Post date: Jul 27, 2011 9:50:51 PM
Doyenne of the home and the kitchen, Martha Stewart visits devastated Haiti to explore new opportunities for the island's artisans.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (JULY 27, 2011) REUTERS - Martha Stewart, Rachel Roy and Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren arrived in Haiti on Wednesday (July 27) to look at developing business in the impoverished and quake-devastated nation.
Sixty-nine-year old Stewart - who turns 70 next week - visited workshops where handicrafts are made for Macy's "Heart of Haiti" programme and quake recovery efforts.
The group visited an artisans' village where a variety of handicrafts are made - products that could one day grace the shelves of U.S. stores.
She also visited a centre for Haitian women where they receive training on stopping violence against women.
Stewart was recently "reinvented" as an animated 10-year-old in a bid to inspire young girls to take up cooking and crafting in an Internet series called "Martha and Friends". Stewart's empire includes publishing, broadcasting and merchandising, but its revenues fell by more than a quarter between 2007-2010, though its stock market value remains above 200 million U.S. dollars.
Stewart served a prison sentence after being convicted in 2004 of lying to investigators about a stock sale.