Steemit: A transparent solution for sustainable change

in steemfest •  7 years ago  (edited)

Our project in Nepal

(Is anyone doing a Steemfest 2 competition in which this would be a valid entry?.... Because I'd really like to talk to you in person about this project...)


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Steemfest 2 as a platform to give

For most of the past year, the thoughts of doing some volunteer work in Nepal has been on my mind, and having recently finished an I.T. contract at the United Nations in Spain, I'm now free from the 9-5 grind and ready to pursue something that holds more meaning.

This would be to offer my time and skills in a place where I would see a direct impact.

Working for one of the world's biggest 'charities' sounds great, but sitting behind a desk supporting the systems that support the people in offices, who support the people on the ground, who bring aid to the people in need, just felt a little too far from the action to me.

Last year, my girlfriend ( @osm0sis ) spent some time at a Children's Home in Nepal, and the passion in which she describes it has made me interested and eager to do the same. This sounds like a great way to have a positive impact on people's lives and may indeed be something that could fill my soul with joy and satisfaction in that i'd been useful during my time here on earth.

So as it stands, this November we will be heading to this children's home to continue and expand on the work Sylvia and other kind volunteers have done in donating their own skills, time, and funds.


Last year's work - @osm0sis


As well as providing Montessori classes and education in I.T. and ESL to the school, emotional and moral support for the children are also an important part of the work. In addition to this, funding and assisting the restoration and improvements to the infrastructure and materials is something we'd really like to be directly involved with.


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The school (under the sun in this photo) and children's home in Kathmandu, Nepal.


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The grade one classroom needs a touch of color....


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The Montessori materials could do with an upgrade...


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Homework by candlelight


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Sleeping arrangements at the children's home


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New books bought thanks to donations


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New microscopes bought thanks to donations


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New paint for the hall at the Children's Home


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End result after days of hard work by the children

Paint, musical instruments, school furniture and materials, sports equipment, and tools to aid learning are just some of the things that are required to improve the quality of the children's home and school. On top of this, we will be providing both children and adults (teachers and care-takers) with various skills which can be of use in their future.

We'd really like to make a long-lasting, beneficial impact on the children, with your help if possible.

So, what about Steemfest 2 being the location to pick up some ideas and gain some support for this project?

Lets try to get there first before we go to Nepal? - Sounds like a plan to me!



Wait.... why not just give to charity?

Maybe this article can guide the answer to this question:


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“We shouldn’t reflexively send $10 to the Red Cross”

The Red Cross takes in close to 3 billion annually, refuses to open its books to the public, and, according to Katz, has consistently failed to produce a useful breakdown of its spending after major disaster efforts.

So they don't tell you where the money has been spent? hmmm

The Red Cross isn’t a development organization — they don’t rebuild schools or hospitals or infrastructure.

A bit more of a band-aid and quick fix then?


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source

So the cash is just sitting there, unused?!


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source

I think you get the point here, but there is plenty more food for thought on the web if need be:

How Charities Spend Your Money: Eye-Opening Truths to Read Before You Donate

Worried about where your charity donations are going? Here’s what you need to know



What we'd like to do, just like the blockchain provides, is to offer transparency and be able to show you just where the donated Steem is going.

And wouldn't it be great to show and prove the power that we have as a collective, as many small donations become a large and meaningful contribution in total.


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Blogging this process would be so cool

  1. We discuss with the adults and children to see what's needed
  2. Bring this information to you
  3. Donations are given
  4. We purchase or act on the result of your feedback
  5. Show the receipts, results, and gratitude in the form of smiles :)


What does our community say about using Steem as a vehicle to transfer wealth to where it is needed?

Our fellow vlogging giant @exyle has spoken out about giving to charities following increased wealth attained through Steemit, but also mentioned being a little disheartened about the visibility of his donations.

Check out the vlog I am referring to from this point onwards or just listen to the lot because it's one of his best in my opinion.

Quotes from the above video:

In my mind, I'm thinking about all the good that could do (with your Steem)...

My upvote could change a life in India... wouldn't that be a beautiful thing...

It would be nice if there was a way to find projects to support... like a charity... if i could find people on the other side of the planet that could really use the money...

Ok Man, I'm here with a project for ya!

Can you imagine me painting a classroom in my Steem t-shirt (supplied by @stephenkendal hopefully!), using paint provided by you and then showing you the work and impact your Steem has had?

