So I haven't been blogging as much and when I do I havent been putting it out into the 'blogosphere' because nobody reads it anyways. Ha! But that doesn't mean I dont want to get all these behind the scenes moments documented for us to look back on some day.
The marketplace is set to be open sometime in September but that could all change depending on pretty much anything. Ha! For example, we were just pushed back a month in the accepting of applications for a booth space because of the World Cup. Apparently, Haitians don't have enough food or clothing and shelter but they can find a way to watch soccer???? It's kinda along the same question I have as, 'it seems every Haitian has a cell phone but they may not have clothes. So... where do they keep it?" These are the things that keep me awake at night. Nah, just kidding.
Our organization has hit a major hurtle. Alisha and her family are relocating to Brazil for her husbands job. What this means for the future of Open Hand we don't know. Besides that, she is my best friend and not having her around to be with and to work with is going to suck. We are a great team. The plan is to obviously give out the loans in Haiti and then spend the next year making sure that money is recollected so that it can be given out again in other places in Haiti and focus on the 2,000 pairs of Crocs we need to fulfill the promise we made to a man named Onesphone and Pastor Simon back when we went to Burundi in 2012. I'm sure they think we have forgotten about them. When we look all those shoes - we are going to go back WITH them to help distribute them.
But I'm getting away from my title of my post - so Alisha's family did a road trip down to Ft. Myers to drop off all the boxes of supplies, set design etc.. for the women's conference we are having at the end of October. Those boxes will be put on a container and shipped to Haiti and be waiting for us when we get there (side bar: No clue when we are going back or if we are going back before then). Alisha has had a huge heart about doing the women's conference. We are calling in Bloom - Dare to Bloom and we are focusing on encouraging these women (600 of them will be attending) to not give up, to figure out how they can be what God has called them to be etc.... and there has been one thing I have wanted to do from the very beginning - of course, leave it to me that I care about the shallow but if you were to know me in real life - it really is the little things that I can get excited about.
My husband Ty, gave me a polaroid camera for Christmas. I have ALWAYS wanted one. And before he got it for me I had in my mind that I wanted to take a polaroid picture of each woman that attends our conference and give it to her as a memory. Some of these women have never seen what they look like. Well.... after doing my research come to find out that it is going to cost ONE DOLLAR PER PICTURE for me to do my brilliant polaroid photo booth idea. Umm... that's $600 bucks. Yeah, Right. I even reached out to Polaroid themselves to see if they would donate the film but of course, no. After many months of resigning myself to the fact that the polariod pictures aren't going to happen Lisa, let.it.go I settled into the knowledge that I would just take regular pictures of the women and figure out how to get them developed before the conference was over.
Enter my awesome lunch date today - She has been a very vocal supporter and contributor in what we are doing and we were talking about being generous and how one of the things I wanted to do was a polaroid picture for each lady to have but it's $600 dollars. This new friend of mine barely lets me finish my sentence before she says, "Oh, I can do that." (jaw drop) And then she said something I hadn't thought about before regarding pictures - she said, "everyone deserves to see what they look like and it also makes you feel like you really do exist." So for my new friend, she understands the value of these women being able to have a picture of themselves and gladly wrote the check to cover all the film. I can't wait to order it all!
We have another donation earlier in the week from a family who could totally use the money but God told them to give to us. I can only hope and pray that God continues to burden peoples hearts to give. I don't want to hear about how what we are doing is so awesome blah blah blah WRITE THE CHECK. SAVE LIVES. GIVE. CHANGE.REPEAT.
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