Three Cheers for 3 Cords

I wanted to share a new site that my inspiring cousin in law has launched. It’s called 3 Cords. Here’s the back story:

Still in college, Diana and her husband Jay and other friends threw a dance party to start an orphanage in Haiti. They rose over $20,000 and started a non-profit to help finish the construction. On September 9, 2009, Diana, her husband and two friends move to Haiti to live in the completed orphanage, set up some operational foundations and ensure all the kids are loved and receive anything they need.

Three months later, the earthquake happened. The earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 Haitians.  Thousands that did survive had to have one or both legs amputated, as they were crushed underneath falling buildings.

During her time in Haiti, Diana worked in a prosthetics lab, getting to know and helping patients get new legs. As she says, “During the year after the earthquake in Haiti, I managed the prosthetics lab at Mission of Hope, and got to know our patients very closely.  Every day I witnessed stories of beauty and redemption, and – in a country of rubble and ashes, literally – you learn to cling to these moments.  These women, our prosthetic patients, became my closest friends in Haiti.  I would visit them at their tent cities, and play with their kids to try and make them smile.  You see, even though my friends now had legs, they were so discouraged that no one would hire them because of their physical disability.  As much as I tried to encourage them, I knew deep in my bones that they were probably right; Haiti is a country where handicapped people are seen as invalids – people with nothing to contribute.”

Diana, her husband and friends started 3 Cords to train, employ, and empower Haitian amputee women and their families.  3 Cords mission is to provide opportunities to women that are deemed invaluable in their communities due to their physical disabilities, and to show them that they are both beautiful and valuable.  They do this by training the women as artisans in a loving, community oriented environment.

3Cords sells goods made by these talented and courageous Haitian women. Please check it out and share with friends. Also, if you have any time, check out 3 Cords blog as well Diana and her husband’s blog from their time in Haiti.