Would you like to see a blog in which the children have given a list of needs and wants, and you can pick from a list of items you'd like to provide - and then see those items in action?

What about if we've sprinkled enough Steem at this location, would you wish to see more of the same elsewhere?

Would you be keen to support this? Does this seem like a reasonable place to send your up-vote to?

I'm hoping it's a big 'YES!' to all these questions



Connecting Steemit to those in need


This is what I'd like to do. Offer Steemians the chance to support charitable work directly and see the results in action.

I'd like to offer this out as a proposal to the Steemit community and gain as much feedback as possible.

Who do we need to speak to? Either online or at Steemfest?

Is this something the community would like to support?

Do you have any questions or advice for us?

Does anyone want to fly us to Steemfest 2?!



Thank you very much for taking the time today to read our plans/proposal/contest entry, we are looking forward to your feedback.

Asher @abh12345 and Sylvia @osm0sis



All un-sourced photos taken by @osm0sis - Nepal 2016

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Oh this is such a great article! Thanks for the hint, Asher - my bot votes you automatically, but obviously this read needs human attention :-)

The information about Red Cross really shocks me. You won't believe it but I'm negotiating with them right now. I've started to develop a charity project on my island recently, but without an established institution it'll be very complicated to get things done like I'm planning to do... I don't have the network they have! So that's why I asked for an appointment and will have it at the end of this month. Now after reading your warning I doubt if they'd be the right partner. It's not the first time that I hear about these rumors... are they rumors?
Fact is that I have the money in this case and the only thing I want them to do is provide me with the contacts of the people in need. So just in case they suggested using part of the money for administrative stuff, then I'd kick them out right away and try to find a new partner.

I still haven't gained any personal experience in that area, but I have the feeling that we need to take matters into our own hands if we want to make a real change. Steemit is definitely a network that could be suitable for that purpose.

Thanks for bringing this out! And yes, I love the idea of you painting a class room wearing a steemit shirt :-) We all should consider activities like that...

PS: If I were you I'd mention the "good cause" in the title of your article... Like "Steemit for better" or something like that. Many people only read headlines... And I really hope more users will open this great piece of content! Resteemed it hoping to provide you with some more attention.

There should be a cryptocurrency for charity work that offers transparency what it is being used for. Where you could check up the website to see exactly where it ended up. Without manipulation. That would some powerful coin, wouldn't it, @surfermarly. You are the person who got this awesome logo the other day, aren't you. I remember your name.

hey - sorry to jump in on this uninvitedly, but i do think there is sth like this - please check out Giveth by Griff Green! Was the first thing that came to my mind when i read this.

Hey @nomadnessie, thanks for the hint. I googled it and found http://giveth.io. It looks indeed like what we were talking about.

yep, thats the one. And as far as i know, Griff is a pretty great guy!

Thanks for the information @nomadnessie

I've followed Geoff and Giveth on T. He needs to make his way over here I think! Seems to be using Twitter, Linked in, and Burning Man 2017! To raise awareness.

Thanks also for the RS!

if you can convince him to come, that would be epic!

Why can't steemit be that coin? :-)
You hit the nail! Transparency is key when it comes to charity work. There shouldn't be any people on the way being able to exploit goodness in order to fill their own pockets.

Yeah, I was the lucky one who was provided with a terrific new logo the other day...:-)

Well, maybe Steemit could be that coin. But right now you need a lot of Steem Power to give significant upvotes on order to do charity. But maybe a charity-trail could help or a 3rd party app that collects fees and uses them appropriately.

That would be excellent - charitycoin :D

Meanwhile, we've got other options!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Maybe it could be done with Steemit. All we need is an new 3rd party app putting a system on top of Steem. Could work weel since nobody needs to pay real money. But requires the individual to have significant amount of Steem Power, so maybe not.

On the small scale we are working toward to start with, I'd back Steemit 100%

To scale up we'd perhaps need more Steemians out in the field but lets not run before we are walking! :D

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Hi @surfermarly

Thank you for visiting today, really appreciative of this!

First of all, glad to hear you are working towards a charity project, any steps in this direction are well worth taking. As far as the Red Cross are concerned, there's been so much written and said about them and many other charity organisations that it's hard to ignore.

I think it's a case of the bigger the wheel, the more administration is involved and so while I understand these costs, there's not really much excuse for sitting on donations, with presumably no clue where to direct them.

Hopefully the article is clear in that if they/we think they need something, we ask you guys and let the community decide and then get it done soon as!

