zek Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Hello from wet southern Ireland. We're unschooling, peaceful parenting etc. I am building a "charity" organization that enables freedom to live in abundance based on the non-aggression principle. I joined because I wanted to say that Stef's podcasts helped put my vague notions into clear focus, and so I feel I ought to be contributing, and yet my project is sucking all spare cash at the moment. When finished it will embody the ideas that Stef espouses and I share, and the participants (sponsors and recipients) will all be working as equals using a peer-to-peer system. We have a pilot project in Kenya. Recipients use permaculture to free themselves from poverty and set up sustainable lives and businesses for themselves, and sponsors send their contributions directly (100%) to their recipients, not to an organization. Recipients pay for items and services they need, turning the traditional charity business on its head. The online system is used to verify the projects and to keep track of progress via forums, blog posts and regular video updates from each recipient, So thanks Stef for helping to sharpen this tool I'm creating, and I would hope that you can benefit from this promotion of the principles we share in the same way that I do from your work. Andy P.S. I'm listening to your podcasts now, thanks for the link. Congrats on the sound quality. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfessionalTeabagger Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Hello from Norn Iron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-William Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I joined because I wanted to say that Stef's podcasts helped put my vague notions into clear focus, and so I feel I ought to be contributing, and yet my project is sucking all spare cash at the moment. When finished it will embody the ideas that Stef espouses and I share, and the participants (sponsors and recipients) will all be working as equals using a peer-to-peer system. We have a pilot project in Kenya. Recipients use permaculture to free themselves from poverty and set up sustainable lives and businesses for themselves, and sponsors send their contributions directly (100%) to their recipients, not to an organization. Recipients pay for items and services they need, turning the traditional charity business on its head. The online system is used to verify the projects and to keep track of progress via forums, blog posts and regular video updates from each recipient, So thanks Stef for helping to sharpen this tool I'm creating, and I would hope that you can benefit from this promotion of the principles we share in the same way that I do from your work. Andy Right on! I think that's exactly the spirit in which Stef is always talking about donating. If you don't mind maybe you could tell more about your project? Maybe some folks around here might be interested in participating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagiquarius Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I think it's safe to bet that Stef would say something like: "please, keep your money!" I believe you're donating in a way that money itself can't properly express. I'm glad to see others taking the energy of Stef's material and using it to help add value to their lives and the world. How are you feeling about your life with this project in the foreground rather than simply a vague idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Green Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 The project sounds great, and more info on it would be even better I've heard of some related but not necessarily similar operations. Micro-Loans like the ones organized at http://www.kiva.org/ are an example if anyone's interested in this kinda thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zek Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 How are you feeling about your life with this project in the foreground rather than simply a vague idea? Hi I wasn't expecting any replies, so it's a pleasant surprise. I'll reply to all when I am able to. I'm still "on probation" here, so only one more post. That's a really good question, thanks. It's amazing how much better things are generally. I had imagined that "success" was what was needed to feel happy. I suppose that's what's propagandized at us all the time. It's not true! Just trying to do something moral and consistent is way better than succeeding at something mundane. It's amazing to break free of the stultifying system, even if only in one aspect for now! I'm finding what Stef and others talk about makes more and more sense as I proceed along this new path, and that the more I come to understand, the more it fits together and the better things look. It can be hard to get started with changing your life, because the vast majority of what we're exposed to is geared to the exact opposite. Being able to tune in to so many videos, podcasts and websites is a great alternative to "media cold turkey". Being part of such a small minority (for now) can be difficult, and it isn't always possible to have much real-world interaction with others who are waking up. Without the internet I'm not sure it would be happening. Without it I'd probably be running a night club or hotel by now, and getting through it all with ritalin or cocaine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovePrevails Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Please post a list of ways that members of this community may be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zek Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 If you don't mind maybe you could tell more about your project? Maybe some folks around here might be interested in participating The project sounds great, and more info on it would be even better Micro-Loans like the ones organized at http://www.kiva.org/ are an example if anyone's interested in this kinda thing. Please post a list of ways that members of this community may be able to help. I'm using multi quote reply because I only have one reply left for today. I'd be happy to post more info about the project, and I think members of this forum are more likely to appreciate and understand it than most. I think it would be more appropriate to post a new thread though, as this is an introduce yourself thread. Any