We recently returned to the Dominican Republic to teach women from La Represa and San Pedro the jewelry making skill of wire wrapping Larimar stones. They are enthusiastic about learning this new skill. Their eagerness in having training that enhances their jewelry making skills is evident.

Read about our first trip. 

We are very grateful for the support of the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation for the funding of this project as well as the t-shirts, hats, oils and other supplies they provided. Watching the women open their gift bags, put on their new shirts and hats was heart-warming! They loved the gifts, the training and the opportunity to grow!

Due to the advanced training we received from Dean Bennett we were able to arrive with practice kits and a new training manual for the women. Huge amounts of gratitude are extended to him for his support and help with getting the supplies and making the jewelry making kits for these women.

It is amazing to watch these women thrive!  As they are learning this new skill their whole outlook on life changes. They see possibilities. They take pride in their work. They are optimistic about their futures. They know that they now have a skill that they can use to help provide for their families. More importantly, we watched as the 4 women from La Represa went back to their village and continued to train 16 additional women in their village with this new skill! That is the power of the ONE – they are able to pay it forward to others!

In addition to these jewelry making classes, our interns from the Utah State University SEED program are spending their Friday’s teaching business classes at these after-care facilities.

We are excited to bring the wire-wrapped Larimar from our newly trained artisans back to the United States so that the socially-minded consumer can extend continued support for these women on their journey towards greater self-reliance.

We also visited with the women in Juan Dolio, our first group of wire-wrapping artisans from our first trip. Their skills were even more remarkable! They continue to branch out in creativity and have improved in the personal and vocational lives on many levels. To see the brightness in their eyes, their joy as their friends from Mentors International returned and visited with them, hugged them, and loved them was precious.  They are enjoying the creative and therapeutic outputs of jewelry making. They are grateful for the opportunity to become more in their life and to leave their past behind them. Their children (Many of these women have children as a result of the human-trafficking that they were enslaved in) are growing and thriving and there was much joy throughout the entire visit!!

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