Leaving for Haiti on Tuesday

I took my first malaria meds a few days ago. Today I got my last shot. Tuesday the team leaves for Haiti!

So - what do you want to know about Haiti? Is there anything you'd like me to try to ask, observe, or photograph? (I am told that photography outside the school grounds will be very limited due to security concerns.) I have received one request from a friend to keep an eye out for any microlending activity. I'm happy to look into other topics as well -- so leave a comment and let me know what interests you!

I am told that I most likely cannot get online to post any actual blog updates from Haiti, so I will be taking down blog updates the old-fashioned way (pen and paper - gasp :) and posting the entries upon return. Be sure to subscribe to get blog updates via email so you don't miss anything. See "subscribe" button on the right-hand side of this page.

My first Kiva loan

I made my first Kiva loan today! I loaned $50 to Edina in Tanzania for her fabric and sarong business. Edina is 29 years old, and is married with 2 young sons. Her business currently makes a profit of $45 per month, and she requested the loan so she can open a shop for her business.

It seems to me that Kiva is an innovative, practical way to do micro-lending that is only possible with the technology we have today. It directly connects people with a few extra dollars (from all over the world) to people in developing countries who can really use that money. And it's not a gift -- the recipients are expected to pay the loan back, and default rate is very, very low. And the best part -- when Edina pays back her loan, I can loan my original $50 to another entrepreneur of my choice. I can keep recirculating my original capital over and over again, for as long as I like! Or I can withdraw it, if I prefer.


Kiva has gotten a ton of great press lately. Here are a few highlights:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'-- The Wall Street Journal

As of this writing, 13 people (including Greta Van Susteren of Fox News) have loaned Edina a total $625. She still needs $725 to fully fund her loan request. As you can see by these numbers, when each person lends a small amount, it can make a huge difference for a family in the developing world. With just $25, you can make a loan and change someone's life. Will you?

More from Muhammad Yunus

Here is a speech from October 2007 that Muhammad Yunus gave at Boston University. It's called “The End of Poverty: Because Poverty Is the Absence of Every Human Right”. This is fascinating stuff. I have picked up his new book, "Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism," and will start reading it on the plane to Haiti. Thanks to Irving Wladawsky-Berger's blog for this tip.

Muhammad Yunus, Subprime Lender

Muhammad Yunus, Subprime Lender

By EMILY PARKER, March 1, 2008; The Wall Street Journal

Queens, N.Y. In a Jackson Heights shop for colorful saris and glittering bracelets, several women have gathered to meet with their banker. They laugh and chatin Bengali. Sultana, a 39-year-old woman wearing a headscarf, hands him $128 in cash. She is making her first repayment of the $3,000, six-month loan she'll use to help with her husband's candy store.Welcome to Grameen America, Muhammad Yunus's brand-new microfinance venture. Mr. Yunus, along with his Bangladesh-originated Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for battling poverty by lending out small sums of money tothe poor. The loans are mainly for income-generating activities -- from making baskets to raising chickens. Since its establishment in 1983, Grameen has given out billions of dollars in loans, helping to pull families out of poverty and inspiring similar operations all over the world.

Read the entire article and post some comments to let me know what you think.

School in Haiti needs supplies

The Louverture Cleary school has asked our team to bring the following supplies when we go in March. Can you help with any of these?

• Tapes or CD’s with English conversation (junior high level)
• Blank CD-Roms
• Computer books for library (esp. Microsoft Office titles) – new or gently used
• “Dust off” or “blow off” for computer
• Materials for art projects (sequins, buttons, glitter, etc)
• Modge Podge
• Bottles of glue (Elmer’s or similar brand)
• Spiral notebooks
• First aid supplies (bandages of all sizes, Bacitracin/triple antibiotic ointment, gauze, tape, finger splints, ace bandages, etc)
• Basketballs (new or used, deflated)
• Ink for HP Inkjet 3320 for 2 printers: # 27, # 28
• Ink for Epson 440, Black (S020187), Color (S020191)
• French Catholic bibles
• Dissection kits [buy one or more "student dissecting kits" ($13 each) and have them sent to me (email me for address if needed)]

If you can help by donating supplies, or money to purchase supplies, please email me to arrange dropoff/pickup, if you are local to Portland, Oregon, or for the mailing address if you are not. Please make sure to include your name and mailing address so I can get you a donation receipt for your taxes. I need to collect everything no later than Sunday, March 23 (Easter Sunday).

Going to Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in our hemisphere, and I will experience it first-hand in March.

Why am I going to Haiti?

To raise awareness of the dire situation there. Almost half the country is illiterate. One in eight children will die before age five. 80% of the population lives in abject poverty. 80% -- can you imagine? If I tell everyone I know about my trip, more and more people will learn about Haiti and its plight. Awareness is the first step to change.

To raise money for one solution. The Louverture Cleary School, a free, Catholic boarding school near Port-au-Prince, is offering hope for Haiti. A US-based non-profit, The Haitian Project, operates the school, which educates, feeds, and houses 350 of Haiti’s brightest – and poorest – students each year. The students are being educated to stay in Haiti and rebuild their country as a place where justice and peace thrive. As part of my trip, I am committed to raising at least $1,000 for the direct support of the school.

To bring much needed supplies. It is very difficult to get supplies to Haiti. Shipments are regularly delayed or intercepted at the port. For example, a large shipment of supplies for Mother Theresa’s orphanage in Port-au-Prince was held up for six months for unexplained reasons. Our volunteer team will be bringing all of our personal items in carry-on bags so that we may dedicate our baggage allowance for bringing supplies necessary for the school and the students.

To personally help in whatever small way I can. Past volunteer teams have installed solar panels, built playgrounds and gardens, constructed a new dormitory, and helped in a myriad of other ways. Our team will be assigned a project upon arrival so that we, too, may help the school and students to succeed in their mission.

What can you do to help?

Spread the word. Read this article (“Haiti’s rising food prices drive poor to eat mud”) and pass it on to at least one other person. Check out http://www.haitianproject.org/ to find some hope that together we can make a difference.

Donate to the Haitian Project. This is the easiest way to help. It costs $950 to educate, feed, and house one student for a year. $175 will buy enough books and supplies for one student. $143 will buy food for one student for the entire year. Any amount you can give – more, less, or in between – will immediately be put to good use at the school. (The funds I am raising are for the direct support of the school, not my trip expenses.)

Donate supplies. Within the next few weeks I should have a list of supplies that the school would like us to bring. If you would be willing to donate supplies – or donate money toward the purchase of supplies – please give me your email address so that I can contact you as I have more information.

The Haitian Project operates by a simple and powerful motto:

"What you receive as a gift, you must give as a gift." -- Matthew 10:8

I ask you to please reflect on the many gifts that we in this country enjoy, and consider sharing some of them with our neighbors in Haiti. If you would like to help, or just receive a report on my trip, please fill out this form and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration.