NEW SAIL BAGS ARRIVING

Hello former and future supporters of Shake Hands with the World,

Due to Covid-19 and the impact the pandemic has had on just about everything in the past  nearly three years, it has been some time since we have been able to replenish our bag inventory, or to reach out and offer them to friends, family and anyone interested in helping those in need. 

However, during this time, we distributed previously-raised SHWTW funds to our designated orphanages and organizations in Vietnam who were in even greater need because of an incredible surge in Covid cases, which led to strict government-imposed lockdowns, food scarcity, poor health and an enormous strain on existing resources and services. 

We are now finally able to get our sail material over to Vietnam for fabricating new bags. The timing of this breakthrough, coinciding with the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine, has compelled us to expand our focus from supporting the Vietnamese entities that initially inspired this project (the Duc Son orphanage, STREETS International, other orphanages in Hue and Saigon) to directing a portion of our sail bag proceeds to humanitarian efforts funding displaced and suffering Ukrainians. 

Production of new sail bags is in the pipeline. They are not yet available for delivery, but we estimate they will arrive within 4-6 weeks. The latest collection of totes combines everything we like best about our previous designs, plus some added features: as always, each bag is unique; all are made from recycled working sails that have been on voyages and filled with winds on oceans around the world; they are expertly sewn by a married couple (he cuts her patterns and she stitches them together) in Vietnam who need and very much appreciate the work; they are crafted with a sturdy and colorful canvas base, long shoulder straps and handy zippered bag extender; each has an outside pocket; and we have added a beautifully embroidered logo that makes our bags unusual and compelling. 

We have a limited supply of 25 bags now that we expect to sell out quickly. Once these bags are gone, we will be taking pre-orders for the new arrivals and will send the bags to supporters once we receive them. As with each of our sail bags, 100% of the proceeds will go to vetted entities that will direct all the funds raised to our organizations in Vietnam as well as humanitarian aid for Ukranians, and those helping them in this time of incomprehensible conflict. 

Thank you, as always, for your interest and support.

With hope and love,
The Marston family

** The bags currently in production will have canvas straps, extendable tops and reinforced bottoms available in red, dark green, bright green, dark blue and turquoise. We will have less than 100 bags for sale so please get your pre-orders in early and specify your color preference.

FALL 2019 - VIETNAM TRIP UPDATE: NEW SAIL BAGS & NEW COLLABORATIONS

In the heat of late July, I traveled to Boston and had shipped to Saigon 183 pounds of no-longer-used sails from Querencia, our 1978 Alden 44-foot sloop. I had recently returned from a transatlantic sail aboard Querencia from Falmouth, Maine to São Miguel in the Azores with my brother-in-law and navigator, Peter; my pal from Vermont, George; and my 27-year-old son, Jake (a voyage requiring new sails, which instantly provided us with more material for our bags). I was joined on this hot afternoon by Thu Nguyen, a young Vietnamese friend of ours living in Boston, who was the first crucial link in making our Shake Hands With the World sail bags initiative a reality. With Thu’s help, we have been shipping our used sails to her mother in Saigon who, along with other members of Thu’s family, have been hugely instrumental in finding the best people to produce our bags, oversee quality control, direct shipping logistics, and make us aware of other orphanages and organizations in dire need of attention and support. We owe a debt of gratitude to Thu and the Nguyen family.

In September, when the sewing was finished, I traveled to Saigon and returned with more than 150 new sail bags. It was like Christmas opening the two huge boxes in which they were packaged for the flight home! We now have for sale many bright bags made from Querencia’s multi-colored spinnaker, along with crispy white ones from her mainsail and jibs, some sporting numbers or special features, and all beautifully constructed in the classic Bean bag style with a contrasting color on the longer (over-the-shoulder) reinforced handles. No two bags are alike and each has a charm of its own due the unique stitching of the different sails. 

Before departing for Saigon, I visited Hoi An for the 10th anniversary of STREETS International. STREETS is an organization to which Shake Hands With the World previously donated funds for scholarships to four orphaned teenagers to attend the highly-acclaimed, 18-month culinary and hospitality training program. STREETS provides impoverished, marginalized youth with a professional level of training and apprenticing, including learning English and developing life skills for careers in the culinary arts and hospitality service. These young adults will get jobs in fine hotels in Danang as a result of their training. From poverty with no hope, to a respectable career in the hospitality industry, STREETS is making an incredible difference in many kids' lives. It is an inspirational enterprise and we are grateful to be able to support such an impactful cause. It is pleasing to report that 100% of all the graduates (for ten years!) now have positions in four- and five-star hotels in Danang.

