6:15 am

I’m up on the roof waiting for the King 5 TV interview. It’s chilly. The sky is overcast. The sun is rising somewhere out there, lighting the buildings in downtown Edmonds. The city is just beginning to wake up. Looks like King 5 had other breaking news, so I’m headed down to the shop for last minute prep before I officially go up to the roof.

11:30am

I’m totally stressed. Just beam me up Scotty. Thank heavens for volunteer Dana Nunnelly who arrived just in time to send me home for a rest. One of the many lessons I’m learning is to ask for help; and accept the gift of help from others. What a joy to be around volunteers who show up just when you need them most. It’s what I love about what I do – being surrounded by caring volunteers dedicated to service. I can only hope they get as much from this as I do.

3:30pm – One hour to lift off!

Just arrived back at the shop after a visit home to pack a bag. Excitement is building. Dana has everything under control.

Henry is 10. He’s number one volunteer in charge today of no parking signs and barriers at both ends of main street for the arrival of Engine 20 from Edmonds Fire Department. Maddie is in High School; Maddie joined us just last week to start her service learning volunteering, even though she’s not getting credit until school starts in the Fall. These are just two of almost 20 volunteers who showed up to help and support me today for this Up On The Roof event.

9:00pm – First post from up on the roof!

The moon is keeping me company. It’s as though time is suspended up here. Being in this new space reminds me of my first night in a new country. New smells.  Different noises.  Is that scratching George the raccoon who hangs around downtown Edmonds?  Will he join me in my star gazing tonight?

Click here to see photos from today on our Flickr page.

And click here to see even more photos and videos from today on Dana’s Flickr page.

8:00 am

I just walked around the space on the roof and tried to imagine myself there for however long it will take. For the first time, it struck me I’ll be living in view of the world in a “glass house”. I felt my chest pounding. I’ll be <gulp> vulnerable. Certainly a luxurious vulnerability considering the status of most of the world. My stomach will be full. My head will be protected from the elements. Fresh, clean, safe drinking water delivered. How can I possibly feel vulnerable? And yet there it is. The leering face of fear.

Quick. Get back to the work. Place of safety. Place of routine. Place where it’s too easy to bury oneself in doing rather than being.

11:00am

The energy in the shop is swirling with warmth both literal and figurative. Our shop is more of a meeting and sharing and learning place than a place to buy. I notice shoppers linger. People become engaged in what’s happening here. They learn about fair trade. They learn how products are made and about the producers who create them. They pause to read stories of the young women who are no longer begging. They become a part of what’s happening. Inevitably they buy something because they are moved. Or they volunteer.

3:00pm

A woman entered the shop with a newborn baby asleep on her shoulder. A floppy hat framed the baby’s angelic face. The weight of the baby was clearly a strain. I offered the woman a chair in Selma Dublin’s Discussion Salon where people sit to chat. She sank gratefully into the chair, the baby nestled at her neck. She closed her eyes in peaceful harmony with the baby and stayed for a long while.

That’s what our philosophy is: Connection. Harmony. Peace. I remind myself of that as I’m pulled in a thousand directions….when I’m fretful about all the tasking that fills my days.  There’s a greater purpose going on. It’s when I keep that greater vision in my head that I’m energized.

That’s part of the reason for the roof. To slow down enough to celebrate.  To take time to honor the positive things happening around me.  I’m weary of negative energy that stings like poison arrows.

9:00pm

My day is over. I achieved very little administrative work. What I did was more significant ~ connected with passionate volunteers who run our shop; met visitors who came in to meet “the woman going up on the roof tomorrow”. (I can see the question in their eyes as they shake my hand, “Does your elevator go all the way to the top, my dear?”

I was to sleep in the tent tonight because King 5 TV is coming at 5:00am to film.
Instead I’m going home to have a final restful sleep in my own bed. Tomorrow’s the beginning of a new beginning.

From the Everett Herald:

Carol Schillios has cleared her schedule and her refrigerator. Her friends know not to call the house, but to check her mailbox every few days.

Schillios may not be home for months.

This Friday, she’s moving up. Up a tall, metal ladder. Up to a flat, gray rooftop.

And that’s where she’ll stay, for who knows how long.

Schillios isn’t coming down from the roof of her Edmonds store until a million people have donated a dollar to aid humanitarian efforts and pledged to do one thing to help make the world a better place.

Click here to read the full article.

10:00am

Today I climbed the ladder to finalize the supplies for the roof. It’s hot hot hot hot. Record breaking for Seattle. Around 100 degrees.

I see that volunteer David Crouch has been busy and a creative pulley system is already in place. Volunteers are the cornerstone of our success. David is CEO of Foss Home in Seattle and shares his love of computers and his handyman expertise with us. Elizabeth Crouch (yes, married to David) is a Rotarian and masterful networker. Her ability to create linkages between people results in significant happenings. Elizabeth has already begun social networking through Twitter to create buzz about the purpose of Up On The Roof With Carol.

