Armando

"Armando is doing very well."




This is the first sentence of report I received from Kiva, an online microfinance site that allows individuals to help fund loans for poor people throughout the world. Out of a pool of applicants, I selected Armando from Mozambique more or less at random (the more, admittedly, because this is a guy from Mozambique named Armando.)

The money I loaned (a small amount) to Armando was pooled with others in order to meet the requested amount, which was for building his family a home. Since the loan, I have occasionally received updates on Armando's progress in repaying it, along with some tidbits about Armando's life. To summarize:

Armando is 31 years old, a father of three, and lives with his parents. As a teen, he worked at Mozambique Port and Railways, earning a monthly salary equivalent to $24. Once he finished the 10th grade, he applied for the professional teacher's school and graduated in two years. For the last nine years, he has been teaching students in third through seventh grades, earning ~$190 a month. He is also studying nights at University of Maputo, majoring in Sports Management, a new sector in Mozambique which he thinks will grow. Armando also owns a business--he bought some pool tables using funds from a previous loan (since paid off), and rents them to bars in his area. He is also planning a room in his future home to raise chickens for sale. He hopes to one day buy a car to make his 30 km commute a little easier.

Armando teaches, then commutes over 18 miles without a car to learn. He manages a business, and has plans to develop another business. He has full family of his own, yet he still lives in his parents'. The whole thing reminds me of a guy named Hong that I met in Hanoi--a steady personal drive, a singular devotion to providing for his family. It also reminds me of my family over the generations--men and women who made sacrifices, small and large, to make things better for "their own." I'm very lucky.

All told--other than some mundane facts devoid of context and personality--I know very little about Armando or his life. But there is one thing I do know.

Armando is doing very well.

And I'm doing just a little better because of that.

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Note: According to Kiva statistics, 99.69% of all loans they fund are repaid. In 16 months, I am going to receive every dollar back that I loaned to Armando. And if I don't, I don't really care. But don't tell Armando.


Check it out -- http://www.kiva.org/

Do Not Fret

In an uncertain world, we all reach for a rock.

Knowing not what is around the next bend, we yearn for something we can count on.

And though seasons change, lives shift, eras crumble in time's unforgiving deluge… it is comforting to know that:

Dan Smith will teach me guitar.

The cultural phenomenon that is Dan Smith is being tracked--someone has taken the time to map the locations of his ubiquitous flyers. Wow.

get a load of those Yatchenkos....

You may not know them now, but you will.

My bro-in-law Artour, who owns a tour company focused on Russia/Eurasia, quoted in the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle.

If I may quote: "Public transportation in Moscow is one of the best in the world," said Sokol's Artour Yatchenko, "but as soon as you're out in the countryside, it's babushkas and old buses."

Babushkas and old buses, baby. Sokol Tours. Get involved.

And, my niece, Artour's daughter Sasha, showing what she can do on YouTube. Jump on this bandwagon now, before she's taking top prize on this American Idol thing I keep hearing about She already won the title in her hometown of Hopkinton MA, as noted in the Boston Globe.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, she is thirteen, and she does write her own music.

Ladies and Gentleman, the Yatchenko's. Recognize.

alternate reality

I have reached a point where I think television network executives may be playing a trick--a perpetual prank to see who's paying attention.

Did I really see an ad for “Deal or No Deal—Spring Break!” last night on television?

Did I see an ad for a show called “Farmer Wants a Wife” in which several city beauties come to the farm and vie for a farmer’s affections?

Is there really a television show called “Deion and Pilar Sanders: Prime Time Love”? Was there really a sequel to “I Love New York” and “Flavor of Love” and “Rock of Love”?

I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of reality TV (maybe one of the reasons I don’t have cable). I thought it would fade away. It hasn’t. It’s probably more popular now than ever, or at least that’s how it seems--and everyone seems to like watching it but me. The writer’s strike gave these shows an opening, and they started multiplying like rabbits. Now, they are everywhere.

Thankfully, the writer’s strike is over. And 30 Rock last night was a brilliant episode making fun of reality TV. Ahhh…. I’m not alone.

What's the Frequency, Sheldrake?

Newspaper headlines have come a long way. Once, they were meant to convey as much information as possible—they were dry, to the point, and generally followed by subheads that explained the most important points of the story. So, you really didn’t have to read on unless you wanted the details (cnn.com does this now… bullet summaries of stories. Someone scattered like myself certainly appreciates this – it allows a superficial understanding of current events without the tedium of reading sentences.)

Now—especially on the web—it’s not as important to convey the story in the headline. It’s to tease the reader, to get them to click the headline and read on—thus, ostensibly, increasing the number of advertisements they see. The cliffhanger headline is an art—and I appreciate when it’s done well. The one I saw yesterday was a masterpiece.

“Rupert Sheldrake Stabbed in Leg at Conference”

This headline brings to mind so many questions that you aren't sure where to begin. First – Who is Rupert Sheldrake? And why is his name so awesome? He sounds like a villainous sophisticate, or a deputy minister in the British government. He was probably made fun of as a child. But is he good or evil? Difficult to say. He’s probably bamboozled some people in his time, but he’s got a good heart—or so he would have you believe. But to be stabbed? Sheldrake, Sheldrake…. What have you done now?

Next – why was Sheldrake stabbed? And why, of all the more deadly stabbing locations, was he stabbed in the leg? It reeks of Harding-ian desperation, cutting your opponents leg. But one of the things we know about Sheldrake—or we guess about Sheldrake, because with a Sheldrake you never can assume—is that he is not an ice dancer.

And… who would stab somebody in the leg at a conference? Conferences are for discussion, the furthering of ideas, the eating of expensive steak dinners, the wearing of nametag lanyards. They are not for stabbings. What sort of passion must Sheldrake evoke in someone to inspire such disdain for the rules of conference etiquette?

I’m not going to give away the ending – but I will say that the rest of the story involves thought transference, the seeing of “demons” and a man from Yokohama. You think I’m going to tell you what happens. But I’m not.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/03/rupert-shedrake-stab.html