Baby registry of the fireman's widow

One of the firemen who died fighting the Los Angeles fires has a wife who is about to give birth. They set up a gift registry, and I bought them some diapers. I hope they get all the items on the list, its the least thanks we can give.

Kiva

Been quite distracted today because of the fires. They are moving in my direction and there is a chance I might have to evacuate. All depends on the winds.

I made a loan today to Jose Ernesto Nuñez Juarez for his business in Nicaragua

Helping the Humane Society help animals from the fire

I just made a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society and Wildlife relief.
The fires are bad, 35,000 acres have already burned, places like JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) are threatened. They have started evacuations in my city, but on the other side, my place isn't threatened yet. My yard is covered in ash and its very smokey though. Please consider donating to the shelter and helping the animals.

As the fire in La Cañada rages out of control, hundreds of animals and people are being forced from their homes. We don’t know how long this will last. There is little hope that the fire can be contained in the next 24 hours and it is moving quickly. No matter what it takes, or how long it lasts, we are committed to doing everything we can to help.

The Vice President of Operations, Veronica Fincher, has been on duty non-stop since the fire broke out. Temporary kennels have been set up at the shelter and the evacuation site at La Cañada High School for pets whose families have been evacuated from their homes. Pasadena Humane Society officers, staff and volunteers are onsite in La Cañada and we have arranged fulltime staffing there. As the only licensed wildlife center in a 30-mile radius, the Humane Society has readied itself for the rapid intake of displaced and injured wild animals, in addition to domestic animals and livestock. Dogs, cats, horses, an alpaca, a bobcat and a turkey vulture have all ready been taken in.

Responding to a disaster of this scale is an expensive and exhausting endeavor. It requires a huge amount of manpower, hours upon hours of overtime, not to mention additional supplies. Please, help the Humane Society to help the animals and people affected by this emergency.

Kiva loans

I made two Kiva loans today, one to Juliana in Oda, Ghana.

Juliana is 37 years old. She is married and has given birth to four children, two sons and two daughters who are all still in school. She works very hard to support her husband to provide for the family. Juliana lives with her husband and children in a rented apartment in Oda in the Eastern region of Ghana. She is a trader. She is in the palm-oil production business. Juliana supplies to retailers in her community. She procures the palm fruits from nearby communities. She has been in business for 10 years and wants a loan to buy palm fruits in bulk to expand her business.

And to Juan Julián Gutiérrez Lacán in Totonicapan, Guatemala.
Juan Gutiérrez is 43 years old and married. He is a tailor. He has a shop, “Confección de Pants”, with three machines. He lives with his wife. They both devote themselves to the same work. They have two employees to help with this work. He has been making typical skirts in his house, which is in the Paraje Xepatriz of the Cantón Nimapá in the Totonicapán department in Guatemala, for 14 years.

Global Giving

I made a donation today to this cause.

At the moment the Global Open Challenge 2009 is taking place on Global Giving. Each project that is able to raise a minimum of $4,000 and at least 50 separate donors until September 18 will be invited to stay on at GlobalGiving.

It nearly broke my heart to read the story behind one of the project that takes part in the challenge: Safe Water to 120 Albino Families in Tanzania (http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/safe-water-to-120-albino-families-in-tanzania/)

For an Albino in Tanzania, fetching water from a natural source and getting home safely, one need to be extra lucky, even when is armed with a machete. There have been since last year albino killings in Tanzania as the albino organs, particularly genitals, limbs, breasts, fingers and the tongue are in high demand by people involved in mining and fishing activities in the Lake Victoria Zone, especially Mwanza, Shinyanga, Kagera and Mara regions. "They cut my daughter quickly,” she said, making hacking motions with her hands. She had dropped out of school because of short-sightedness a common problem for albinos. - Mother of a killed Albino daugheter

Through this project, some sixty water storage tanks will be constructed at the homes of vulnerable Albino Families to enable them to harvest and store rain water for their needs. It will also provide skin protection, vision aid and home solar lighting.

Kiva loans

I made a few loans today. One to an Ana who wants a liquor store in Julia, Peru.
The others to loans that only had 4 days left to fund. I hope they all get funded!

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Los Cusis Group (business id=122593) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Mohammad (business id=122522) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Alim Ibrahimov (business id=121327) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ilham Abdulov (business id=121558) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Donation of $37.50.
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ana (business id=131517) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Las Rosas Group (business id=121827) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Noel Kemf Group (business id=121828) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to La Exaltación Group (business id=121825) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Pedro Segundo Group (business id=122108) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Virgen Del Milagro Group (business id=122118) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to La Frontera Group (business id=122124) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	($25.00)
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Fortaleza Group (business id=122126) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	($25.00)
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Walter Kon Group (business id=122129) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	($25.00)
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Unidas Group (business id=122268) Counted towards Barack Oblogger	(

kiva of course.

I made a kiva loan today:

Dennis Julián Hernández Alvarado is a 43-year old single father of three. His life partner takes care of his children. He is a jeweler and has done it for a living for more than five years. His business is located outside a marketplace, which is where he has obtained the majority of his customers. His intention is to expand his business to benefit his family, which is dependent on his income. He is asking for financing to buy gold, silver, stones, and acids. His goal for the future is that his children finish school.

kiva

I made two quick kiva loans today:

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ana Julia Orellana (business id=131236) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ana (business id=131517) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Wells Fargo RSI for Kiva

I just calculated my Retirement Savings for Kiva. Can you help too?

