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Kiva.org

Posted by admin on 12.03.2007 at 11:11 am

A professor at Fulton-Montegomery Community College turned me on to Kiva last March, an organization that is pretty excellent.

About Kiva:
Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Or for you visual people out there (I know you’re out there):

So go check it out already! If you’re not interested in helping Suleyman sell animals in Azerbaijian or Nelson’s barber shop in Nakuru or Edey’s Grocery Store in Peru then what do you want exactly? They provide for even the most discriminating (in the real sense of the word, not the negative kind!) philanthropists.

This is definitely the most impressive service for micro-lending that I have seen. It’s only going to get bigger too with the incredible interconnectivity between cultures and continents.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, fulton-montgomery community college, kiva, New York, off-topic, SUNY

Congratulations to Al Vos!

Posted by admin on 10.22.2007 at 7:35 am

Al Vos, a teacher at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton, has been chosen to receive the “Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service”

The website suggests:
This award recognizes individuals whose long history of service to the campus, State University, local community or professional societies/organizations sets them apart as well as those who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in local or system-wide faculty governance.

You can read the full description of his excellent works, but you’ll notice that one reason he is receiving this award is of particular interest:

[Al] works with the Center for Learning and Teaching and the Institute for Student-Centered Learning. Vos, campus organizer and coordinator of the Books for Africa campaign, also contributes time and expertise to other community initiatives.

Congratulations, Al, you’ve always been a committed and excellent representative of Better World Books and Books for Africa, and this award is well deserved!

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, al vos, book drive, books for africa, campus, New York, SUNY

The State University of New York Conference

Posted by Jack on 04.24.2007 at 12:24 pm

This past weekend was the State University of New York (SUNY) Student Government Association meeting (that’s quite a mouthful…). The meeting, taking place in Syracuse, NY this year had great attendance, with multiple attendees from almost all of the 64 schools within the New York public college system. Better World Books has a very strong relationship with schools in the SUNY system so it was great to see many of our reps in person.

The SGA’s at the SUNY schools actually carry a surprising amount of weight in decisions that get made for the schools as a whole, so to be involved with this group is an honor and it reflects the diligence and commitment of the individuals. Because of this, many of the groups that weren’t involved with us came for information and wanted to get involved, many of them through the SGA and through another one of the many groups they were involved in.

It was great to be there because I had the chance to not only meet many of the reps that I work with, but also had a lot of time in lunches or dinners to network and spread the word to a number of new campuses as well, outside of the presentations which I gave. It was a fantastic opportunity for people to hear about our mission and give feedback and encouragement to us and the people who work with us. We work with over half of the SUNY schools currently and with more events like this, that number will keep growing.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, book drive, campus, New York, SGA, SUNY

The Hirna Library Project

Posted by admin on 02.15.2007 at 5:25 pm

Travel 370 kilometers east of Ethiopia ’s capital, Addis Ababa , and you will find the coffee producing city of Hirna . As the capital of the Tullo district, Hirna is an administrative center whose schools serve the greater Tullo district and the surrounding districts of Mesela, Doba, and half of the Gorogutu district. The challenge of meeting the educational needs of so many communities has been compounded by an overall lack of resources. Consequently, the Hirna Secondary School , with only 13 functional class rooms and very few books is only able to accommodate a fraction of the region’s students.

In November of 2006 Oren’s Daily Roast, a specialty coffee seller in NYC, teamed up with Better World Books to raise money to rebuild the Hirna Secondary School library. Known as The Hirna Library Project, this is part of a larger initiative to rebuild the entire Hirna Secondary School .

Oren’s Daily Roast is currently accepting book donations at eight of their NYC locations. All donations will be offered for sale online and the profits will go towards the reconstruction of the school library, proving the students of Hirna with much needed books a brighter future. To learn more about this project please visit http://www.orensdailyroast.com/cat/Book+Drive+-+Ethiopia.html.