Let's Get Excited!

I know I am! Tim Hansel said, “Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human." This is what I experienced yesterday, but let me start at the beginning. 
For those of you who do not know, I am working for a company called Grameen Foundation. It has been given a grant by The Gates(yes as in Bill Gates) Foundation to come to the Philippines and work with a Bank to set up a savings program. The bank that they chose is called CARD bank. It is a bank created to be run by women, for women. Right now it is mainly a loaning bank that gives loans for women to open businesses like a convenience shop or a junk yard. It teaches women how to be responsible to pay back their liability and GF wants to add a savings aspect. This new program was started in January of last year and the savings accounts became available in November. My job is to do two documentaries. one that will be targeting the internal people such as the board, future donors, the executive team and the Gates foundation. The other will be an external look at the people the company is touching and will be for the general public.
SO, all that being said........I caught the jeepney at 6:30 and went down town yesterday and met Julie, she's the American representative on the project and my boss, and the rest of the team at 7/11 at seven o'clock. The five of us drove to Lucena and got there about quarter of nine. (I wish Brian still lived there because it would have been fun to see him as I go there every week.) The team got ready for their all day meeting and I went with one of the one of the team members out to what they call center meetings. this is a group of maybe 30 women that are required to meet for a half an hour every week to hold them accountable to paying back their loans. These women make t-shirts, create songs, some of them even build "club houses" for this weekly meeting. The two i visited were fun. All the children wanted their picture taken and of course wanted to see them. Over the course of the morning I took pictures and got to know their processes. 
We then returned to the office to eat lunch at a local dive(more of a home that cleared out the front room, put in a few tables and cooked in mass. However, I'm getting used to not knowing what I'm eating(and not asking!).
The most exciting part of my day, came after lunch. I went out on the field with one of the tellers as my interpreter to interview some clients. I met a girl who was a single mother at 18. She decided to turn her life around and start saving. She saved enough to start up a little business and now her hopes and dreams for her little baby girl are huge. The second girl i met had a gambling problem but a 22 years old she started saving and transformed her attitude about money and a future for her family. 
Both of these women have inspired me in my projects as I work on them. Last night i took the jeepney back home at about seven and got home just in time for a conference call at eight. Officially the longest work day I have ever had, but it felt good. Working from home today on the internal project(which is a good thing because it has been POURING all day) and going back out on the field tomorrow. I'm sorry this is a novel but i love you all and miss you!
Mel
P.S my teeth are feeling better.