Wells Fargo is willing to donate $25,000 to Kiva: http://www.wellsfargo.retiresecureindex.com/leaderboard

For every person who answers 9 short questions Wells Fargo will donate $1 to Kiva! By answering you can get a quick estimate of your retirement eligibility without giving any of your personal data to Wells Fargo or use them for any services. So far only $800 have been raised and there are only 7 days to go.

Kiva loans

I made a few kiva loans today, to Julia's and people in Honduras.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ventura De Jesus Ponce (business id=131008) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ryan Julian (business id=130728) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Julia Pereyra Rengifo (business id=129066) Counted towards Barack Oblogge

Kiva loans

I made a few kiva loans today, to Julia's and people in Honduras.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ventura De Jesus Ponce (business id=131008) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ryan Julian (business id=130728) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Julia Pereyra Rengifo (business id=129066) Counted towards Barack Oblogge

Equality Ring from Equality California

I just bought a beautiful 'equality ring' from Effie, where the proceeds are going to Equity California. I've been talking to the designer (on facebook of course) for a few weeks, and can assess that these rings were solely created to raise money to defeat Prop 8 (the law... that makes our gay friends second class citizens by denying them the legal rights of marriage). 100% of the proceeds are going to the group for this purpose.

They are offering these rings at $10 for Pewter, and $30 for Sterling silver. You don't have to be from California (or even the US) to buy one. Please consider buying one (or more), we need all the help we can get in our fight against homophobia.

*Note, I corrected this because the rings are made by a person and not the group, they are just taking the money for the good cause.

Kiva

Back from Canada, had a great visit with family, and made a few Kiva loans today. To Julia's.

	Loan Purchase of $25 to Ana Julia Baca Velasquez (business id=127268) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to María Julia Chachagua (business id=127693) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Juliana Duran Arauz (business id=127770) Counted towards Barack Oblogger
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Hilaria Julia Sucari Flores (business id=130102) Counted towards Barack Oblogger		($25.00)
	Loan Purchase of $25 to Juliao Mapswanganhe (business id=126701) Counted towards Barack Oblogger

Kiva and Health Care Reform

I went to my town hall last night to stand up for Health Care Reform. We have major issues in the US with people not being insured or being under insured. I met some great people and had a grand time. But it was sad to see some ugliness, people shouting that it was 'their money and no one else should have it'. One guy kept telling everyone that he gave away more money than they made in a year. I found this particularly obnoxious because he had no idea who he was yelling to, he just assumed he was richer than everyone. I've never seen competitive philanthropy before, so it was a bit strange. But, it looks like the regular folks outnumbered the mean people, and we will get reform.

I have been to enough countries to be ashamed of living in the richest country in the world that treats its citizens so poorly, we have vets living under bridges and children sleeping on the streets. And many, many people go hungry. Just so some people can 'keep their money'.

I also made a Kiva loan today to Juliana Duran Arauz in Nicaragua. She wants housing.

I am off to Canada for a few days, not sure I"ll be posting. But I'll be trying to make the world better if I can.

Kiva loan

I made a Kiva loan today to Ana Julia Baca Velásquez for her transportation company. She is 44, which is almost my age.

I wish her all the best.

kiva

I made a loan today to María Julia Chachagua, in San Salvadore, El Savadore.

Busy, busy, busy

I have been busy but not posting, Life happens.

I made two loans today, to Julia's.

Julia del Carmen Medina Cáceres is 45. She is a very happy woman. In spite of the difficulties she has gone through, she has always maintained her enthusiastic spirit. This has helped her with her business, a small mini market. She has had the business for over 11 years. Julia has always liked this business because she likes to interact with people. She likes to make progress. That is why she is asking for a loan to invest in her mini market. She will buy candy, crackers, bread, natural soft drinks, and juice.
In the future she wishes to expand her small market and become a distributor who supplies her neighbors.

Did I mention I've been busy working on my small business, and plan to make it more into a wholesale distributor.

The other Julia I loaned to is Julia Herminia in Lima, Peru.

Julia has been working since she was 16 years old. She learned to bake with the woman she used to work for, who baked cakes for a living. When the lady died Julia lost her job, so she started to bake cakes at home. She now sells them to schools and hospitals. She cleans houses on Saturday and Sunday. Julia’s financial resources have increased since she joined Finca. Julia has asked for a loan of 1,200 soles ($425). She will use the money to buy flour, butter and eggs. Her goal is to eventually buy a car to provide school transportation.

Loans to Afganistan.

I made a Kiva loan today to the Karema Group. I was attracted to the weaving.

Karema is the group leader of the Karema group, which has four members.
Karema and Sareya want a loan for their carpet-weaving business; they want to buy necessary materials. Abdull Wakell wants a loan for his taxi business, and wants to buy necessary materials. Omid wants a loan for his metal shop business; he wants to add to his stock and enlarge his shop. They all want to expand and improve their businesses and want to earn more money to support their families.
They are very happy with this loan process in Afghanistan. They want to thank all AFSG and Kiva lenders.

Weekend to End Breast Cancer

I just donated to a friend who is raising money to help cure cancer.

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer is a two-day, 60-kilometre walk through the neighbourhoods of Montreal.

Proceeds benefit the Jewish General Hospital, funding important breast cancer research, education, services and care.

I like supporting my friends in their efforts to help change the world. Every bit helps.