Aside from my involvement with the knit in for Wrap With Love, a few other things have collided recently to make me think a lot more about the plight of the homeless.
A month (or so) ago I was watching a kind of naff, but still tearjerky, show called "Random Acts Of Kindness" on our local tv. I hadn't watched the show before, but I knew the way it went down. I've watched Oprah, Backyard Blitz et al. I knew the drill, people who work tirelessly for others/have special needs/have suffered a tragedy are given things/money/a new backyard to thank them/perk them up/put them back on the road to recovery. Yes I sound cynical, but in truth I'm kind of a sucker for these sorts of things and I always end up in floods of tears. Even when it's only a new outdoor entertaining area/bbq/poolside Indonesian style cabana/beds of ubiquitous cordylines.
So I was watching "Random Acts Of Kindness" when they did a segment with a woman called Sarah Garnett. One night, while Sarah was helping out by serving meals to the homeless, she spotted a homeless man reading a paperback novel under a streetlamp. She started to bring him other books to read, and from that was sown the idea of the Bejamin Andrew Footpath Library. By 2003 the library was born, bringing a weekly collection of books to the street for homeless people to read. Hopefully they return them, but they're not under any obligation to.
The show did lots for her and her volunteer organisation, gave them storage space, petrol vouchers, a new minivan, a computer, etc. Obviously lots more than she expected, and frankly all sensible things that would make the organisation thrive and her life easier. But it was the idea that blew me away. Books for the homeless.
What must it be like to spend days and nights on the streets? Largely invisible to everyone, with few people to talk to and little opportunity for social contact and just some escape? Like Sarah I agree that books can be affirming, entertaining, life changing things and why not bring a little of this to someone who is on the streets? Aside from food, shelter and fatigue, boredom and isolation are apparently some of the hardest things for the homeless.
The other thing I saw on tv was a woman called Jean Madden who brought in her Street Swag to compete on the "New Inventors" show. She didn't win, but she did win the people's choice award and according to a radio interview I heard with her today, she's the only Australian who has been invited this year to take her invention to a prestigious international design competition.
In her dealings with the Brisbane homeless she discovered that fatigue was a big issue for those roughing it on the streets. Many of the homeless have managed to suss out obtaining food, but shelter and rest are much harder. She had the idea to take the great Aussie swag (a portable bedroll and shelter in one) and refine the design so that a homeless person could have a portable shelter during the evening, and a discrete bag to carry belongings in during the day. (Including a book, perhaps?)
She designed a few prototypes, designing them to be simple and cost effective to make, and gave them to some homeless folk she knew, using their feedback to improve them. Making them a camouflage colour so they are hard to spot in greenery at night, and reducing the thickness of the mattress to make more room for possessions, for instance. She has now distributed thousands of them to homeless in many parts of Australia, and has them made by prisoners in jail who in turn receive credit towards a textiles manufacturing certificate.
Again, what an amazing idea. Both ideas aimed at improving the wellbeing of people on the streets. Food and shelter are the obvious fundamental things one thinks of, but boredom and fatigue would have enormous impacts on the mental and physical health of the homeless. Simple ideas making big quality of life changes. I take my hat off to these amazing women.
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Knitter #328, Media Whore
Early (OMG, early) on Friday morning I headed into the ABC radio and tv headquarters in Ultimo for the ABC702 Knit In. The knit in is an annual event which first began in 2002, and is a focal point for the charity Wrap With Love. 28 25cm x 25cm knitted or crocheted squares are sewn together to form single bed sized blanket 'wraps', which are given to people who would otherwise not have something warm to wrap themselves in. In Wrap With Love's own words "Cold humanity is our concern, humans caring about other humans."
I arrived shortly after 7am, just after the doors opened, and was already the 328th knitter through the doors. I had to leave about 8.20am to head off to work but by then there was something like 600+ people there. Later in the morning they set a world record for the largest number of people knitting simultaneously for 15 minutes at just under 600 people, and estimates of total attendees were at well over 970 (which was the number where the door volunteers stopped counting). In addition to the knitters there was a large group of people sitting sewing or crocheting together completed squares that had been turned in, to make finished wraps.
Late yesterday afternoon I went to the monthly underwear party at my local leather bar, and as it turned out one of the guys there was at the Knit In crocheting squares together. Small world, eh?
Highlight of the morning was being asked up on stage and interviewed for the ABC702 morning radio show.
James has very kindly put up an mp3 of the interview here. Listen for the bits where the male interviewer, Adam Spencer, exhibits a total lack of gaydar by asking me about a) rugby league and b) meeting chicks. Cue nervous laugh from me.
On the ABC website there is a gallery of pics from the event (which curiously I don't appear in) and a video of the news story that appeared on the ABC evening news (likewise, without me, and frankly these oversights needs to be dealt with). Later in the day I even had some knitters come into the yarn store I work in 2 days a week and mention they had heard the interview.
A fun morning, and a lovely way to share the enjoyment of your craft while doing something meaningful for others.
I arrived shortly after 7am, just after the doors opened, and was already the 328th knitter through the doors. I had to leave about 8.20am to head off to work but by then there was something like 600+ people there. Later in the morning they set a world record for the largest number of people knitting simultaneously for 15 minutes at just under 600 people, and estimates of total attendees were at well over 970 (which was the number where the door volunteers stopped counting). In addition to the knitters there was a large group of people sitting sewing or crocheting together completed squares that had been turned in, to make finished wraps.
Some completed wraps on display.