Really glad also that you responded with helpful advice on the 'headline', is it any better now?!

Thanks for the Resteem too, and congratulations again on your role at Steemfest 2!

YES! The headline is brilliant :-) Not sure if it had any impact on the votes, but the current payout looks amazing to me - very well done!!!

Well let's see how my appointment at the end of this month ends. If they dare to ask me for any administrative fee, I will exclude them right away. I'm planning on helping kids who live in complicated families - so every cent should be destinated to them. I'm still full of hope!

Thanks for your congratulations, I'm quite nervous already :-) Hopefully I'll be able to talk about a positive ending of my charity project in Lisbon. This would be huge!!!

Steem on!

Thank you!

Yes, best of of luck with your engagements - it would be perfect to have it set out ready for your Steemfest celebrity appearance 😁

Steem 🔛!

Haha I'll be working on it 😁

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Awesome! :D

Therefore the Red Cross has it's Pros and Cons. They seem well suited to assist government support to organise things so that aid gets distributed to those in need most efficiently. As we know that depending on government bureaucracy, delays getting things done. Wherewithal the taxes paid to governments you'd think they'd have your back in a crisis situation, and of course it depends on the type of government as well as those in the field( or behind the desk) running it.
The Red Cross has been good for running communications for those needing it during a disaster or other emergency or urgency situation, and they've been good about facilitating nursing/medical care needs.
Sure it would be good if they are audited to make sure no corruption is going on; after all, people are the main pulse for its existence.

Yes, the suggestion to ADD the terms (with the word "Steemit"] in the TITLE are IMPORTANT
So I suggest you do that.

It's so true -- that People will Just S-C-A-N .

(Good look to you, surfermarly, with yr aptmt )

@blueorgy

I see you have a competition for Steemfest tickets in progress - would this be an entry you would consider?

This happened earlier today!

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(return ticket and apartment booked too!)

Sure this post can be considered your entry! You are now entered and good luck!
Make sure to bump into me either way and say hello!!

🍺🍷🥃 for tickets?!

Sure thing, see you there!

Hi @abh12345, I see you have mentioned me.
This is automatic response so that I may respond to your mention later.

Thank you so much for starting this project and you have my full support man.

I love the idea of transparency and using the Steem blockchain to do good.

I hope next time steem chat works so we can have a better chat about it.

Fantastic work you two!

Thank you @exyle!

Part of the inspiration and encouragement came from the vlog of yours I've referenced (thanks!) above. Knowing that you were looking for projects to support with your votes made putting this blog together much easier.

And because of this, I feel there is a bigger reason (than educating myself) to attend Steemfest this year - so hopefully I'll get that sorted sharpish!

It would be great to discuss further with you, I hope we can defeat technology for a more fluent discussion next time!

Awesome!

Wow that's really good of you Stephen, thanks for your post and Retweet!

The work you have done in raising the awareness of steemit online and in the UK, with your team of people, is just amazing.

As my lead over to Steemit, I'm very grateful to you. Thank you!

This sounds like a great plan, my wife ran her own charity in Kosovo years back. The UN and other "help organizations" were booked into the most expensive hotels, driving the latest 4x4's and generally wasted most of the money on themselves.
She worked in the slums and really made a change in people's lives.

No more paying to charities for us.

Unfortunately I'm not financially in a position to help right now, but as soon as I can I'll donate some Steem/SBD or anything to help you guys.

One promise though, please don't paint everything Steem blue, that would be soooo boring.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Excellent! Is your wife on Steemit?!

It would be interesting to know the process that she went through to get to the slums and find the funds - I guess this would have been easier with Steemit's potential?!

No worries, lets get this show on the road first eh!

Also, do you think I will get a say on colors! I'll most likely be the tall guy with the sore neck!

I had an account created for her, but she's not using it yet. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow.

Not sure if she wants to go into her time in Kosovo, but who knows.
And yes, something like Steemit would have been great. Not only a large community to reach out to, but also transparency how the money was spent.

Especially the latter is missing with most of the NGO's and other organisations.

I understand, let's see. I assume an emotional rollercoaster and much more.

Thanks for your comments and support.

Good point rmz.

