P.O.V.E.R.T.Y.

I was astounded to read that half the world's population suffers from poverty.

Where does one begin to write about a subject that has already had millions of words written, spoken, sung about it. I know in order for change to happen discussion, planning etc have to be entered into BUT we have 'talked the talk', NOW we need to 'walk the walk'. My philosophy is "Actions Speak Louder Than Words"......so you will be happy to know you will not be subjected to another monologue about poverty on this blog.

The facts are we know POVERTY exists and we ALL can help make a difference.............How You Ask???

An organisation called KIVA , a non-profit, was formed 3 years ago and is one of the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending websites. Ordinary people like ourselves can help those less fortunate by lending as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world.

You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.

I travelled to Rwanda in 2006 with a friend and wrote about it in my blog just recently. What I didn't relate in that story was that we observed the work first hand of KIVA in that country, producing self sufficient people who otherwise would have been begging on the street.

One final word on this important 'Blog Action Day 2008 - Poverty' is I have made up an acronym for POVERTY. I'd be interested to see what other acronyms other bloggers can come up with.

Please join me in supporting KIVA which in turn helps 'makes poverty history'!

Please
Open
Vital
Effective
Remedies
Together
Yeah

I would like to thank AVT Coach who gave me the 'heads up' about Blog Action Day (October 15th). I love how the blog community shares information, and now realise blogging can play a huge part in exercising change for many causes. I feel very proud to be connected with this day and if only one person makes a $25 loan to help someone who is struggling with poverty then this post was well worth it.

I took this photo in Nyanza, Rwanda in November 2006, it shows how your money can be used to help set up a business and in turn feed and clothe several families.

Journey to Rwanda

This new header is a photo I took when I travelled to Rwanda, Africa in November 2006. Jessen and I were there for 5 weeks teaching photography at an orphanage.
We took with us 10 digital cameras, a printer and some photographic paper.
The children aged between 15 and 20 had never seen a digital camera before but it didn't take them long to learn to take some fabulous photos.
Just before we left we helped the kids put on a photographic exhibition at the orphanage and invited the whole village....it was a huge success.
The latest exciting news is at the beginning of 2008 the lady that runs the orphanage set up a photographic studio in the village which the students run and it pays their wages as well as some money going back to the orphanage.
I'd love to return to Rwanda to see the beautiful countryside again and catch up with those lovely young people.
I also made a scrapblog of the time we spent there, so at the click of a button I can be transported back in time.

I was in the right place at the right time for this photo
One of my favourite photos
Some of the orphans we taught photography

Children watching footage of themselves in the video camera

Jessen and Amiee at the photo exhibition the kids put on