So much has been going on that I don’t have time to blog.
So much has been going on that I need to make time to blog.

This is the dance that I dance. Trying to keep room for the things that keep us connected, keep us known, keep people excited about amazing people changing their lives… and yet, while I am in the thick of it, I rarely have time to stop and reflect and share.

I took a four hour nap today from 5pm until 9pm, which is why, right nw at 1am in the morning I have a small space to blog.
Ember is sacked out on the couch, Corrigan just accidently drowned his turtle, TLC (yes we now have satellite television!!!) is playing a special on conjoined twins, a burning smell keeps wafting by as Corrigan is cermoniously burying his turtle- I think.
I keep thinking about what the most important thing to convey to people is about what is going on here.
I spent about three of the last four hours working on payroll. The list keeps getting longer and longer. With every mathematical calculation, my mind wanders to thoughts of children eating, moms coming home with their first paychecks ever, dads feeling the dignity of providing for their families. I cheer in my heart the more we have to pay them. I get to see what you don’t see. I get to see their lives change. I get to see them ask me everyday if I might have more work for them- a huge step up from the begging that I constantly struggled with a year ago.

Many people continue to ask me: “How can we help?”…. well here it is.. my dream sheet on how to help us help people work:

1. Keep sending cereal boxes. Rather than write a check in donation, get your community involved, recycle, and give the much needed materials that our artisans need to continue working. Our favorite box colors: Blue, Pink, Purple… go ahead.. indulge in Rice Krispies… its for a good cause! Check out this link for how! (If I mistyped, google it)
http://thefranklinupdate.blogspot.com/2011/02/cereal-boxes-shipping-details.html?m=1

2. Have a party! Seriously. We are in that limbo between aid and sustainability. We are always working towards not needing charity to sell our products, but for right now, we need YOU. If a person in the US has a jewelry party, it cuts out the markup of wholesale to retail and the artisans get so much more money per piece they sell than they ever get from any high end retail store order. Please do it! And then do it again. You are a lifeline to these men and women working so hard! Do you know that our party sales were 80% of our artisans income last year (all of our high end buyers – Gap, Donna, etc… only amounted to 20% combined). We are so thankful to the faithful army of mothers who are helping us keep kids out of orphanages and with their parents! From the bottom of my heart! Thank you!

3. Mommy bloggers Unite! In order to promote our jewelry sales, I am looking for some well followed mommy bloggers to write about what we are doing. “As seen on Oprah”, carried by Donna Karan, the Gap, Disney, etc….. APPARENT PROJECT jewelry is changing lives in Haiti. Enabling mothers to keep and raise their children with dignity- sending them to school and feeding them everyday. Seriously, how could a mom not want to help another mother out like this. If you know a mommy blogger- tie her to her computer until she blogs about us. Thank you.

4. Come and See: We are toying with the idea of “come and see” trips to Haiti. We would love to introduce you to our artisans, show you a beautiful side of Haiti, take you to the beach, and also let you see the devestation that Haiti is still reeling from. We would love your feed back on whether or not your church, group, or family would like this kind week.

5. Send your creativity. I love when people send me creative ideas. I really love when people come and teach creative ideas. We are still looking to expand our ceramics program, do more paper making, boost our sewing, knitting, crochet program, work with wood, etc..etc.. If you are creative, come and spend a week in the best place on earth for the creative soul- watching creativity change people’s lives!

6. Nanny Nanny Boo boo….. Corrigan is starting a film project this month that will last about a year. He is also overseeing the ceramics project. I am doing most everything else! We really need a single person (preferably female) to come hang out with our amazing four kids. If you know someone who would be stoked to live in Haiti for a time, and loves kids, loves reading to kids and helping with homework, please give them our info and tell them to send us a resume!

There are so many other things I would love to tell you about, but since I probably already lost you on number 2, I will stop for now.
Good night my friends. I will try to write more soon.
Shelley

ps: RIP turtle named Tortilla
pss: the conjoined twins wer successfully separated
psss:Ember is still asleep, but got up for a second and walked into the sliding glass door.