_Source

My goal is to raise funds to help kids in São Tomé, a country governed by poverty. If you want to know more about my project, please read
THIS POST.

News!

I'll start this week's post with some news!

1. Last week's post

Last post achieved almost 6$ in post rewards! That's A LOT and a very good start for this. But I think steemwhales (I use for the 100% beneficiary to @sisou) screwed up big time, since only 1.7SP went through and the SBD simply disappeared!

So... Shit. This post will not have the 100% beneficiary until I figure out what happened and try to get the SBD back. Once the post reaches payout, I'll transfer the SBD manually to @sisou.

So for the moment, there is 0 SBD and 1.712 SP in @sisou and 0 SDB and 0 SP in this account. Not much, but with your help I'll get that SBD back and get a bigger payout on this post!

_{Theatre, in Príncipe. Source}

2. Staying away from money

I decided I won't be giving the money directly to institutions. I talked with several volunteers and people living there, and the truth hurts: even if you deliver the money directly to institutions on-site, almost none of it will be spent in things kids actually need.

And what if I give the money directly to the families? Well, they'll just spend it unwisely. Their style of living is not suited to savings and wise buying habits. I saw documentaries about it as well.

3. So... what's your plan?

I'll be buying stuff and carry an extra suitcase with me. My sister gave me some wise advices about this. I want to donate a bunch of proper educational games, toys, and tools, but since São Tomé has no recycling system, I'll stay away from plastics. Instead I'll get a bunch of colour pencils, notebooks, inks and pencils, not to mention the amazing crayons that refuse to die no matter how many times you break them.

I'll be contacting wholesale vendors to get t-shirts and other useful textiles. About the games, I have a friend that is an amazing thinker and pedagogue that makes games for kids in wood. I'll challenge him to create an educational, simple, safe and cheap game he can make a dozen of them without spending the whole money you are providing.

São Tomé e Príncipe

Geography

The fear of the unknown has led to slavery on most portuguese colonies such as Brazil, Angola or Guiné-Bissau. But São Tomé is different, since there were deserted island. I can safely say the explorers "discovered" these islands.

Where are they? Well, let me google that for you, so you don't have to!

Economy

Nevertheless these islands were used for slave trade, and plantations of sugar, coffee and cocoa continued with forced labour even after the abolition of slavery in 1876. Political instability in Portugal that led to the 1974 revolution set the tone for São Tomé's independence in 1975.

The country's economy is based on agriculture, tourism and petroleum. But almost 90% of the food needs are imported from the EU, specially Portugal. It is sad.

Culture

The mixture of african and portuguese cultures is just amazing. From architecture to music, not to mention the cuisine, everything you see has the both sides of that equation. I'll try to taste as many vegetarian food I can handle, from their use of coffee as a spice to their fried bananas, avocados, pineapples and all kind of hot spices they use in everything.

_{Cocoa is a huge part of the country's agricultural production. It's amazing, too. Source}

As much as I know, you can loose yourself in São Tomé's cuisine. If you like food, DON'T GO THERE. The same happens with their music and dancing rhythms. Very strong stuff for very strong and gentle people.

_{The banana beach. Source}

That's it for today! Please if you have any questions regarding this project, read this post

I remind the addresses for donations in crypto:

Bitcoin (BTC): 16PPGv5WipSvQgqmqaZEe8iCMAavzt5bZL
Ethereum (ETH): 0xb37E3A39ad64C8E772090E50C09d88f8761c1567
Litecoin (LTC): LLBsMBMWkrCygHmJssqwbvNsoKaZPuUREM
ZCash (ZEC): t1VbM7k6VngGbu953nzZWuTTgRo2G1oBRAT

THANK YOU