Education Generation

Today I helped out two students in developing countries through a new program called Education Generation. Its co-founded by a friend of mine (Shawn Smith), who also founded Agents of Change.

I am supporting Marleni: Marleni wishes to study computer science, but comes from a farming family with 11 siblings (ages: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28). The costs of a post secondary education are impossible for her family to contemplate. This scholarship will pay the $500 tuition fee for Marleni and provide for her housing expenses of $500 for the entire year in shared housing with other scholarship recipients. “I would like to become a professional so that I can make something of myself and help my little siblings and parents. I would like to become a professional so that I can excel and stand out from the poor.”

I am also supporting Mohamed Aniffa Muthazar. Aniffa has been offered a place to study commerce, a monumental achievement for someone from his village, and his dream is to get his family back on their feet. There are no university fees in Sri Lanka but the student must pay for books, accommodation, meals and other expenses. These are way beyond his family's means.

changing the world by searching

I set up the igive search bar on my firefox browser and have been raising money by using their search. The money is going to kiva loans (in the kivashop group) and will be constantly re-lent. Its a good way to change the world.

Made a loan to Julia Justina Ponce in Managua, Nicaragua.

Mrs Julia Ponce is a 51 year old woman living in barrio 380 in Managua. She is divorced, with a 19 year old daughter and a 7 year old son. The children's father provides support for them. She has a small store in a room in her home, which she began 7 years ago by selling ice and ice cream. She used her last loan to improve her home, and she will use this loan to improve her business. With the money that she is requesting she plans to purchase basic grains and cleaning products to stock her business and to meet the needs of her customers in the neighborhood. This is a very poor neighborhood, and people purchase their daily needs in the small stores. For this reason,Juila must keep her store stocked with products so that her customers do not lose faith in her.

I've been donating to the Obama campaign and watching his nomination with glee. Many, many months of hard work paying off.

Kiva groups

Kiva has a new feature - groups. I joined the Kiva Shopping club group, where portions of online purchases are donated to the group when you use igive.com. I've raised a couple of hundred dollars for them already, just doing my usual online shopping. (it helps that travelocity is a member of igive!).

I made two Kiva loans today, one to Julia Vallejo Meneses in Ayacucho, Peru, the other to Julia Justina Ponce in Managua, Nicaragua.

magazines for vets and blankets and kiva

I dropped off magazines at the Veterans Hospital on Wednesday, and today dropped off a few bags of fabric to a group who will be making blankets for babies delivered to mom's who have substance abuse. I also dropped off a few bags of things to Good Will. Its better for the environment and our society, to share things.

Made a Kiva loan today to Kosar Abdul Majeed's Group in Kasur, Pakistan and Volver a Empezar Group in El Alto / La Paz, Bolivia

kiva

Made a loan today to Juana Huanco Mamani in Juliaca, Peru. Juana's hope is to increase her supply of capital and generate more income. She thinks that once this project is realized, she'll finally be able to begin construction on the house that is her family's dream.

kiva and relatives

I've been busy with out of town relatives visiting, but today I made a few Kiva loans.

One to Juliana Ecloo in Tema, Ghana who is my age (42) and wants to help her charcoal business.

I also made a loan to Julia Arguello in Luque, Paraguay for her business of selling sweets.

The third loan I made was to the Juliana's Harakati Group of 4 members in Arusha, Tanzania.

New loan

Made a loan today to San Jose Group in Ayacucho, Peru.

The San Jose Village Bank is a new bank recently initiated with eighteen members. The members are from the Yanamilla neighborhood located thirty minutes from the city of Ayacucho, where many of them migrated to the city or settled (without land title) on land where many do not have basic services. The members have different businesses such as selling vegetables, meats, food, ice cream, firewood, groceries, clothing, fruit, and cereal. Every member has a different story. For instance, Vilma is a single mother with a six-month-old son. Vilma sells firewood in her house and with her loan she will start a project to sell CDs and disks. On the other hand, Julia travels every week to the Ayacuchan Jungle where she sells vegetables, traveling on Thursdays and returning on Sundays. Also, Hayde sells sachipapas (sausage and fries) streetside in the center of Ayacucho with the help of her husband. She has her business on the weekends from six at night to five in the morning. The bank members need varying amounts of loans, ranging from 300, 600 up to 900 soles, and totaling 9,300 Peruvian Nuevos Soles to be lent to the village bank. The loans will be invested to buy noodles, firewood, disks, cooking oil, potatoes, beans, oats, corn, vegetables, and clothing. The dreams of the bank members are to buy their own cars to rent out as taxis, construct their homes, to provide a good education and sustenance for their children, to expand their businesses, and that their children may become professionals.

kiva loan

looks like Kiva loans aren't being posted to facebook anymore. I hope its just temporarily down, I liked seeing them in my newsfeed.

I made a loan today to Viviano Julián Mendoza Torres, a farmer in Peru. He wants to buy seed for more products. I want him to have a better, easier life. He works hard and should be rewarded for it.

addtional payment

I was half asleep today and made a loan to the group I already made a loan to Amazonas II Group. Oh well, they will get funded faster.

Traveling makes me tired. Back in the country for a bit.