By DeeDee Francois, Operations Manager, Haiti office

It is already Sunday afternoon and the electrician and the painter are still working in the “atelier” getting it ready for our week long technical training which is to start the very next day!

Many things not yet completed but you can still feel the excitement in the air. Ted is standing right next to me, coaching me the basics of candle making. And every few minutes, I’m am being pulled away by the electrician who has many many questions! The tables are too high so I have to call the carpenter and ask him to “PRETTY PLEASE” come down on a Sunday and saw the legs… The painter wants to know if he can paint the iron doors black. In the midst of all of this chaos, I’m learning how to measure the correct amount of beeswax and its melting temperature. And on this very Sunday, I poured my first candle from the Fanm Limye atelier. It was surreal! Ted and I hugged and cheered and of course, we took tons of pics. lol!

On Monday morning, despite some minor glitches, for example the projector could not be found, the women apprentice kept disappearing and such, we had our first day of candle-making training. About thirteen women were present. After Ted’s powerpoint presentation, you could see that we had captured their interest. They were smiling a lot more and finally for the first time since that morning, they were starting to relax.

Tuesday was such fun day. I got the chance to demonstrate my “candle-making” skills. The apprentice entrepreneurs were all eager to jump in and try.

Wednesday was also super fun. The ladies got a chance to make their own candles.

Thursday by far was my favorite because we got to experiment with different containers and such. This was also the last day of the training.

At the conclusion of the candle-making training, the recently turned candlers were excited about the project. They expressed their desires to learn other new skills like soap making. The thanked Ted profusely and invited him to return to Haiti with his family.

I am very happy with the way everything turned out. The “atelier” looks fabulous, thanks to Ted’s awesome and thoughtful layout.

In a nutshell, this is the beginning of a wonderful project. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for Fanm Limye!