Teaching trade skills for self sustenance
We are growing! We have already moved to a larger store than we had originally planned – all the way up to 130 sq ft! Woo hoo! Actually, it is exactly the right amount of space to showcase the different microindustries with whom we are currently working. The largest area will be for Roatan Glass Art with their fused creations but we will also have a quill art from one lady, seashell mobiles from another, and lathed woodwork from a third.
In the process of preparing the shell of a store for operation, we discovered the sexton at Emmanuel Episcopal, Rolando, has mad skills as a carpenter (pictured below). This man can build anything. He was the one responsible for building the glass shop itself. In the course of only a few days, he has built rounded shelves and cabinets, painted, and installed them. Guess what? Another microindustry is spinning up. We’ll keep you up to date on his development.
We are also developing a glass recycling program as a pilot at Emmanuel Episcopal. We will initially make scented candles from collected bottles. Next we will get a kiln to firepolish cut bottles for glassware, flatten bottles for cheese trays, and cast crushed glass for wall hangings. Ultimately, we will blow the glass into plates, bowls, glasses, and more. Recycling glass is very much needed on the island now since they are moving about from plastic products. Very exciting stuff.