I've just become entranced by yet another website. However, this one is mightily impressive.
Microfinance is the process whereby an individual or group receive a small loan in order to start a business. In many countries, only a few dollars can buy a sewing machine, a breeding pair of pigs or seeds for the farm. This process has been shown to assist in lifting people out of poverty and is much more effective than handouts. In particular, women tend to run businesses in local communities and put the profits back into education, nutrition and health care for themselves and their children.
I have seen this in action. In the Philippines, I stayed with a family who sold fish at the market and used microcredit to purchase stock. In India, we had chai with a woman whose loan had bought a pair of goats, and the kids were running around beneath our feet. In Zambia, I bought sarongs from a woman whose market stall was set up with a micro-loan.
And now I have just found a site that lets those of us in positions of affluence lend to those who are not. It's a loan - so the money will be repaid (and is, in 98.5% 0f cases). And in the meantime, it'll be put to work well.
www.kiva.orgYou can choose to whom you lend. You can search by region or type of project. And you will be making a big difference.
Can you help?
A new friend's mother passed away due to cancer last year. Well timed around Mother's Day, we are doing Relay for Life to raise money for the Cancer Council. Please think about making a donation
here to support our team and research into cancer prevention and treatment.
3 good things
Chatting with family.
Warmth.
Let's build a spaceship.
Simple pleasures
A sleep in.
Fresh brewed Earl Grey tea.
Hot cross buns with melting butter.
A floral plate.
Last week's sudoku.
Again, I am led to consider the difference between a good death and a bad death. Today's was a good one.
A little girl, trapped in her own body for over a year.
Up and about yesterday.
Her dad here all weekend.
Her mum here today.
Softly and quietly. Quickly.
Surrounded by love.
We all sewed butterfly crystals on to her dress. We said goodbye.
Rest in peace.
So how was your trip?
How does one answer this question?
"Good, how's your last six weeks of work been?"
"Great, I missed the economic meltdown?"
"Awesome!" (...)
It's always hard to express a holiday, beyond, "Great!". Most people don't really want to hear, or are jealous, don't really care, or just forget you've ever been away. One of the girls on my trip told us of an exchange with her workmate:
"I'm going to South America!"
"Where's that?"
But I'm finding it difficult to answer because my trip WAS great. I feel rested. I feel that I saw amazing parts of the world, got a little insight into a new culture, met some fun people. I got to push myself mentally and physically, process and grow a bit, learn some new skills. I ate wonderful food and lost weight. I caught up with a close friend.
I loved it.
And I'm not a gusher. Saying positive things is something that I sometimes struggle with. So translating my trip into a catch-up setting is challenging me a little. But - it was great.
Trailing the Incas
It was bloody tough. Walking up 900m in a few hours, walking down steps in the rain, puffing and sweating and plodding. But, I kept going. I kept going up, not looking at the top. I kept taking the next step down, looking for the drier rock, the concavity in the ledge that suggests you're less likely to slip. I told my muscles that one more step could not possibly be too hard. I chatted. I chewed coca toffee. I refused to look over the edge. I listened to my novel. I bonded with my walking sticks. I wore my purple plastic rain poncho with my sunhat. I saw the tiny flowers and the mountaintops. I stood in temples and houses and saw fountains that still run. I ate three course meals and slept in tents that someone else carried. And, after 4 days, I looked down into Machu Picchu and decided to climb another mountain.
Is wasn't as hard as I expected. I kept going, and that's all that was required.
