Elevita in the news! http://www.baxter.com/press_room/features/2014/elevita.html

Baxter Employee Helps Elevate Global Artisans Out of Poverty

When Keyne Monson, Baxter vice president, market development, and his wife Kirsten visited India for the first time together in May 2010, they were overcome by the intense poverty they witnessed. They met many people who possessed impressive skills for creating beautiful and useful items, but faced challenges. Some were living with disabilities, had difficult access to markets, or were located in distressed areas, which limited their opportunities to sell their quality goods.

Together, Keyne and Kirsten created a website and non-profit organization, Elevita, to help alleviate poverty worldwide by creating economic opportunities for under-privileged people in developing countries by bringing their skills and creations to market.  Over the past four years, Elevita has enabled more the 500 artisans to earn an increased income, which has had a ripple effect on their families and communities.  Keyne and Kirsten are helped by a group of unpaid volunteers and advisors, including their six children, who range from ages 17 to two years old.

"It's amazing how many people are willing to engage once they catch the vision of what we are doing," say Keyne, who in his day job, works on business model innovation projects that help advance access to healthcare for people in developing areas of the world.  "We're convinced that if more people were simply aware of and exposed to the extreme poverty in which the majority of the world lives, there would be a lot more focus on trying to lift under-privileged people out of poverty in a sustainable way." 

Any profits are donated to humanitarian projects, particularly in education. Proceeds have helped fund projects such as a hostel where rural girls in Rajasthan, India can stay safely while attending secondary school (planned to help 200 girls each year for four years); scholarships through a partnership with BELIEVE to five girls in the Philippines so they can attend both secondary school and college (total of eight years education); purchasing sewing machines for women in Cambodia so they can become self-reliant; and purchasing an industrial oven in the Philippines that allows dozens of local women to bake capiz shells for creating bowls, frames, jewelry, and other wares.  

Through this two-fold approach of creating economic and educational opportunities, Keyne and Kirsten hope that Elevita can help countless people in developing counties across the globe.  The non-profit now helps artisans or artisan groups in seven developing countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Uganda. 

"We believe in the goodness of humanity and in people's ability to respond in times of crisis to help their fellow neighbor, and hope that Elevita can provide a bridge for many people who live in the developed world to meaningfully reach out to others in need," Keyne says.  

To learn learn more about Elevita's mission, or to purchase goods from Elevita artisans, please visit www.elevita.com.

Holiday Boutiques

We are excited to announce the dates and locations of our annual Holiday Boutiques!  This year there will be Elevita boutiques in six major metropolitan areas, including Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Louisville, and Boston.  Here are the exact times and locations:

11/06    O'Brien Residence, 10900 Worthington Lane, Prospect, KY    10am-12pm & 7pm-9pm

11/20  Garf Residence, 309 Greenbrook Dr., Danville, CA  10am-1pm

11/20  Monson Residence, 5270 River Bend Dr, Libertyville, IL, 60048  7am-9pm

11/20  Price Residence,  9701 148th St. Ct. E., Puyallup, WA  10am-2pm

11/21  Lesser Residence, 19423 E. Maplewood Ave, Aurora, CO  10am-8pm

TBD   Patton Residence, 1475 Mass. Ave. #230, Lexington, MA

Visiting the boutiques offers the unique experience of seeing and feeling our beautiful products first-hand.  We hope to see you there!

Adventure: Seeking Long Lost Relatives

Recently we heard from Louela, one of our jewelry artisans in the Philippines.  She was writing to tell us how grateful she was that after receiving Elevita's payment for her goods, she was able not only to pay for her children's school and purchase rice, but she also had enough left over to go on a journey to search for some long-lost relatives.  Here is her report:

"Today my mother and I went to her relatives her biological parents side.  My mother was adopted at age 3 and she has very limited information about her grandparents and relatives, I ask her to accompany me to search for informations of her deceased ancestors.  It was a challenging task we have for ourselves.  It was a long ride, and hike on a slippery and uneven road and hill, I just wasn't able to take pictures some of the scenery..We met the wife of my mothers cousin, we ask information and then proceed to another area, then we meet my mother other cousin, she works as a house help, so we just sit outside the house while I ask her names of their ancestors, since we are not allowed to enter her employers house..I am very grateful that I have names now, although its not many but the opportunity to meet my aunties for the first time make me happy and also my mother...although my money for the fare is very budgeted, but my mother and I are able to come home, and we even bought snacks for the children.  I spent money in searching my ancestors but the happiness my mother and I felt can never be bought or exchange in any material things.  Glad for the technology, we have access now with our relatives through txt message..I attached photos sister about our adventure this morning.. :)"

This is just one of many examples of how Elevita is improving lives worldwide.