I'm so glad that Steemit will also be a platform for charity because this way you reach people from all over the world and will get support from all kinds of people. I support you wholeheartedly. I know from my husband's niece Samantha, who has founded a foundation called ' Laxmi Support' to help schools and a children's home in Nepal (see the website of Laxmi Support). Especially after the earthquake of 2015, there was a lot of damage and she and her husband have done a lot of work and collected (happily enough) a lot of money to rebuild houses etc. in Nepal. Now they work for the Annapurna Primary School in Pokhara. They did it since 2006, but after the earthquakes, there was a lot of damage . It's also possible to work for Laxmi Support in Nepal as a voluntier. The best of luck for you and @osm0sis! I wish you a happy time in Nepal.

Thank you so much for your comments @clio

It sounds like your relatives have done an excellent job and have plenty experience in 'hands-on' help in Nepal.

We can already see the possibility of moving on to other locations when it's the right time to, and will certainly keep Pokhara in mind.

Thank you from both of us for your support, brilliant!

The homework by candlelight picture is awesome!

I fully agree! Love it 😍

Thank you! :D

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Sylvia is cringing at the quality of the photos but I took this one because I liked it so much!

The quality of many others in Nepal and Macau is much better over at @osm0sis (shameless plug 5 of the day!)

They're horrific. Please don't judge me by these poor quality phone photos. Yay for shameless plugs :)

This is genious and I think the idea is so damn good i almost want to use swear words but I won't. Honesty, this is really something that can show the awesome side of cryptocurrency and Steemit and Steem. Please let me know if I can help with anything in this project ! Resteemed :)

Well said, Dan! Good to see we share the interesting people on Steemit. ;)

Hehe great minds think alike :)

Thanks for the enthusiasm Dan. Swear away!! I also believe this is one of the best ways to demonstrate the power of Steemit. I hope others see it too :)

I am sure they will ! A hundred percent sure :)

Thank you @dandesign86!

We think so too and are happy to have your support. Thank you also for the resteem!

My pleasure! I have a feeling this is going to be something life changing for you guys :)

That's great to hear, thank you :)
It's going to be an eventful time for sure!

More importantly it will be life changing for others as well. These days everyone is so caught up running in their hamster wheel and I think the self focus of the average person is at an all time high! I am very happy to see a project like this where focus is given to those who need it the most .

Thank you very much for the support and kind words @dandesign86! Really great to read this :)

Great ideas need good support ! This is definitely the best Community idea I have seen On here so far !

I have resteemed this article because I believe you are doing a good cause and those children could benefit from some Steemit exposure. I love shat you are doing and I want to read more about it. I am sure we can raise some money together.

@flauwy

Thank you so much! I was really hoping this one would catch your eye.

Looking forward to writing more about it and getting things moving. Thank you!

I hope some of my whale followers will see it. ;)

Yo tambien! Thank you!

This is a great thing you are doing, and yes. I absolutely would support such a project if there was one.

Great idea.

The selflessness of some of the people here on this site is absolutely overwhelming sometimes.

This is one I promise! ha ha

We are heading to Nepal this is certain, but heading there with lots of support from Steemit would be just awesome!

Thank you!

It is true that some charities don't actually spend the donation money on the people that needed, I always thought the Redcross was not the best charity, but to find out they pretty much let the money sit there, makes them useless.

Anyway your project sounds very good and I hope it goes well, so you got my vote and I will be checking back to see your progress :)

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Yes, charities find it tough perhaps due to their size and structure at times, but some news you see reported is not cool.

There are some very rich charity CEOs out there!

Thank you for the support @mariacherries

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This is brilliant! I am contributing my 2 cents to make this happen!

I've heard about that problem with the Red Cross and many more big organizations like the WWF. I think there's more good done if two so pure souls like you two go there on their own and are doing the best with the resources you have.

Furthermore, I may be heading to India at the end of this year and may do visit Nepal in case I get the chance to meet up with you and @osm0sis !

Would be great!

Thank you @rootingrobert!

Be sure to keep us informed of your plans just in case! :D

Aye Aye!

This is a brilliant initiative @abh12345... it always makes me feel better to see something that reflects an authentic desire to change the world for the better. Wish you all the best!

As for "who to connect with" on Steemit... aside from "immediate rewards," you might consider making a connection with the @sndbox group here... although they are NYC-oriented (at least on the surface) they coordinate with people and organizations effectuating change all over. Can't promise anything, but seems like a good potential for cooperation.

Hi @reddragonfly

Thanks for your kind words and suggestion to connect with @sndbox - I'll be sure to take a look soon.

man! These are the types of posts i look forward to seeing here on steemit! I view steemit as the future of being able to help smoothly and securely and plan to build a 200 strong support system here in Davao City Philippines. awesome post man! Keep it up! im a follower now!