After being in Hoi An, I traveled a little further north to Hue to visit and review the Duc Son orphanage, for which the Shake Hands With the World sail bag initiative was originally created. I am pleased to report that all is well there (the organic mushroom farm and protein-rich meal programs are thriving), and they currently have funds for ongoing capital projects.

I then visited a new, fledgling orphanage on the outskirts of Hue being lead by a fifty-year-old nun with unbridled energy and enthusiasm. The children in this orphanage have an age span of one to eighteen, and are either in a tutoring program for the youngest, enrolled in the local school system, or attending the university in Hue. The orphanage is clean and bright and the children are very well cared for. But, like most orphanages, they operate on a financial shoestring. After meeting the directing nun and her dedicated staff, it was immediately clear that these people have the youthful inspiration and legitimate infrastructure worthy of support. I decided on the spot to commit to providing scholarships from SHWTW for the two oldest students, who are currently enrolled in the University of Hue. This support brings incredible relief to them.

A few mornings later, I left Da Nang to visit an orphanage that was introduced to me by Mrs. Nguyen. She visits the orphanage weekly, as her local Catholic Church has adopted it. Located near the airport in a busy and densely populated area, the orphanage is an oasis of inspiration. There are forty-five residents from three months of age to forty-four years old, and all are disabled. Among other issues, they suffer from severe birth deformities, cerebral palsy, and arrested brain development; some are mute, blind, or deaf. But all seem happy and safe in their home. One lovely, fifteen-year-old blind girl who had just returned from her daily trip to church was introduced to me. Ten minutes later, I heard a piano being played on the far side of the room so I ambled over to listen, visiting other children along the way. It brought tears to my eyes when I realized that it was the sweet blind girl, playing Vivaldi. I learned that she has never had a lesson but, given her talent, she has twice been invited to perform in Hong Kong. Everything about this orphanage was moving and inspirational. These people are so disadvantaged and have so little, while we have so much. They are in DIRE NEED; the orphanage and the church do what they can to help. Shake Hands With the World will also provide support to this deserving orphanage.

Afterwards, Mrs. Nguyen, a true angel in my mind, took me across Saigon to meet the seamstress who makes our sail bags and her husband who cuts the fabric. Their home is oh-so humble, and serves as her work place, with two sewing machines set up in a very small area. Their tiny dwelling is located beside a less-than-pristine river that regularly floods their home. They could not have been nicer to me, showering me with gifts, tea and cookies. They were prepared to offer me lunch but Mrs. Nguyen explained my busy schedule. We agreed that we would break bread on my next visit, all without speaking the language. One does not need to speak the language with words; smiles, hands and kind eyes will always suffice.

I was forever touched by my encounters on this trip. I returned home the next day, consumed by thoughts of this fascinating and curious culture so unlike my own, yet enviable in its simplicity. But oh, what I would do to introduce more comfort, better health and cleaner living into the lives of these people, and all those in need. Shake Hands does this in its own, small way...hopefully with a kind and gentle touch. 

JANUARY 2019 - VISIT TO DUC SON ORPHANAGE & HOI AN

Last week, I visited the Duc Son Orphanage in Hue, Vietnam, where the donations from Shake Hands With the World have, in addition to the mushroom farm project’s success, been providing protein for all the children for two weeks per month. I arrived at dinner time and was able to see everyone before, during and after the meal. It's a happy time of day because the children are playing, laughing and eating. Nothing better.

While in Central Vietnam, I travelled to Hoi An to meet the four teenagers for whom Shake Hands With the World provided scholarships to attend the highly acclaimed 18-month culinary and hospitality training in Hoi An last fall through STREETSInternational.

Two of the young adults are from the Duc Son Orphanage and two are from another orphanage in Hue. They are all now speaking English, are very happy and are learning so much about the hospitality industry. Their futures are bright.

Thank you to all who have purchased sail bags and/or made donations. You are giving these beautiful children opportunities and lives beyond imagining. Please see the wonderful photos from my trip.