David also designed the tent platform and pulley system that allows me to haul up meals. Between David and my brother Stephen Schillios they’ve made the campsite safe from rain water that might pool on the roof. (Wait a minute…..I might be up there when it rains????)

The most frequently asked question? “How will you handle the heat on the roof?” I think about the African desert and those times the heat becomes oppressive, suffocating, life-taking. I learned to slow down and breath. Just as one learns to adapt in different cultures, that’s what I’ll be doing. Adapting. My response to the question? “I’ll breath through it.”

This morning, in the tent on the roof of my shop, I placed a photo of the first 10 graduates from HereJe training center in Mali, West Africa. I want to be reminded of these brilliant young women every day.

It’s for them I’m leaving the comforts of home to live in a tent up on the roof. These young women have gone from begging to self-sufficient in 18 months. They are my inspiration about what can happen when you believe in the possible.

Picture a 13-year old girl who has been begging to stay alive since she was born. Her name is Oumou and she doesn’t smile. She holds her hand out. That’s her life. Now picture that same young woman with her head held high; a proud look on her face. Oumou grins from ear to ear as she signs her name on a scrap of teabag and slips it inside the pocket of a book bag she has just created. The look of satisfaction on her face is mirrored in Fatoumata’s face, a graduate from the previous year who is now a full-time instructor at Hereje.

These two young women are why I’m going up on the roof to live in a tent until 1 million people each send me $1. That’s right. One Million Dollars. Because my 501(c)3 Fabric of Life Foundation wants to help more Oumou’s of the world access resources to become self-sufficient.

I also hope to inspire more people to celebrate small actions they’re taking to make their world a better place. I believe every small action IS significant. Sometimes the enormity of the issues seems overwhelming. It can be discouraging. I hear people comment, “what impact can one person really have?” My response is, “a lot”.

My lifelong mentors, Jack and Selma Dublin who worked in cooperative development in Africa always said: “Do what you can do within your own capacity.”  They often reminded me that it’s many small acts combined that have the biggest impact. (Credit Union pioneer Jack Dublin passed away 4 years ago and Selma Dublin, at 90, passed away 4 months ago.)

Eleanore Roosevelt said “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I believe in what can happen when we step out of the shadow of our fears. I’m 57 years old. That in itself is scary.  I’ve never blogged before. Even scarier.  I thought blogs only existed on the moors of Scotland.  It’s scary to “reveal” your inner self in public. Yet here I am. I’ve decided to follow Eleanore Roosevelt’s advice.

The idea to live on the roof of my Foundation’s fair trade store literally popped into my head one day last May. I’m often described as “crazy” when I’m introduced. Personally, I think of myself as “bold” or “gutsy”, both of which require a bit of crazy, don’t you agree?

So this is my chronicle of being UP ON THE ROOF. I have no idea how long I will live in this tent. I’m not coming down until I come down. If that statement makes sense to you then you probably understand me a little bit. I hope you’ll learn as much about yourself from this journey as I am about to learn about myself.

When we talk about food in developing countries, a lot of people think the focus is about poverty — that’s not what my focus is. Food represents both culture and survival; we build community when we break bread together. So it’s a natural fit to learn and build community around a meal and this goes much further than Mali, Africa where my training center is; it can be right next door. Part of my effort here is to educate people on what living on $7 per day looks like, by giving them an opportunity to make meals and share them with me. If you’re close to my Edmonds rooftop you can sign up to bring me a meal–the information is below. If you’re a distance away–you can follow what’s happening on my blog as I share my experiences.

To Sign Up:

1. Pick a date between August 1 – 31
2. Pick a meal, either lunch or dinner
3. Confirm with Ari at arielmacpherson@gmail.com

Prepare the meal:

Gather family, friends and/or neighbors and prepare a meal from a developing country of your choice. Set aside a portion to bring and remember, my portion can’t cost more than $3! I’ll want to know about your experience researching and preparing the meal so be sure to share that with me via email: c.schillios@verizon.net.

Dine together

The Rose House has offered their kitchen if you and your family or group want to prepare a meal and eat together at the Rose House. Contact Ari to reserve the Rose House for your developing country meal.

Deliver: the meal to 523 Main and I’ll haul it up to the roof in the basket!

• Serve Lunch between 12-1PM
• Serve Dinner between 6-8PM

Guidelines:

• Carol has water
• Please bring food on environmentally disposable plates
• Make proteins from things other than red meat

There are several issues that I feel strongly about and/or am involved in directly, that I will be writing about. These are Hunger, Housing, International Development, Microfinance, Development Education, and Credit Unions. Check out the ones that resonate with you.