KNAU and Arizona News

Today, we continue our series Makers and Menders; stories about people who use their hands to create useful goods. So far, we've met a long-time Flagstaff wood worker, and we've also visited a family-run welding shop. Now, writers/producers Michael Collier and Rose Houk introduce us to Jenn Jones, a seamstress with a deeply creative flair.

This month, KNAU has brought you a series called Building Hope in Haiti: stories about a group of volunteers from Flagstaff who continue to do relief work in Haiti 3 years after a powerful earthquake struck the tiny country. Today, we bring you the final story in our series. We return to an orphanage near Port au Prince where volunteers are rebuilding a containment wall destroyed by the quake. As Arizona Public Radio's Gillian Ferris Kohl reports, the wall is not only bringing safety to dozens of vulnerable children, it's also creating a few jobs for Haitians desperate for work.

Bike wheels are turning on the campus of Northern Arizona University, but not just for exercise. The eco-pedaler uses human power to charge portable electronics. Arizona Public Radio's Janice Baker reports.

Unassuming shops and garages lie south of the tracks in Flagstaff. Inside, there's the clank of metal, the smell of wood and the beauty of raw fabric. People are using their hands to create useful goods. In the series Makers and Menders, Michael Collier and Rose Houk highlight this way of making a living and a life. Today, they introduce us to Frank Mayorga and the welding shop his father started 50 years ago.