Day 5 - Pay Day

After last nights rain, I woke up to this today

Beautiful sunrise over Haiti.

The house was an absolute buzz this morning as there were about 30 more people here than usual.  ! The ladies from Washington and the AP seamstresses.  Shelley spent a good portion of her morning giving instructions and getting everyone settled in.

 I love this picture - she really is not chewing him out - they were just chatting. LOL!  The main reason I took this was 1.) She was still and 2.) I loved her bag.  Shelley and her family ARE being the change and it was just so fitting.

Talking to the bead rollers.

With the additional seamstresses in the house today - there were new babies as well.  I couldn't pass up this photo:

I got to hold this little one for a while after she woke up. She is the daughter of Sinese, one of the cooks.

At this point in the day, I started to fade.  I just felt so tired and weak.  Shelley had me stay put and she allowed me to work on the payroll a little.  She brought me a list of the artisans, with the amount of money that they have made in the last two weeks.  I counted it out and put it in envelopes with their names on it.

Several times in the last year, I have counted money for ApParent Project, but it's been from home.  After Christmas, I had a pile of cash about 3 inches thick.  When I count it at home, I know where it's going and it excites me - but today I was able to see the excitement on their faces when they received their envelopes.  Regnus did a little dance and was so excited.  She is such a joy.  Even though we cannot understand each other, I feel great love and warmth from her.  She is always happy, always smiling.  Shelley pointed out that she hadn't even opened the envelope yet to see how much was in there - (and she had done VERY well) - she was excited about any amount.

That was probably the most fun for me today.  After that, I went down hill fast.  I guess I caught some sort of bug and wound up in bed - or in the bathroom (Ahem) - the rest of the day.  Not fun.  I slept off and on and finally gave in and took the medication that was prescribed to me by the Travel Clinic in Jacksonville.  Within an hour, I noticed a significant difference although I'm still not 100% yet.  I managed to get up and watch everyone have dinner and enjoy the evening conversation.  More time listening to Shelley and Corrigan share their hearts about Haiti and the people here.

The ladies from Washington brought presents and we had a photo opp!  It was a lot of fun.  

I'm off for now - it's not that late but I'm tired. Need a good night's sleep so I won't miss all the excitement tomorrow.  I missed all the sewing team and the things they are working on.  Lot's happened in the house today and I slept through it all.  Tomorrow they are working on everything again.  I can't believe my trip is coming to an end.  Only 2 1/2 days left.  It's been so incredible to be here.

Until tomorrow.....