Handbags on Oprah Renew Hope for Victims

Irvine, CA, ( Pressreleasecollection ) May 18, 2010 - When Thara Miranda's family was swept away by the tsunami, she wished she'd died with them. Thara had been born blind and deaf, and didn't know how she would provide for herself.

Not far away, Hanna and her husband stood with babies in their arms, staring at the empty piece of ground their home once stood on. "The town was in ruins," Hanna says. "Dead bodies hung on trees and front gates." Everything was gone. She had nothing left but a key to a door that no longer existed. No job, no home, and no beds to put her babies to sleep in.

Before the storm, Jurina had left her small son with her sister in law to find work after her husband's death. Fearful, she made her way home after the storm, afraid of what she'd find. The boys had survived, but her home and her sister-in-law were washed away. Jurina huddled in a refugee camp with the boys, wondering how she would feed them in a tsunami ravaged town.

Laga Handbags to the rescue. Founded by Roy and Louise Van Broekhuizen, Laga Handbags exists to help survivors of the tsunami. Roy, who does not pay himself or his wife Louise a salary, said: "To be able to build better lives for these women is all we ever wanted to do."

They started Laga Handbags with a small team of 12 women sewing traditional Acehnese handbags that Roy and Louse would sell in the USA and on the Internet. Their small team had a big dream; a dream of helping not 12, but 1200 women to rebuild their lives, one handbag at a time.

Compassion knows no borders. With the help of women around the world who have purchased a Laga Handbag or shared the Laga story with a friend, the Laga dream team has grown from 12 women to 300.

On April 13, 2010, Laga Handbags were featured on Oprah by comedian Chris Rock's wife, Malaak Compton-Rock. Since the Oprah feature, demand for the handbags has increased exponentially.

Today, Thara Miranda, Hanna, Jurina and hundreds of women who survived the tsunami are local celebrities in their own right in the tsunami ravaged town of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Through Laga Handbags, they are the hope for a better tomorrow.

About: Laga Handbags are handmade by women who survived the tsunami in Indonesia. Every handbag sewn and sold brings renewed hope for a better tomorrow

Contact
Roy Van Broekhuizen
www.laga-handbags.com
92 Tangerine
Irvine, CA 92618-4576
Phone : 1.714-623-3671

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