Guilty

The  house I rent in Haiti is two stories tall and concrete. I live on the top floor apartment and the bottom floor is now used for packing and receiving. I live modestly, but have a solar hot water heater and a few air conditioning units, so just that alone makes me...

Hey Shelley, you want a baby?

Shelley in Haiti A Memoir My family and I had been in Haiti for a month when I heard a familiar voice call out as I walked in the gate. “Hey, Shelley, you want a baby?” Yes, I did want a baby, a Haitian baby, though my husband and I already had two young biological...

Boundaries

I had a meeting with a co-worker in Haiti today. The tears were flowing and the weight of the world was heavier than the 103 degree hot humid air. Novens was over in the corner on a bed that is set up in the living room trying to sleep in spite of his real pain....

For whatever a woman (or man) sows….

The law of sowing and reaping is universal. It is for me one of those threads that goes through all cultures and religions in a way that shows me that God obviously thought it was important enough to tell it in every format possible. A Japanese proverb says, "A seed...

Seven years

I feel like I have told the story so many times. The day that started like any other day. How we went to the store and bought flour and bananas and spent the day making tortillas. How later that afternoon, the very same grocery store that I bought the flour in came...

Papillon Marketplace

On November 14th, we spread our wings and opened a store in downtown Olympia. We recruited employees who were specifically drawn to the mission of orphan prevention and because of their passion, have been amazing additions to the team and have quickly become friends...

New branches shooting up.. Papillon Marketplace

The last I wrote I was talking about all of the changes that were ahead of me. This is a brief updated to let you know that WE DID IT! We opened a store in Olympia Washington on November 14, 2016: the first of many as we want to bring the amazing work our artisans do...

Changing of the seasons… A new chapter for my family!

The last eight years have been epic. So much work has been accomlished. When I came to Haiti, I had a dream of helping a few mothers be able to earn enough of an income to keep their children. Eight years later and more has been accomplished than I ever could have...

After the Hurricane

Another tragedy. Blow after blow Haiti takes another hit. The stories never end. We hear the big ones, but there are so many unfathomable daily tragedies that go unnoticed. My eight years in Haiti has made my heart so fragile. Every day I hear of a tragedy that would...