Hope in Haiti with Oprah

Being on Oprah’s Hope in Haiti show was a tremendous experience. I had a little impromptu dinner with some friends including Sean Penn, Paul Haggis, David Belle and Marni Lewis – a great group of people to watch the show with. You know, in truth, it’s a lot easier for me to watch another person than it is for me to watch myself; I really loved watching Sean Penn. I was particularly struck by the size of the room Sean sleeps in at his J/P HRO camp. His heart is as big as his bedroom is small; it’s extraordinary.

I loved the way that Oprah navigated her journey in Haiti – connecting with people and taking Haiti in through so many different lenses. She explored the devastation, the success, the growth, the rebuilding, the relationships. She really encapsulated the truth of Haiti, which is that there is so much positivity and so much to celebrate.

Of course, it felt a little odd to be watching myself; I am much more comfortable being with the artisans than in front of the camera. But, what I loved was really talking to Oprah. I feel so connected to her on so many levels – mind, body and spirit. She has always been an inspiration to me, she does everything with such heart and this is what I felt while I was talking to her. I wanted to share everything about Haiti with Oprah; I could’ve talked to her forever!

I always say that, “It’s not about the me, it’s about the we.” And this is, truly, why I am thrilled to have had this conversation with Oprah. Haiti is rebuilding and it takes a community. There is no person better than Oprah to take the story of Haiti and share it with the masses. I was honored to be a part of the experience and I look forward to seeing how this, too, becomes a part of Haiti’s journey toward a bright and beautiful future.

To view highlights from the show, click here.

Visiting the Greif Team in Ohio

Last week I traveled to Ohio to connect with my friends from Greif, an amazing company that has used their wisdom as world leaders in the industrial packaging and services industry to develop truly innovative solutions for countries like Haiti.

I first connected with Greif at Clinton Global Initiative where they were showcasing their WaterWear™ backpacks – these brilliant water purification backpacks that answer the need for a clean, easy-to-carry means of transporting and storing household water while offering relief to women and children around the world. I have seen, first hand, how extraordinary these backpacks have been for struggling communities in Haiti.

It was out of our shared passion for Haiti that I started talking to the Greif team about the finishes needed by the metal workers in Haiti. Since the beginning of our Haiti Artisan Project, I have been working tirelessly to find the perfect finishes for the metal work, and this is why we traveled to Ohio. The Greif team, who are based in Ohio, wanted to connect us to the scientists they work with at Battelle – the perfect people for us to collaborate with for the metal finishes. I am thrilled to work with Battelle in this capacity – they’re bringing to the table a legacy of experience and a caliber of collaboration that is so crucial in supporting the work of Haiti’s artisan communities.

I absolutely love when dots connect like this! It was like a little Haiti in Ohio – I was with Philippe Dodard, Greg Milne, Marni Lewis, Joel Towers and Isabel Encinias – some of the key players that I work with most in our HHRH mission.

I invite you to visit any of our Urban Zen Retail stores to experience the beauty of our artisan wares. We are committed to the continued development of this project and welcome you to join us on the journey as we Hope, Help & Rebuild Haiti.

Twitter Viewing Party: Donna Karan on Oprah’s Next Chapter

Mark your calendars for this exciting opportunity to watch our founder Donna Karan on Oprah’s Next Chapter this Monday, January 30 (10-11 p.m. ET/PT). In this episode Oprah travels to Haiti nearly two years after one of the most devastating natural disasters in history to witness first-hand the progress of non-governmental organizations. During the episode, Oprah speaks one-on-one with Donna about the opportunities she has created through Urban Zen’s Haiti Artisan Project.

We are thrilled to share our Haiti love story with an ever-growing community of people and we wanted to share the experience with you, too. We invite you to join us on Twitter by tweeting using hashtag #uzfevent during the episode. We’ll be tweeting live and discussing the show, Donna, Oprah and all things Haiti.

Making our conversation even more exciting is the fact that we will be randomly selecting a participant of our Twitter Viewing Party to receive a curated selection of artisans wares from our Haiti Artisan Project, signed by Donna! To be eligible for this prize, you must tweet during the episode hour using #uzfevent.

We hope you join us online on Monday evening and, until then, happy tweeting!

Important hashtags and handles for this event are:

#uzfevent
#OprahsNextChapter
@urban_zen
@OprahWinfreyNet
@Oprah

Community Highlights: Tweeting About Yoga

After the success of our UZIT weekend with yogis Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, our conversations this week naturally gravitated toward the meaning of #yoga and it’s importance to the individual. As we know, yoga is the Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind and will or a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and wellbeing. For members of our community, yoga is so much more than achieving the correct breathing techniques or perfecting the art of downward dog.

Our followers shared that yoga is an agent of change, source of peace, method of exercise and way to meditate and reflect upon life. It’s a form of exercise that can be strenuous or relaxing, centering the individual and bringing individuals together. We invite you to join in this ongoing conversation — decide what yoga means to you to discover how it can continue to positively impact your life.

Follow us on Twitter to participate in on our conversations and next week join our Twitter Viewing Party in celebration of our founder’s appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s Next Chapter airing on Monday on OWN at 10pm EST.

Giving Love & Creating Hope at the Henri Christophe Community School in Haiti

On a recent trip to Haiti, Donna had the opportunity to visit the Henri Christophe Community School in Léogâne and the experience resonated with her in a very real way as this school embodies the holistic approach to education that Donna believes in.

Not only is the school piloting programs like the environmental educational program, they are also connecting and collaborating with wonderful people and organizations so that they can be a conduit for positive change and growth in Haiti. One such organization is Give Love, run by our friend Patricia Arquette. Haiti Partners connected with Patricia to install and pilot composting latrines at Henri Christophe. It was such an inspiring thing to see in action and we wanted to share more of the details with you here. We invite you to watch the video above to learn more about Give Love’s work at the Henri Christophe Community School.