Sounds like you have an excellent use case for Steem/Steemit also, nice one!

Following too, and thanks for your support!

no probs! Im geared to help 80 students who are currently being sent to school by an NGO. I taught steemit to 10 students as they will be my core leaders to make teaching the remaining 80 an easier task. If you have any tips for me ill be more than happy to listen! :D

Excellent! Sounds like you have it right, getting your core leaders together for the larger group. Get your templates / tags / topics / etiquette drilled into them and it could be great, good luck!

Gotcha. Thanks man! If ever you guys visit Davao Philippines feel free to contact me! :D

Very impressive, I have to follow, this is a brilliant idea. You deserve a tip! post

Thank you very much @pml2020

this is so amazing,its really very good thing.i wish you all the best

Thank you for your kind words @abontikazaman!

Excellent article. Thanks for bringing the out to the public. This needs to be seen :)

Upvoted and Resteemed!

Thanks kindly @photobomb, an excellent service!

My ex did a lot of charity work overseas, and he told me some horror stories about his dealings with Red Cross. It's pretty heart breaking that a organization that's designed to help those in need create so much red tape to do so! @suicidalviral

Red tape is the buzzword for people in high positions being unable to make decisions!

Hopefully we will have little/no tape where we are heading. Thanks for your comment :)

I totally love what you are doing! NGO's should be more transparent on where the money is going. I want to support your project as much as I can :D

Thank you very much @ojamajo, glad to have you on board! :D

Oh, I didn't know you are in my guild at MAW. Cool!

Yes I've been there a few weeks, going nicely it seems!

I used to give to charities before doing due diligence and shockingly I found there are some that pay the CEO Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year if not millions. I've seen stats showing charities only distributing 15% of the proceeds to the people in need and it made me sick. I still give to the good ones sometimes.

Speaking of good ones, there's one here on steemit that I gave SBD's to recently for Irma relief. Made me feel good. It was @harveyrelieffund and I donated some SBD to it. It was run by https://steemit.com/@xtrodinarypilot and he did a great job being transparent with the proceeds.

Charities are an important part of pure capitalism in my opinion. I'd support this type of thing here again.

Hey man, thanks for the info on this - we could learn from his approach.

Glad to hear you'd support if we got it right, cheers!

Wow very nice! Your efforts are now rewarded @abh12345!

Yes indeed, thank you @asbonclz :D

Maybe soon I'll make a proposal in our country too to address some problems. It's the least I can do. By the way I'm a new author in steemit, you support would much be appreciated. God bless you man!

Thanks and good luck to you!

Thanks for bringing this out! And yes, I love the idea of you painting a class room wearing a steemit shirt :-) We all should consider activities like that...
keep it up.

This post has received a 3.13 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.

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OMG! Yes hope to see you at Steemfest lovely soul! :)

You guys can be proud!

Thank you! When we are there and the project is working out, I will be 😁

This post has received a 9.54 % upvote from @bellyrub thanks to: @abh12345.

This post has received a 33.11 % upvote from @boomerang thanks to: @abh12345

@boomerang distributes 100% of the SBD and up to 80% of the Curation Rewards to STEEM POWER Delegators. If you want to bid for votes or want to delegate SP please read the @boomerang whitepaper.

This post has received a 6.59 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @abh12345.

@abh12345 got you a $9.53 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice!
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I really like the transparency of these solutions. I'm very glad you shared it with us

Thank you @amedeo, we hope to share as much as possible with regards to this project.

I hope so too!

Hi @abh12345! @pml2020 is sending you 0.1 SBD tip and @tipU upvote :)

Check out the newest post from @pml2020: Steemit Team T&T Flyer Promotion Photos! 600 Flyers Copied! and follow if you like the content :)

@tipU - send tips by writing tip! in the comment, get share of the profit :)

This post recieved an upvote from minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond

oh wow! thank you @thejohalfiles !

So deserved!!!

Thank you!

Seems to have worked out! :)

Super excited, thank you!!

Well, I am not sure if it came via me. However, he found your post and you deserve the upvote. I just made a Minnow Motivation video and mentioned you. Uploading now.

Dude! Awesome! So grateful thank you. Looking forward to checking the post out :)

thanks for the advise project.....i like this post

Thanks @robert31!

hello sir, @abh12345. im following u now. u were on the category. So i decided to check your post out. You did great! congrats!!

good

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