Papillon Marketplace designs and sells ethical fashion, jewelry, home decor, and more. Each product is handmade by local artisans in Haiti.

Apparent Project

Shelley Jean co-founded Apparent Project in 2008. Papillon and Apparent Project continue to partner together to support Haitian artisans. Apparent Project is now headed by Marilyn Monaghan, Shelley’s mother and greatest ally.

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Papillon Empowerment

Join us in our mission to empower parents in HAITI! Papillon Empowerment is a 501(c)3 charity – Orphan Prevention through Job Creation.

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Recent Posts

Mother’s Day

May 12, 2019 | 0 Comments

I got on the phone with my mother last night from Haiti. She and I have both been a part of working in Haiti with a heart for orphan prevention for the past ten years. Some people may wonder what fuels us. Who knows how much of our own stories and hidden memories...

Making An Impact – Shopping Online

Apr 11, 2019 | 0 Comments

The list is drafted at 3:15pm, just before the Papillon artisans are wrapping up a day of work. The work day is slightly shorter than a typical workplace in Haiti. The foundation of the business as one employing mothers who were fighting to keep their kids fed and out...

Riots and Hope

Jan 15, 2018 | 0 Comments

The darkest part of the night always has the hope of the morning. I feel that way today about my Papillon. This year has been hard in every way. While sales continue to be good, setbacks, personal relationships, hurricanes, unexpected expenses and having to grow up...

Junior’s Story

I first met Junior while living in the orphanage where he was a teacher for the older kids. Raised in New York, but never having gotten his legal status in order in America, he was deported back to Haiti at age nineteen and has not seen his family in over...

Callie & Claire’s Story

Callie still lives in Port Au Prince and is now married to that cute translator, Bekenson Pierre. She is the head of marketing and branding for Papillon, and has launched Papillon’s online store, helped start the screen-printing program, and is a...

Makilene’s Story

Makilene works in the jewelry department and also the shipping department. She still owns her own land and has made several more additions and improvements to her home. Her children are in school, and her oldest daughter, now and adult, was recently hired...

Sonia’s Story

Sonia has been able to use her earnings over the years to buy land and is gradually building a home, one brick at a time, on that land. All her children are in school today. She is still working for Papillon as a manager in the metal stamping...

Rodney, Richard, & Leo’s Story

The original three bead rollers who started as teenagers have all matured into young men and have families of their own. They all work for Papillon, and as of the summer of 2017, were granted badges with access to the US Embassy in Port Au Prince where...

Noven’s Story

Novens currently works for Papillon as a courier. He has been unable to finish high-school in Haiti, because of his lack of command of the French language—something he never learned in the orphanage. We are looking for a private tutor to help him finish...

Marcel’s Story

Ember’s father Marcel now works for Papillon as a bead roller. After the adoption was finished, we were able to give him a job (before then the adoption laws would have seen it as a conflict of interest) and he now works to support his older daughter and...

Mario’s Story

In 2015, Mario was grilling hotdogs and making smoothies, but our visitors were begging for more substantial meals. We leased a building across the street—a small, one-story, three-bedroom home—and turned it into a much larger boutique. On the roof, we...

Monette’s Story

Monette is still proud of her ceramic tiled floors. She works hard in our ceramics department to support her six children. Her two youngest, the twins, are in the Apparent Project preschool. She recently found out she is expecting her seventh child....

Clivia’s Story

Clivia still works as a jewelry maker in our artisan center in Port Au Prince. She has not had any more children, and she relocated to a new house after the death of her baby son. As so many mothers with broken hearts in Haiti do, she just carries on and...

Makensia’s Story

Makensia is doing well. She continues to work in the jewelry-making department. She has four living children and they all are in school. She is eager to work and is trying to learn English. Her younger twins are in the Apparent Project preschool....

Guerline’s Story

Guerline, one of our original four, is a nanny in the Apparent Project daycare. Her older son is in school, and the younger, whom she relinquished for adoption, is living with his adoptive family in the Midwest. They are Facebook friends with Guerline and...

Marc Henry & Ajenor’s Story

Marc Henry and Ajenor never did have anything to do with the threats I received. Shortly after their release, they were both brought back to Papillon as employees. They work there to this day. Marc Henry makes jewelry, and Ajenor works with the paper...

Vesline’s Story

Vesline is now a beautiful young single woman with a handsome seven-year-old son. She finally left the father of her baby after he beat her so badly that she temporarily lost her eyesight. Thankfully, her sight came back, and the incident gave her the...

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Shelley In Haiti

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