The Adventures of GeekGirl

Since I’m still a bit low on funds, I decided to reinvest some of the money that I had been paid back by my first loan. I really like Kiva.org and thing it’s a great organization, so I also donated 5% to them. Total for this month was $13.64. (The new loan was $25.)

This is who I loaned it to this time:

I picked, Ronald because I wanted someone in Peru. I initially wanted to loan something to a woman, but upon reading that he is paying his way through school, I wanted to help him out. If you have a spare $25 sitting around, please see what you can do to help him reach his goal of buying more phones and equipment to sale.

My last Kiva loan went to Doreen in Ghana. She sales produce in a market and wanted to use the money to invest more into her business. Shes’s doing a great job and is managing to pay her loan back. Hooray for Doreen!

This month, I donated to The Innocence Project. The Innocence Project works to help wrongfully accused people be exonerated. I saw a story on the organization on Sunday Morning a couple of weeks ago. The  stories were horrifying. One woman was convicted of killing her husband and spent 7 years in prison while her daughter, a lawyer, worked relentlessly to free her. Thanks to the work of her daughter and others,  her mother was finally exonerated.

Case closed, right? Not really. After all those years, no one would hire her. She had to start her entire life over again.  Though she was exonerated, her record still shows a murder charge. Not only did this woman lose 7 years of her life, the masters degree that she held meant nothing because people still saw her as  a murderer. So, not only are they fighting to free people, they’re also working to figure out what needs to be done so that these people can move on with her life. (One state has proposed $35,000 per year incarcerated. That’s a start.)

Per their mission statement:

The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. To date, 237 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 17 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 12 years in prison before exoneration and release.

The Innocence Project’s full-time staff attorneys and Cardozo clinic students provide direct representation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The Innocence Project’s groundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events but instead arise from systemic defects. Now an independent nonprofit organization closely affiliated with Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project’s mission is nothing less than to free the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated and to bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.

There are few things that I can imagine more horrible than sitting in prison for a something that I didn’t do. The scarier thing is that some are even sitting on death row. I think the work they do is tremendous and would secretly love to work for them!

Since March is Women’s History Month, my charity for the month is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood works for women’s reproductive rights. From their site:

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the nation’s leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider. For more than 90 years, we’ve done more than any other organization in the United States to improve women’s health and safety, prevent unintended pregnancies, and advance the right and ability of individuals and families to make informed and responsible choices.

I am proud to support an organization that is concerned about women’s reproductive rights. ALL women (and men) should have access to accurate reproductive information. Family planning is a right. Not a privilege. Finally, what a woman does in regards to her pregnancy is her business. Just make sure that her options are open and they are safe and affordable.

Since I’m on my feminist soap box right now. A big up to President Barack Obama for announcing the White House Council on Women and Girls. It’s awesome to have a feminist president and I’m excited to see where we are all headed! (PS – People argued that Obama was not “gangsta”. I would say this is indeed gangsta!)

I’m sure you can guess what this months charity was. It was the World Wildlife Foundation. I love everything about this organization and I’m embarrassed to admit that this is my first time making an outright donation to them. I’ve bought shirts and things like that where some of the proceeds went to them, but this is the first time that I have just given money to them outright. I truly believe in this organization and thing they do a lot for not just animals, but the environment, too. They also have one of the most kickass logos ever. That panda is known all over the world.

This leads into something else that I want to tell you about. Saturday, March 28, 2009 is Earth Hour. For my time zone, the lights go out at 8:30 PM. In a show of solidarity and to take action on global warming we are turning our lights off for an hour. It’s not much, but it’s something. And since this is the year that I put up or shut up I’m in. Who’s with me? Anyone? If you are, let me know. I’d love to hear about it.

One more awesoms thing I realized: While planning for my trip I realized that a journal might be a good idea since I’m not taking my laptop and wouldn’t get a wireless conection IN THE ANDES, anway. But, I don’t want to use just any journal. I want to use something special. I then remebered that I have panda poop paper. The perfect thing for a travel journal. It’s super special because I got it while I was at the San Diego Zoo and it’s nice and natural. So, yay for using panda poop paper in Peru! Ha!!

I finally did it. I made a microloan through Kiva.org. KIva is an organization that makes microloans to business owners in poverty stricken nations. The loans are used to grow their business, which in turn provides more for their family. The entire thing, in my opinion, is about empowerment. When you show people that they can do for themselves, it’s a powerful thing.

I only loaned $25 and then another $2.50 to Kiva for operating expenses. My goal this year is to donate $20 monthly to random charities that I care about. I went over this month, so next month will be a bit less. I’ve had this goal for a couple of years and haven’t been financially able to. This year is the year that I share the wealth. I have a lot of great things here  and despite the whining I live a pretty comfy life. I need to share with those that don’t / pandas. (You better believe the WWF is getting a chunk of my money. Along with PETA. I love animals.) Hopefully, if the Kiva loan is paid back I will just reloan it to someone else. That won’t count in my monthly giving.

Are their any organizations that you think I should take a look at? I’m pretty open.