Atuto
A former Peace Corps volunteer from North Carolina, Holland Millis has worked with skilled craft-workers in Honduras for decades; his work there for Aid to Artisans merited coverage in the New York Times. Now, he leads the Atuto group in Sabanagrande, Honduras, which produces pieces made from clay, metal, stone, fiber, and wood — including the wood chains, made from salvaged wood, that Atuto now produces for Bloomist. In addition to creating opportunities for skilled employment in this mountainous region, where subsistence farming is a way of life for many, Atuto supports its Ambos Foundation. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, leaving 1.5 million people homeless and causing billions of dollars of damage. (Unofficial rainfall totals during the hurricane in some places exceeded 70 inches.) Ambos has a straightforward mission: to improve the lives of the people of rural Honduras at all stages of life, from providing children with school supplies to securing housing for the elderly.
