Kiva-like - Off topic

[Guest]

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[Julia]

Hope its ok to start a thread that's off topic of Kiva, where we can post about other things that might interest us. Things that are Kiva-like.

I just found this incredible video. Its a women reading a poem.  She is beautiful and her words are incredible. And her passion is felt.

[Joe]

That is from Def Poetry Jam on HBO. A really good show if you're into spoken word, poetry, slams, and haiku. Some really talented people have appeared on that show with words about poverty and the state of the world.

Moving this over to the Lounge section. Anything off-topic and/or Kiva-like is welcome there.

[Julia]

Sorry Joe, I can't seem to get things in the right place!
Thanks for all the housecleaning you do here.

[Joe]

Don't worry about it Julie. I'm still playing around with the format of this new forum, as you can see with the new subsections and description tweaks based on how and where things are being posted The good news is that it's about set (...for now  )

[Ari]

Hi guys!  Well this is sort of off-topic but a few weeks ago I signed up to do translating work for Kiva (Spanish - English) and received an automated reply saying my name would be added to their list.  Hadn't heard anything again so I was happily surprised to get an email from them about an hour ago asking if I was still interested.  I wrote back with the info they asked for and Naomi@Kiva replied that I should be getting some assignments this weekend!  I'm so excited : )
I also asked when Mongolia would be up and she said very soon.  Naomi asked if I knew anyone who could help translate the Mongolian loans and get this - years ago I had a friend here in Iceland form Mongolia!!  We haven't seen each other since at least 2001, but I just emailed him to tell him about Kiva and see if he'd be interested in doing translating work.  Who knows, Kiva might get us back in touch ?!
And now for a personal touch.. since we're posting videos of non-Kivafriends doing artsy things, I might as well give you a link of me performing!  I played a movement from a J.S. Bach solo violin sonata on Iceland national TV last Tuesday night.  You can see it here: http://dagskra.ruv.is/streaming/sjonvarpid/?file=4301769/4  until April 17th.  Hope you enjoy if you listen - but ignore my triple chin... arrghhh.

[Kevin]

Ari, congratulations on the TV show. Your playing is terrific. What did the host say in his introduction? I don't speak Icelandic!

And this is off-off topic but Scandinavia House here in New York is showing new art/music videos and some recent films from Iceland. Do you know about/recommend (sorry, I can't figure out how to make Icelandic letters) Blodbond (tr. Thicker Than Water) or Born (Children)?

[Ari]

Hi Kevin,  yes I've heard about Blóðbönd and Börn but haven't seen them.  You should go and tell us if they're good!  An Icelandic movie I'd recommend to anyone is 101 Reykjavik - it's so funny, about a 30 yo unemployed guy living with his mom.  I think you can get it at many Blockbusters or Hollywood Videos.
Another off topic, I just finished translating 10 Kiva loan descriptions from Ecuador!  I felt such a big responsibility, since people will base their decision on whether to loan to someone or not on the description.  I hope Ramón doesn't have any complaints... lol.

[Pondering Pig]

Good job, Ari!  You are right.  It is a big responsibility.  I remember recently reading that an entrepreneur wanted to borrow money "to meet his family's needs".  Sounded bad, but it was simply poor English syntax by a non-native speaker.  He really wanted to build his business so that his expanded income would meet his family's needs.

[Julia]

I give a lot of slack to the translators. I think its just great that volunteers are doing that.  Fantastic Job Ari.  I hear there are 40 or so translators. What's it like? How long does it take?  How come you know Spanish?   I get the impression from the Kiva web site that they have a lot of Spanish translators, is this true?

[michael]

HBO has POETRY SPECIALS?  Who knew?  I try to give the Comcast Leviathan as little money as possible so I do not do premium channels. 

Thanks for sharing this clip - the passion comes through in more eloquent terms than I could ever muster.  Unless we're talking about really good food, that is.  (Hey, I AM a fat man, after all.)

[Ari]

Hi Julia!  I speak Spanish because my mother is Mexican and I've always been spoken to in Spanish by my grandmother.  In recent years I've made more personal connections to Mexico and have visited several times (I'll be there for the month of July).
I don't know how many Spanish translators there are.  The very first loan descriptions I translated took me about half an hour each (three paragraphs) but now I'm at around 10 minutes or less for each.  It took a while to get into it and also the first batch I did was from Ecuador, where they speak a little differently than in Mexico, so I spent a lot of time looking up words.  You've probably noticed a lot of the descriptions are similar, which makes it easier to translate many in a row, but I try not to use exactly the same sentences in English for each one.

[Ramón]

Hi Ari,

I think that it, GREAT that you are doing those translations! It is very important to get loan descriptions into English, because that's what the current majority of lenders speaks. I sent an email to the volunteers email address a while ago as well, but I never heard back-- probably they had enough people already.

And as for me complaining: just remember that although we speak Spanish at home here in Boston, it's definitely not my mothertongue (Dutch is), and I only learned it when I was well into my 20s.