What Does One Dollar Buy in Cambodia

In Cambodia, the population is roughly 15 million.  One third of the population lives on less than $1 a day.  These are mainly the rural poor who typically live in the provinces and small villages.  They usually grow and raise their own food.  The one-dollar-a-day they theoretically make is made by selling any excess of their crops or livestock.  What can that one dollar buy in Cambodia?  One of the following:

1 pound of rice, some pork fat, and green

1 Mango

1 Krama (traditional scarf worn around the head)

2 gallons drinking water

2 cans Coca Cola

1 kilo clean laundry

2 bowls of noodles

It is always humbling to get a glimpse of what our artisans lives are like.  It provides the inspiration for Elevita to keep doing all that we can to encourage them in their efforts and enterprises to improve their economic situation and to provide educational opportunities for their children. 

Elevita is indeed privileged to work with our hard working and entrepreneurial Cambodian Artisans. 

These beautiful ladies of Phnom Penh have created an organization called Khmer Creations in an effort to liberate themselves from domestic violence.  Though they appear happy in their craft, their lives outside this shelter are laden with tragic stories.  They each hope to sell enough of their work to become financially independent, which will enable them in turn to free themselves from difficult circumstances.  The beautiful work they create is truly amazing! 

Sok Chan is a Cambodian woman whose handicap restricts her to a wheelchair.  Even with this restriction, she uses native fabric to sew beautiful purses and wallets as a way of supporting her 10-year-old son, Siv Hoa.  Sok Chan is very grateful to be an Elevita artisan, as this gives her the possibility to be self-reliant.

In Battambang, Cambodia, there is a lovely group of women who have gathered together because of common economic needs.  These ladies come from families who are either very poor or whose parents have HIV/AIDS.  These women produce bags of exceptional quality, though they had not had customers for over a year when Elevita found them.  Now they are happily employed, very productive and they create some of Elevita's best selling items!

A letter from a student that Elevita sponsors

Elevita recently received a letter from Darcia Cordez, a young women we are sponsoring with a scholarship for her education in the Philippines. She wrote of her summer break from school:

"It's summer vacation ... no cares for two months, but I still want summer vacation to be productive so I look for something good to do -- something that makes me productive.  I spend my vacation teaching in a summer class. It is really challenging, especially handling students of diverse personalities and interests.  This is my first time to be in the field of teaching high school students. I'm striving hard to be able to meet this challenging experience successfully."

Darcia understands that if a young woman is educated, her family will be educated.  There is a saying, when you educate a girl you educate a village.  If she can read and write all her children will be able to read and write.  The more educated a woman, the more educated her family, and the more prosperous her community.  That is why Darcia wants to be a teacher.  Elevita is proud to sponsor Darcia Cardez through Believe International and we salute her for spending her summer vacation teaching others.  

Believe International

Typhoon Rammasun

Typhoon Rammasan made landfall in the Philippines on July 15, plowing its way across the island of Luzon, where many of Elevita's artisans are located.  10 days after the disaster, Elevita entrepreneur Florita Escandor was finally able to send an image of Elevita's capiz workshop:

As devastating as the photo may appear, miraculously, the expensive capiz firing oven was undamaged, and the artisans have been working quickly to rebuild and fill orders.

Sadly, the home of Rosalia Doloires, one of Elevita's placemat weavers, was completely destroyed.  

The home was a makeshift dwelling hastily constructed by Rosalia's family after escaping the destruction from Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.  Thankfully, everyone in the family is safe, and they have started once more to rebuild their lives.

Florita also reports that nativity artisan Jonalyn Hubilla received damage to her roof, and that angel artisan Nina Mena's home was apparently destroyed.  Elevita is grateful to all those who continue to support the efforts of these underprivileged families by purchasing their products on Elevita.com.  

From Our Customers

Lots of great feedback from our customers this month!  Here are a few samples:

Betty Lou says, "Could you keep offering these cute stars and have them done in green for Christmas?"
Sure, Betty Lou, just for you!  Gorgeous table runner, too.  ;-)

The Opera House Art Gallery, a wholesale customer, put several Elevita nativities on display for a recent walk-through.  Beautiful!

And a family in Utah enjoyed a special order of Irene's beaded bracelets done in patriotic colors for their family reunion.  Love them!

We love hearing from our customers!  Send your Elevita stories and photos to info@elevita.com.