of poverty.  Success of one person in a village leads to more resources for the community, and before long many people benefit from the improved local economy.  No doubt we will hear more good news in the future from Melody and her associates.  In the meantime, Elevita will continue to search for other skilled artisans who simply need a market opportunity for their quality goods.  

New Social Store on Facebook

Elevita is happy to announce our new Social Store on Facebook!  Now customers can purchase items directly from the Elevita Facebook page.  Click here to check it out!

Elevita Welcomes A New Volunteer

Malia Littlefield is a photographer and graphic designer originally from Hawaii.  Now she resides in Singapore with her family, where she continues to develop her impressive photography and design portfolio.  When Malia approached Elevita with a willingness to volunteer, we were thrilled!  We already had a tremendous need for someone with her talents and experience, so discovering Malia was truly a godsend.  Malia will help Elevita by designing artisan cards that will accompany the products we sell.  She will also help us pursue consistent brand imaging across our social media outlets.  A big "Thank You" to Malia for joining the Elevita team!

Building a Hostel for Rural Girls in Keru, India

Because Elevita's management is entirely volunteer, we are able to donate the net profits from our sales to support humanitarian projects in the developing countries from which we source products.  Our current project is to build a hostel in the village of Keru, India.  Because of long distances to school, and because of safety issues along the roads, girls who live in this rural area of Rajasthan India, have no opportunity to attend Secondary School unless they have a hostel in which they can stay while attending their courses.

Elevita has undertaken this project in conjunction with an existing local group, His Highness Maharaja Hanwant Singhi Charitable Trust.  Together we are working to raise funds to complete the hostel as soon as possible.  The cost for the ground level of the hostel is approximately $31,500.  This is a project being undertaken in bits and pieces, as funds are available.  As of the date of this posting, we have raised nearly half the money for the ground level of the project.  We are working diligently to raise the rest, because as soon as this phase is complete, girls will be able to start attending and working on their secondary education courses.

Below are the blueprints for the hostel.  If you feel you are able to donate to this project, please click on the "Donate Now" button to the right.  Giving these girls an education will help them improve their lives, and subsequently the lives of their families and villages.  It is an investment that will pay dividends for generations.

 

Filipino Woodcarver

Elevita is very excited to have recently added some new artisans from the Philippines.  One of these is Arman Cagayat, a Filipino woodcarver.  Elevita was introduced to Arman by a missionary couple, who discovered Arman's incredible talent while serving in the area.  Despite Arman's impressive skills, he has very limited access to markets, which is why we became excited to help him promote his work.  Arman lives in a one-room home with his family, where he creates beautiful nativity scenes from local wood.  Perhaps our favorite part of these is the wise men:  they come bearing gifts of rice, mango, and bananas.  Elevita will be offering a limited number of these nativities on Elevita.com beginning November 2011.  Those interested in preordering a nativity can email info@elevita.com.

Defining Our Role

As Elevita continually encounters new artisan groups worldwide through travels and other connections, it has been important for us to carefully define what types of artisans we try to help.  While always paying careful attention to quality, the following is a description of the kinds of artisans we seek:

- Artisans who have limited access to markets
- Artisan groups that work toward educating and empowering women and girls
- Artisans in distressed areas
- Handicapped or otherwise marginalized artisans

We feel that focusing in this way will help us carefully use our resources to accomplish the most good for families and communities worldwide.

Free Shipping at www.Elevita.com

We are happy to announce that we are now offering Free Shipping on all Elevita items.  Shipping prices have gone up in the US across all carriers, and we don't want this to negatively affect our artisans!  We are therefore offering free first-class domestic shipping on all orders.  So, if you have had your eye on a particular item, this is a great opportunity to place an order!  Thanks as always for all the support.