suggestions as to where? Below briefly is more info (probably a lot more than anyone wants!). Carl, the microloans do look interesting. It'd be good to have some info to give the recipients in case they want to pursue this. Like anything else it's probably a minefield, so if maybe you could help with an article about them, and what to look out for? Anyway, thanks for the link. LovePrevails - I'll make a list for a future post, thanks. Bear in mind that this is not a description I would make when selling the idea in the mainstream! Sponsors don't have to do any more than send the monthly remittance. Whatever else they do, whatever level of involvement they take is entirely their choice. Basically, sponsors pay 10 euros a month directly to recipients, (you can sponsor as many as you like) and the recipients form small local groups of up to 12 families. This group has a coordinator, whom they pay, and a teacher (who might also be the coordinator). The coordinator handles the group's common fund, which is from an agreed percentage the recipients pay each month to the coordinator. This is used to pay for whatever they need. Projects aim to last 3 years, after which the sponsorship is no longer needed. By this stage the recipients can have their own businesses set up, locally or online (which we can help with). Even without the businesses, they will have all they need for basic survival. This makes it possible for the business to be fun as well as profitable, because they don't actually need it. This is a huge difference to what is usually the case. For the sponsors, each recipient has a blog, where they post regular updates (at least one a month) including video of their progress. They also have a forum, where everything can be discussed. Sponsors know exactly whom they are sponsoring, and could do it completely without Direct Sponsor's system, it's just a lot easier with it. They have direct contact as well, via email or could even visit. Each sponsor is part of a group of 12, and their recipient. This group is totally autonomous and cooperates voluntarily with the other families to afford things they can't afford on their own (teachers, equipment, builders, whatever) and to make a coherent permaculture project in their own area. The coordinator also has a blog, where general project progress is updated, and a forum for wider discussion of the project as a whole by the sponsors and recipients. The full accounts are open and public, online. Every transaction -- the accounts system is web-based so as soon as a transaction is entered it's visible to all. This was important to me, to prevent any mishandling from going undetected. Secret accounts encourage dodgy people. Have you ever tried to get the full accounts from a big charity? At the moment it's just a spreadsheet but we're working on making a more customized presentation with the most relevant details clear to each member when they log in. The purpose if it all is to make it possible for people (i.e. individuals) to keep control of everything and not hand it over to administrators, managers and so on. I've been told that if this takes off it will be harmful to all the good aid workers out there, but this isn't true, it will just mean their employers will change and they'll be free to do great work without deference to the priorities of a corporate charity. Their only priority will be the people who are employing them. Every interaction using the system and resulting from it is totally voluntary. There are no managers, nobody ordering people around. The on-the-ground system is independent of the web-based system. It still works without it, but it's much more difficult to verify everything. The online system provides tools for all the participants to use, but nobody can direct what everyone does. Sponsors and recipients "own" their project, and work together to make it a success. The groups can cooperate, with a few groups participating in the same project, but groups never grow larger than 12 families, so as to keep it human and minimize the risk of Important People taking over and making it into something less. Each recipient has the ability to withhold their money and is ultimately answerable to their own sponsors. Each recipient has the moral support of 12 people from different parts of the world, encouraging them to succeed. In some places this can make all the difference, that someone they know cares. Because the recipients themselves have the money, they can't be coerced into things they don't want, or feel they have no choice. Their immediate project is their own piece of land, and out of necessity they cooperate with those around them, but they are all equally powerful in the decisions that are made. There is no outside agency involved, and all expertise is hired in by them, not imposed on them. Sorry, this is getting long! The pilot project is in Rusinga Island on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. It has a coordinator, Evans Odula, who is a qualified permaculture teacher and runs a project called Badilisha which is part of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia's worldwide PRI Centers network, as well as a school and accommodation for AIDS orphans. Four of us are sponsoring one recipient, Fredrick, who has a small farm. This is without the DS System at the moment. He's working with Evans on his project. 11 other families have already done an introductory course and are ready to start as soon as the website is complete. The intention is to have this first group of 12 families act as an example so that we can start new projects elsewhere, as well as more groups around the pilot project. So, we need 144 'trailblazers' for that to happen. Not too lofty a goal I believe. I love this idea because it can introduce people to free-market, voluntary cooperation without them even needing to know about such words. They could start out just sponsoring in the normal way and gradually discover all the amazing things without anyone ever evangelizing to them. Anyway, I'd better leave it at that. I'll be grateful for any questions that arise in the mind of anyone reading this. Thanks Andy http://directsponsor.org/ - still incomplete, we had to make the accounts a separate site and now have to work out the crosslinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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