Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2018 | Page 358

Françoise Elizée shared with Mélange . . . About Haiti Rediscovered “Haiti Rediscovered” first edition is subtitled “The Quintessential Potomitan.” In Creole, “Potomitan” literally means the “center post” that provides structure to a tent, or the matriarch of the family. As a Haitian, I strongly believe in advocating for Haitian women and bringing into the forefront the amazing work they do in Haiti. In 2017, Pipe Yanguas, the photographer and I traveled to Haiti a few times to document their work environment, their passions, and the fruit of their labor. Our book features 12 entrepreneurial women whom we selected. We felt they had amazing products that needed to be shared with the world and also had a unique story to be told. The women manufacture fashion accessories, children’s clothing, home accessories, furniture and food products in Haiti. I self-published the book this past March 8th, 2018. My mission with “Haiti Rediscovered” is to bring awareness to Haitian-made products I discovered along the way during my visits to the island; and especially introduce them to the international trade community and thereby encouraging export. About the motivation behind the writing of this book While having an afternoon of cocktails amongst friends, I was congratulating Pipe on his photography work which I was closely following on social media; and I told him, he should have a book with his name on it. At You can find the book at these locations: Françoise Pipe that moment, Pipe turned to me and said the magical words “Why don’t we do a book on Haiti?” My creative side was tempted, of course. We met many times afterwards to research topics that were yet to be explored about Haiti; From that came the idea of exploring manufacturing, Haitian-made products, export, and women. About Pipe’s involvement with the production of the book In Haiti JUST CITO In the USA: Books & Books at Suniland Shops Complexe L’esplanade - N.2 Rue Darguin, Pétion-Ville Miami, FL 33131 LA LORRAINE HOTEL Lakou Lakay Boutique - 36 Rue Clerveau, Pétion-Ville ANGEL TOUCH CAFE 2nd Floor Of Pizza Garden, Pétion- Ville Online: www.HaitiRediscovered.com www.Amazon.com Search “Haiti Rediscovered” www.booksandbooks.com PASCALE THEARD CREATIONS BOUTIQUE 17 Rue Salomon (Route De Batimat) Zone de L’aeroport DUTY FREE AMERICAS HAITI Aéroport International Toussaint Louverture Pipe Yanguas is the photographer of “Haiti Rediscovered.” Our friendship goes back over 15 years. I have always been fascinated by Pipe’s work. He focuses on documenting the “passions” of people through his photography. Pipe travels the world to photograph his clients and documents their life over a period of years. The topic of this book was perfectly aligned with this style and Pipe did an amazing job at bringing out these women’s passion, work and the fruit of their labor. About what she found most challenging during the process We wanted to feature more “Haitian Made” products but unfortunately, we were limited. A hardcover coffee table book of this quality and refined presentation not counting the 260 pages is very expensive to make. However, I am sure there will be future editions. About the most memorable book she’s read to date Unspoken Feelings of a Gentleman, by Pierre Alex Jeanty. I gifted that book to many friends… ©Pipe Yanguas Photography