Green Village - Green Future

I want to use this post to announce the formation of a new non-profit organization I have developed - Green Village = Green Future, Inc.

This non-profit is set up to support rural village development in East Africa. The emphasis of the work will be to help these villages

- develop green environments, providing clean water sources, cleaning up trash and waste problems, and help people become responsible stewards of their local land, water, air, and animal resources
- develop green business approaches, helping people build sustainable and logical business endeavors by providing consultation, training, and micro-loans for business development
- working with village leaders to reinvest new income into the community through health and educational investment
- engaging successful project villages in providing mentoring and micro-finance support for future village projects

Currently, Green Village has been registered as a US non-profit, and we are currently working to obtain IRS non-profit status, so foundations and donors can receive tax breaks for their donations. Stay tuned for more info, and visit the website to read more about the work of Green Village = Green Future. Click the link below:

http://greenvillagegreenfuture.synthasite.com

Sharing Photos

Just a few photos of my most recent trip to TZ. On the right is Kelvin, a new little friend, the son of my friend Humphrey. On the left is my Norwegian friend, Beate and her little boy Sebastian. Beate is my friend who organizes and supports the Nkoaranga Village Coffee Cooperative I discussed in a previous posting.

Back from the Great Beyond

Just a quick update to share some life info. I had a great and productive trip to Costa Rica on literacy business. Met very interesting people, and learned much about the kinds of literacy initiatives that are going on mostly in Central America. IRA always brings together such a diverse group of experts and learners, it is well worth the long trip.

Spent about a month in Tanzania on holiday, mostly resting and visiting with friends. During my time there I had a life-shifting experience, while sitting in a Land Cruiser doing nothing. I was passing through a village on my way to a park for a quick side trip, when I began to notice some disturbing things around me.

The village where we had stopped is the main market day village in the area, and has a fairly large population. But, many businesses did not look like going concerns. Many houses were half-finished, people seemed to be hanging around with little to do, and there was an incredible amount of trash everywhere. When I mentioned to my friend Humphrey that it seemed this village had potential, and that they could really make a difference for themselves if they just had a little help organizing, he looked at me and said, "Well then, you should do that."

This small event has started me down a new path. I am in process of creating a new non-profit group to support community organizing - linking green environmental efforts to responsible business development, community health, and educational improvement.

So now this blog will be changing focus, and I will begin to use it to share information about this new non-profit effort, we are calling - Green Village = Green Future.

As the work progresses, I will continue to share information and ideas about what we are accomplishing. Right now I can share that we have selected our first village for community development collaboration, and it is the very village where I first realized that I could help - Momella village. We have begun discussion with the village council to set up the community engagement process, and are hoping to begin a clean water, clean land initiative when I am there in December.

More updates later. Peace to you and yours. Amy