At a Haitian Factory, Working Through the Grief

Timothy Fadek/Polaris for Time

For once, business as usual is a good thing in Haiti. Following the earthquake, almost all shops and businesses remained closed in the nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. But, just outside the capital, in Mariani, which was part of the quake’s epicenter, Hawtan Leathers never stopped operations, says owner Daniel A. Gallagher Jr.

“Even the next day after the earthquake you had 10 people here to make sure our product was secure,” says Gallagher, who

looks like the actor Denis Leary. “It was at a critical stage,” he says, explaining that the company would have lost $250,000 worth of goat and sheep skins if the curing process had been interrupted. But perhaps the biggest losers would have been the 100 employees at the tannery, as well as countless other individuals throughout Haiti who sustain themselves by supplying goatskins to Gallagher. [Read more...]