Friday, January 11, 2008

10 (not 53) places to go in 2008...

Cross posted from GlobalGoodness...

My parents were Peace Corps volunteers in the early 1970’s, so I usually blame DNA for my frequent urges to travel. Despite growing up in homogenous suburban central Ohio (with a lovely Canadian island as my only international adventure as a kid), as soon as I headed for college I was able to indulge my need for adventure and interest in learning about new places, cultures, and geographies. From 1999-2003 I spent every summer south of the equator (thus making my summers actually winters) traveling to Tanzania, Bolivia, Madagascar, and South Africa. I even managed to snag a hiking job in the French Alps as my first gig out of school!

Living with the travel bug that my trip leader in Tanzania called “itchy feet”, I was particularly interested to see the recent NY Times travel article about the 53 places to go in 2008. Although most of the swanky destinations they listed are far out of my price range ($70,000 for a week at a Swiss chalet? Seriously?) I was interested to see 10 of their 53 locales overlap with places where GlobalGiving has projects. GlobalGiving loves having volunteer travelers tack on a project visit when our friends, colleagues, donors, and readers find themselves in places where our partners work– so if you want to get an up close and personal look at development in action and meet some fantastic project leaders– let us know. And take me with you!!

Bonus prize– if any intrepid readers can identify all 10 places in the NY Times list where GlobalGiving projects, I’ll send you a $10 GlobalGiving gift card (email me your answers at dledyard@globalgiving.com) I’ll even give you the first one for free…

Renovate 3 Elementary Schools in Laos

Double bonus prize if you can guess where my parents served in the Peace Corps (and yes, it’s on the NY Times list!)

Sunday, January 6, 2008

A petite new year's request...

Although I'd like to kick off the new year with a blog that's fresh, funny, optimistic, resolution filled, etc-- for now I'm just going to post a mass email I just sent to most of my address book. I'm torn between shame for mass emailing and excitement about taking action for something I care deeply about...and hopefully the big bucks will start rolling in shortly!

Hi all,

I don't usually do this-- despite working for a nonprofit I am loathe to actually ask people for money-- but the current situation in Kenya, and a personal friendship with a Kenyan woman named Stella, has driven me to make full use of my email address book. Feel free to stop reading, delete, or de-friend me on facebook if offended by the mass email. I promise not to do it often!

I've worked at GlobalGiving for about three years, and one of the best parts of my job is getting to work with (mostly over email and phone) some amazing people around the world who are doing amazing things in their local communities. Stella Amojong Omunga started a small NGO in Eldoret, in western Kenya, doing health and education work with teenage mothers. We became fast friends over email-- she is funny, eloquent, enthusiastic in a way that even spills over into electronic communications, and totally dedicated to her work. Her reports about her use of funds are detailed down to the penny, and while some people will tell you that only large donations make a difference, Stella was always deeply grateful for any $10 or $20 or $100, and could stretch it to do amazing things.

I got increasingly worried watching the news after the Kenyan election, especially after dozens of people were burned alive in a church in Eldoret where Stella lives. I emailed Stella to see how things were going and the first sentence of her response made me pause: "I'm terribly ashamed to be Kenyan right now...what we are witnessing is beyond human comprehension! I'm even taking a huge risk to check my mail, our country has been turned into a war zone: no food, no drugs, no transportation...its simply hell!!" She described the lack of food, medicine, and supplies, and how she is personally sheltering women and children at her home. "We are regrouping and doing anything in our power to provide humanitarian assistance." (full messages below if you're interested)

GlobalGiving has created a fund to support Stella and our other partners who are responding to the situation in Kenya and we're trying to raise some funds quickly in order to get them to the ground where needed as soon as possible. You can donate online here: www.globalgiving.com/1980 (or for you Tar Heels in the crowd, Carolina for Kibera is a great organization working outside Nairobi: http://cfk.unc.edu/) I know things can be tight after the holidays, but I promise that even $10 will be well spent in Stella's capable hands. And if donating isn't your thing, forwarding this message or the link or just spreading the word is helpful too.

Thanks for reading, happy new year, and here's hoping for peace in 2008.

Dana

From: Stella Amojong Sent: Sun 1/6/2008 8:25 AMTo: Dana LedyardSubject: RE: situation in Kenya
Hi Dana,

I'm glad that people like you exist...we are quickly reaching a melting point here. The last few days has seen mass evacuations of displaced families while the few remaining in safe havens still face startvation. I'm glad that relief has started trickling in but many fear that the worst is yet to come.

I'm not sure getting foodstuff or other supplies would be a good idea: all roads are barricaded by armed youths and unless you have heavy paramilitary escort, getting to the ground/villages is simply hard. Relief agencies, like Red Cross, are donating basic food to the displaced families, but this is not enough. Our bank has been opening the local branch sporadically and I believe it will continue doing so next week. We have had to sell some domestic electronic equipment (fridge, cookers, TV) to raise some quick money to buy food. Prices are quickly escalating and supplies are beginning to diminish but we still hope for the best.

My preference would be to send in the money and we can use our local networks in sourcing for basic food, drugs and other necesities. Indeed you can direct other donors to our project so we can have as much impact as possible. The key word here is URGENT.

Once again, thanks for you quick response to our plight. Say a small prayer for us.

Regards,
Stella

From: Stella Amojong Sent: Fri 1/4/2008 4:20 AMTo: Dana LedyardSubject: Re: situation in Kenya
Hi Dana,

Thanks for your concern. I'm terribly ashamed to be Kenyan right now...what we are witnessing is beyond human comprehension! I'm even taking a huge risk to check my mail, our country has been turned into a war zone: no food, no drugs, no transportation...its simply hell!!

Yes, indeed they are now even burning people who have taken refuge in churches. The situation in Eldoret is the worst and believe you me, GEMINI has not been cowed by all this. We are regrouping and doing anything in our power to provide humanitarian assistance and on a personal level, I'm providing shelter to the most vulnerable women and children and psychological counseling to the affected families in a nearby church compound.

If there is anything that GlobalGiving can do to enable us alleviate the situation, we would be so grateful. What we currently need is lots of foodstuff, drugs and clothes. We will still have a lot to do after all this is over and we look forward to a year with so much tears...but with your assistance, things will be OK.

Thanks so much....and, oh by the way, Happy New Year (You are the first person to hear this from me!!!)

Regards,
Stella