Hurricane Stan pounded Guatemala and claimed the lives of hundreds. Among those most affected were a group of weaving artisans associated with Maya Traditions, an organization my company, World of Good, supports. My co-worker, Holly, was just down there a few weeks ago as part of her work for the World of Good Development Organization. (World of Good Inc. donates 10% of its profits towards World of Good Development Organization, the non-profit side of our business that is commited to building a stronger fair trade crafts movement in the United States, promoting clear transparent international standards for fair trade crafts, and investing in economic and social development projects in craft producer communities.)

The house Holly stayed in during her visit was destroyed. The school we helped build with last year's profits was damaged. Families lost children to the flooding river. The news was devastating to all of us. I suddenly felt very close to this group that had previously been a bit anonymous to me. In an attempt to bring some hope to their sometimes tenuous hold on life, we do our best to support them and assure a sustainable income. But sometimes Mother Nature has a mind of her own and no number of product orders can guarantee their survival. They will be ok. They will rebuild and carry on. In the meantime, we are supporting them in any way we can, if only to reassure them that our business relationship with them will resume once roads and other infrastructure has been restored. I feel a renewed sense of passion for what I do every day and a deep connectedness to the people who make the things we sell. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?

I'm exhausted. It's been a really emotionally taxing couple of weeks. I feel really lucky to be alive and to be living the life I do! And now, all I want to do is sleep. Some good news to report sometime soon, I am sure of it.