Art Opening: Roy Cyrstal

Announcing with pleasure the newest show to hang at Evie Salon Studio, Women and Water: Agape in Haiti, an exhibit of photographs by Roy Crystal. Proceeds from this show will benefit Agape Global Health for Haiti.

This show is about the beauty, strength, and faith of the women of Haiti.
"Agape" means the selfless love of caring for others. The work of the women of Haiti exemplifies agape.

In 2010, a massive earthquake devastated Haiti. That year I joined a small non-profit, the Agape Health Team. I traveled with the team to the Haitian island of La Gonave to document Agape's medical clinic. Since then I have returned to Haiti often. Agape allows me to use my training as both a photographer and environmental planner. Agape and my role have evolved. Once a religious mission, Agape is now a secular non-profit, Agape Global Health for Haiti. Along with the yearly medical clinic, Agape now operates a year-round prenatal clinic, a water filtration program, and the
"Days for Girls" program offering washable menstrual kits and education. manage the water filtration program. We implement a program operated worldwide by the non-profit Water With Blessings. This program provides water filters and training to "water women" in exchange for a sacred commitment to filter water for four families. A donation of only $60 covers the cost of the filter (which lasts 20 years) and training. We have provided filters to 100 women, serving 2,000 people. We hope to provide filters to 300 additional women in January 2020. We'd love your support!

The image of Haiti in the news now is of a place with intractable problems. I want to challenge this cliche. In these portraits and photos of daily life on La Gonave, the water filter training, and women engaged in their daily tasks, I show Haitian people helping themselves. Life in Haiti is complex. A proverb says "Ayiti se te glise" ("Haiti is a slippery land"). The stories of the people I have met merge into a tapestry of poverty and environmental destruction. Except for a small elite and middle class, Haitians lack access to health care, clean water, and sanitation. Girls miss school because they don't have menstrual pads. Many people are burdened with chronic medical conditions that could be easily cured. People cry out for help but meet their daily struggle with humor, religious faith, and a voluble gift for self-expression. I often feel frustration with the massive job to be
done. Outweighing these difficulties, I see the power of compassionate medical care and listening. They can move people from pain and anxiety to hope. The power of agape inspires me. I hope to share it with you.

We hope to see you at the opening!