… around the world!
To lend $25 to a deserving entrepreneur, go to Kiva.org
Watch Kiva lending in real time:
21
Nov
11
Micro-lending in real time …
20
Jun
11
forgotten coin gets a new life
In my desk drawer, I found a dull forgotten coin left over from a trip. It was dated from another time and place, that is, Hong Kong before the hand-over back to China in 1997.
This 50-cent piece (a Hong Kong half-dollar) used to be worth about six U.S. cents. But now, the coin has a new lease on life as a pendant. Now, it’s really worth something, a nifty memento remade with care and attention.
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- BEFORE…
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- … AFTER !
( click on image to enlarge)
In San Francisco, just a stone’s throw from the Ferry Building, there are some arts/crafts vendors who do interesting work like this.
… almost two years ago now. I rediscovered these shots of St. Louis, Missouri. Landing in town on July 4th, 2009, I watched the fireworks from an 11th floor hotel room. Nice, in air-conditioned comfort. With the little time I had, I started with the Arch, the gateway to the West.
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Update: World Series Champs, October 2011
CONGRATS, Cardinals !
30
Aug
10
Across America on six legs
… an ardent Kiva.org fan follows the Freedom Trail to San Francisco. With two O’s in his name, Jonathon Stalls and his friend Kanoa (plus relatives and more friends) endure the open road, coast to coast, on six legs. They are generating funds for Kiva while discovering how much more the Kiva community can be expanded, for years to come.
Jonathon & Kanoa just finished crossing Colorado
Exploring small towns, expanding ones spirit on the open Plains and in the mountains,
accommodating the hot sun and dusty roads, encountering generous spirits, offering pictures as mementos, blogging the experiences …
… hard to pronounce. It’s easier just to go to www.kiva.org
20
Dec
09
Travel with the mind’s eye …
18
Jan
08
Welcome to Adéta
Five boys, all brothers ranging from age 10 and younger, are on their way to a Tabaski dinner party for kids. Muslims celebrate Tabaski, falling on a date a few days before Christmas in 2007. It is a harvest feast when mutton is eaten.
St. Raphael Church.
The headmistress, center, posed in front of the school where the holiday dinner for the kids will take place.
The school room is bright just before sunset.
With loudspeakers crackling alive at the crack of dawn, who needs an alarm clock? The call to prayer, along with the crow of the roosters, become a comforting feature of life here.
Typical neighborhood scenes…
Outdoor kitchen, living, dining…
Sweeping the yard is the first chore of every morning.
18
Jan
08
The Influence of China in Togo
I’m no longer surprised to see Chinese restaurants in my travels. This one features Korean and Vietnamese dishes, as well as Chinese dishes from various regions. We ordered a spicy whole fish, appreciated by
the Togolese for it’s chili sauce and the head of the fish; Cantonese rice (very popular locally), chicken with mixed vegetables, regular egg rolls, and Vietnamese spring rolls, a novelty.
In Kpalimé, a major town about 40 miles further north, Chinese medicines are available in a upscale part of town.
Back in Lomé, I’m told that the Chinese helped build the sports stadium. Daily products, including clothing and dinner ware, made in China seem to be easy to find.
18
Jan
08
Getting Settled in Togo
While eating out is part of experiencing Togolese living, making your own dinner can be a greater adventure. It’s all about the sauce….
After grinding my own okra, tomatoes, and eggplant that really look like eggs picked from a tree, add some smoked fish, chili peppers, and spices… pour over mashed cassava. Not bad.
There is always an eatery nearby, this one like on a Greek island, that hopefully has a nice breeze.
A walk to see the sights before it gets too hot…
Clay burners hold charcoal for boiling pots of rice or yams or cassava.
Traveling sales women selling her eye-popping fabrics…
… $10 is enough to make an entire outfit if you pay a seamstress or tailor about $6 to custom-make one for you .
Orange flower blooming in December, along the Ghana border.
Pilimaboo Street runs along the Ghana border in Lomé. It’s possible to walk from Lomé, through customers, and into Ghana.
18
Jan
08
No Urinating
It’s OK to respond to Nature when Nature calls, wherever you might be — except where a sign says you can’t.
18
Jan
08
Downtown Lomé
Next to an internet cafe (cybercafé), a near-McDonalds’s has set up shop.
Coca-Cola is made locally and doesn’t taste as sweet as in the States.
A boy walks down the street alone and stops to look at what I’m looking at.
Two women walk by soon after selling cosmetics.
Wow, clothes in Togo… fabrics called tissus pagnes (PAHNG-yeh) are available in a crazy variety of patterns and color combinations, as if a box of Crayola crayons had exploded in garment factory. Patterns are mostly abstract. Some portray household images, such as umbrellas or tubes of toothpaste half-squeezed out.
After a day at the long, beautiful Lomé beach, we go for a cold drink at a neighborhood bar. Komi introduces us to Awooyo beer. It’s superb, comparable to any micro-brew. Awooyo (a-WO-oyo) beer is amber with body and flavor that last.
If you’re going to carry 5 gallons of water on your head, it’s good to fill up at a faucet that dispenses at the right height.
18
Jan
08
Lomé, Togo: December 10
Komi works for “Frères agriculteurs et artisans pour le développement du Togo” (FAGAD). He picks up the volunteers at the airport. As our host, he was also our guide into another world.
The scene outside of our staging house before heading to our assigned village of Adéta, about 60 miles north of Lomé, the capitol of Lomé.
Sitting at the front gate in the morning to watch the Togolese go by. Hawkers carry their goods balanced on their heads and shout their presence door-to-door.
Stephanie, an American volunteer, join in on the people-watching.
A dressmaking shop opens early and stays open into the night, a workday lasting over 12 hours.
Back inside the courtyard, a mango in silhouette hangs from a tree. The shade from this tree and others makes the tropical climate bearable.
… during a volunteer work camp vacation in Togo, a country in West Africa. After having translated for Kiva.org well over a hundred business summaries of Togolese entrepreneurs, I have been inspired. Why not go and check out the sights and the people of this former French colony, in person? I finally did.
Another world, yes. I also found that, after living and working with some of them, they are gentle, accepting, and capable, even though they have so little. It’s a good lesson.
Few Americans will go there. For one reason, it historicay occupies a small space in the world — though, it now occupies a big space in mine.
21
Nov
07
Rebuilding continues…
20
Nov
07
When work lets out…
Near by Willie D’s Cadillac Custard shop, an after-work treat, there can be found a ‘wingery’, as in WOW… World of Wings.
Choice of 8 dipping sauces, all tasty.
By Day 4, Cyril buys a round of beers after work, here at Tony’s. Dalton (middle) and Richard.
As stated in the weekly Where Y’At: “…Tony’s Po-Boy Restaurant has a big new look inside but the same great food, including the biggest and best muffalettas in town.”
A muffletta feeds four… or eight, with beer, yeah.
Oh and the sweet potato fries…
Supporting the local economy…
L to R:
Evan, Cheryl, Cyril and his daughter Kate.
Okay, more life after volunteering by day… at the local bar, Zig’s Hideout, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Camp Hope….
TGIF at Zig’s with Black Rain, Louisiana’s own, live.
Complimentary beef stew over rice… serve yourself at the end of the bar.
In the Deep South…
Evan, Dan, and Tim buy rounds as the band treats the crowd, which includes a few Yankee volunteers.
Peter personally provides pretzels (from a place by which we parked).
Saints’ cap
Shooting pool
Orange NASCAR lamp
Cheers,
from St. Bernard Parish!
- support your local economy -
