00:00The following is brought to you by Maybelline Serum Lipstick.
00:10There's a very popular saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
00:15And perhaps that doesn't ring more true than considering the products made by local sustainability brand House of Vetiver.
00:22I'm here with Miss Eartha Danielle of House of Vetiver, and she's going to share with us a bit more
00:27about the purpose and the vision of the brand.
00:30Miss Danielle, thank you so much for having us today.
00:33Hi, thanks for having me.
00:35So House of Vetiver was born out of the need to support women in rural communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
00:44Vetiver grass is a very special type of grass whose roots are able to go very deep into soil, so
00:49it's able to stabilize the soil.
00:51And so Vetiver was planted in vulnerable communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago to mitigate environmental pollution and to prevent further
01:02land degradation.
01:03And so we realized that the grass had the potential to do more than just that.
01:09And so women, mainly women, also men, but mainly women in rural communities across Trinidad and Tobago,
01:15and even further up the Caribbean islands were trained in how to use the Vetiver grass to create products that
01:21they could take to market and sell.
01:23And so being women, of course, we create a lot of beautiful handbags.
01:27We have earrings.
01:29We have bracelets.
01:30We have all the fashion accessories.
01:32We're actually working on some new slippers right now and some belts,
01:35and everything is made using this very special Vetiver grass.
01:39Now, we know that Vetiver is very sustainable, but how durable is it really in terms of holding up if
01:45you have a little bag or you have your earrings, et cetera?
01:47Yeah, so Vetiver is very durable.
01:50We've known Vetiver products that have lasted lifetimes.
01:54They've been able to be passed down to, you know, from a mother to her daughter, for instance.
01:59And so the handbags that we make and the earrings, all the pieces that are crafted with Vetiver will last
02:06forever.
02:07Once they're not getting wet, once you keep them dry and you care for them as you would normally with
02:14any other handbag, they would last forever.
02:17All the work that we do and all the products that are created, as I said, are created by women
02:22in different communities across Trinidad and Tobago.
02:24So you have the beautiful Manzan bucket bag that is sold by 36 Cornelio, and that's made by Listera from
02:31Manzanilla.
02:32We have the Half Moon Clutch, and that's made by Josanis, which is a Warau woman who lives in the
02:40carcass in Trinidad.
02:41And then we have products coming from Santa Cruz, from Lopino, from Moruga, as I say, from even Dominica.
02:49We work with the Calanago community in Dominica to produce products, and they have the lovely hand fans that are
02:55also sold at 36 Cornelio.
02:57So we just wanted to expand and give other women in other Caribbean islands the opportunity to also do the
03:05same like Trinidad.
03:06So just have a professional place where they could bring all their craft and they don't have to take it
03:11to market themselves.
03:12After they spent work plating and weaving the vertebrae grass, then now they have to go and sell their products.
03:17So we try to take that away from them and give them the opportunity for sales.
03:22Share with me how many women are involved in this program.
03:26Oh, wow.
03:28Well, there's a lot.
03:30I would have to get my figures, but we have trained at least, let's say, between 20 to 40 participants
03:38in every community we go to.
03:40And we've passed through at least 20, I would say 20 to 30 communities throughout Trinidad, some in Tobago, some
03:50in Dominica, and even up the island.
03:52So we've trained countless people.
03:54And has the program seen real success in terms of helping these women to develop independence?
04:02Yes, definitely.
04:03I think that's where we see our most success in that we know now that there are persons who are
04:10talented artisans in our country who now know how to use their talents to make a living for themselves independently.
04:19And I think that is the biggest success for House of Vetebe.
04:22I just want to thank you for the opportunity to speak about House of Vetebe and to share with everyone
04:28what we do here and why we do it.
04:32And we just hope that everybody could support the House of Vetebe and this would support women in communities across
04:38Trinidad and Tobago.
04:39So thank you.
04:41And just like that, we see how a simple grass is holding much more than soil together.
04:46It's also holding together and uplifting communities.
04:50I am Renessa Cutting and this was Street Style.
04:52We'll see you again next week Thursday.
05:00The Proceeding was brought to you by Maybelline Serum Lipstick.
05:04Aumble would be brought to you by Maybelline Serum Lipstick.
05:04Aumble is brought to you by Maybelline Serum Lipstick.
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