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

As for other "KIVA-like" organizations:  A favorite of mine is El Porvenir http://www.elporvenir.org/ It operates in Nicaragua but has an office in the USA and is a 501C3. It's emphasis is clean water: wells, lavanderos (wash stations), latrines, spring captures, reforestation and recently, fuel-saving stoves. The organization does not instigate projects.  Rather, requests come from villages.  There is emphasis on community organization and self-help, and community members provide most of the labor for the projects.  Sometimes volunteer work parties from outside the country help (I've been on one, constructing a lavandero, and another doing reforestation and building a fuel-saving stove).  El Porvenir provides funding for projects and education and expert help, but much is in the hands of the villagers who will benefit. In at least one very poor village I've been involved with there, two very strong women who did much of the community organizing for a well construction and other projects were so empowered by the experience that they have gone on to successfully apply for other grants to benefit their community.    Wood Fairy Glenda
     PS - Does anyone know of similar "volunteer opportunities" in Honduras?  Anywhere?  I'm pretty good at cement block construction.

[Jill]

       I just now "happened upon" this thread, purely by accident.
Had typed in the word, "poetry" in Joe's spotlight search feature, above,
and this was one of the threads that came up.

      There was so much richness here-- showing some of the best (I thought) in Kiva Friends,
(Among other things, I loved the video-poem Julia had found that made her want to start the thread),
I decided I wanted to "bring back the thread,"
for all the KivaFriend veterans, newbies, and guests who otherwise might miss out on it as I almost did.

      I was very sorry to see, after I'd tried the link,
that I'd missed out on the short window of time available
when I could have heard Icelandic Kiva Friend Ari playing his violin with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. ***
If you're still around, Ari, maybe you could set us up with another link.
My only (not great) consolation was that that time window came and passed
well before I even discovered this Forum.
(EDIT:  Speaking of which,
          When Are We Ever Going To Get Kiva.Org to Make Finding KivaFriends EASY?)

     I'm adding another link,
I don't know how to set up the video, right here, like Julia did,
of a Slam Poet, Taylor Mali, doing a performance poem called,
"WHAT TEACHERS MAKE."

     For me, it didn't compare with the one Julia found,
but for anyone interested in Teaching, Education, Schools,
Humor, Lawyer Jokes, Poetry and/or Performance
like I am,
    well, some of you might enjoy it.

       Mostly, I just wanted to bring the thread back
(and also, it kind of brings KF Glenda back,
which is where we'll be glad she is,
when she is,
soon,
sort of).

***
      Speaking of violins and performance
(and Sheer Beauty),
if some of you missed my "heads-up" in Anything Goes
to the three or four minute clip
of three year old half German-half African all AMAZING prodigy,
Akim Camara playing his violin,
here's the link, again.
(And look at the love and loveliness of the people's faces listening to him, too).

[Meri]

Glenda,

Maybe we should start a new thread for favorite "KIVA-like" organizations.  I support several for which I have something of a passion:

• BoGoLight (http://www.bogolight.com/)
• PlayPumps (http://www.playpumps.org/)
• RoomToRead (http://www.roomtoread.org/)

All are 501(c)(3).

I am also interested in finding an organization which provides bednets in areas with high rates of malaria.  I found one last year on GlobalGiving, but that was small and limited to Uganda.  Anyone have a suggestion for an organization doing work in this area?

I know there are many other deserving charities (and I give to a dozen or more annually), but I specifically limited this list to those more "KIVA-like").

Meri

[Jill]

Meri....
      About Nets...
     If you're not already familiar with them,
check out Nothing But Nets.
      http://www.nothingbutnets.net/

        The guy who started that foundation was a writer for Sports Illustrated.
The first link, below, is the article he wrote that galvanized hordes and hordes.
The second link is his follow-up article, late in the same year,
after he delivered some of the bounty of nets
his article had generated.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/rick_reilly/04/25/reilly0501/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/rick_reilly/11/27/reilly1204/index.html

      The writing in each is So Engaging, So Persuasive, So Effective,
I felt pangs and pangs and pangs that I was no longer teaching English
as I would have presented these articles as quintessential examples of
powerfully persuasive and pleasurable writing.

     As I've recently read about the need for such nets in Asia, too,
if I can find anything more "international,"
I'll try and add to this, later.
 

[RichardF]

Maybe we should start a new thread for favorite "KIVA-like" organizations.

Hi Meri, check out Other Change.org Changes, Nonprofits and Actions.  That would be a good place to list and describe some of your favorites.  I'm sure you could get some action going on them at Change.org too! 

[Jill]

       Maybe interesting to someone here?
Maybe not?
        Either way, this is back in the news today.
Don't know if this particular computer is good or not,
but I do value the hearts that have been involved
in wanting/trying to produce something
for kids who otherwise would have nothing.
         
       "The laptop is a more basic computing tool
than the power-hungry high-end laptops that people are used to seeing in stores,
because it is aimed at rural villages where the only power source may be its hand crank.
The XO has been drop tested from 6 feet, dunked in water,
and baked in an oven in its Cambridge offices for weeks
to ensure that it can withstand the kind of extreme conditions facing some of the children who use it."


http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/TenWays/story?id=3640025&page=1
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/09/24/building_a_critical_mass/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119058997511836793.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.laptop.org/

[RichardF]

See also One Laptop per Child.