Late yesterday afternoon I went to the monthly underwear party at my local leather bar, and as it turned out one of the guys there was at the Knit In crocheting squares together. Small world, eh?
Highlight of the morning was being asked up on stage and interviewed for the ABC702 morning radio show.
Angela Caterns and myself, grinning like a fool. Photo by James O'Brien.
James has very kindly put up an mp3 of the interview here. Listen for the bits where the male interviewer, Adam Spencer, exhibits a total lack of gaydar by asking me about a) rugby league and b) meeting chicks. Cue nervous laugh from me.
On the ABC website there is a gallery of pics from the event (which curiously I don't appear in) and a video of the news story that appeared on the ABC evening news (likewise, without me, and frankly these oversights needs to be dealt with). Later in the day I even had some knitters come into the yarn store I work in 2 days a week and mention they had heard the interview.
A fun morning, and a lovely way to share the enjoyment of your craft while doing something meaningful for others.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Compassion In Action
Back in November I wrote about my decision to make a micro-loan through the orgaisation Kiva, to enable an entrepreneur in a less financially advantaged situation to get a boost in their business. About a month later I had some spare dollars and decided to put them to good use.
I decided to go with a fairly short term loan for my first Kiva loan, so that I could see the process in action, and once some of the money was repaid I could add to it and make a second loan to someone else. By topping up the repaid credits I could start to get a portfolio of loans happening and make sure that the money I was lending was out there circulating and helping people. Since then Consuelo has paid back 25% of her loan, and soon I'll be making my next one.
Kiva provides lots of feedback on the lendees' progress through 'fellows' in the field. They are a team of volunteers who work with the small lending institutions in the different countries, sometimes in quite difficult circumstances. They do admin and lending work, but most importantly they must also write blog posts and journal entries feeding back information to the lenders and Kiva. They help write profiles of the entrepreneurs, and report on the progress of the loan and what it has meant to the recipient.
One fellow called Kieran Ball left his job at Credit Suisse in October to take up a fellow post in Cambodia. He decided to make this awesome 11 minute video to follow the Kiva loan that his workmates made as a farewell gift on his behalf:
Fantastic, right? A great way to explain the process and humanise it. Keiran wrote a supplementary blog post about the video also.
In other good news, Kiva has had so much press and traffic of late that recently all of the outstanding loans have been raised. Wow. Apparently they are working like crazy to approve new entrepreneurs, and there are a few new ones on the site as I write this, but there should be some more loans to be fulfilled soon. So far Kiva has loaned more than US$57 million dollars to people in poor countries, with a very small default rate. Amazing!
I decided to go with a fairly short term loan for my first Kiva loan, so that I could see the process in action, and once some of the money was repaid I could add to it and make a second loan to someone else. By topping up the repaid credits I could start to get a portfolio of loans happening and make sure that the money I was lending was out there circulating and helping people. Since then Consuelo has paid back 25% of her loan, and soon I'll be making my next one.
Kiva provides lots of feedback on the lendees' progress through 'fellows' in the field. They are a team of volunteers who work with the small lending institutions in the different countries, sometimes in quite difficult circumstances. They do admin and lending work, but most importantly they must also write blog posts and journal entries feeding back information to the lenders and Kiva. They help write profiles of the entrepreneurs, and report on the progress of the loan and what it has meant to the recipient.
One fellow called Kieran Ball left his job at Credit Suisse in October to take up a fellow post in Cambodia. He decided to make this awesome 11 minute video to follow the Kiva loan that his workmates made as a farewell gift on his behalf:
Fantastic, right? A great way to explain the process and humanise it. Keiran wrote a supplementary blog post about the video also.
In other good news, Kiva has had so much press and traffic of late that recently all of the outstanding loans have been raised. Wow. Apparently they are working like crazy to approve new entrepreneurs, and there are a few new ones on the site as I write this, but there should be some more loans to be fulfilled soon. So far Kiva has loaned more than US$57 million dollars to people in poor countries, with a very small default rate. Amazing!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
5 Things About Thursday 18th December, 2008: Festive Edition
- I made my first Kiva micro-loan last night. I thought it would be nice to exercise the spirit of giving a little at this time of year, and once I saw that the Peruvian dry goods owner Consuelo wanted a short term loan to buy fruitcake, wine and champagne... well, could you resist?
- Tall & Handsome and I braved the crowds of late night shopping tonight. Surprisingly neither of us had a meltdown, snapped at each other or pushed a small child over. We actually had a nice dinner at Wagamama at around the halfway point, which helped.
- I spent about $100 bucks on myself, which I hadn't planned. You know how it is, you get into that spending groove. The lights, the decorations, the carols. Next thing you know you're buying $75 of discounted knitting yarn.
- You know what, Merry Christmas to me!
- I'm just about done, giftwise. I still have a crazy list of things to do by Sunday night though. Buy just one or two more gifts. Make a cake. Go to a knitting get-together, and a couple of parties. Tall & Handsome and I are even planning a night out together at a late night leather bar. Festive!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Yes, I Would Like To Help You Buy A Goat
I've been fascinated by the concept of microfinance for some time now. Comparatively small loans that are made to the working poor and low income entrepreneurs, for small business projects that have the potential to vastly improve their lives. Money for merchandise, seeds, even goats. Low income and subsistence workers rarely meet the criteria for lending from banking institutions, so a number other institutions have risen up to link these entrepreneurs and potential lenders together.
Deb over at freakgirl wrote a blog entry about an organisation called Kiva. I've just spent the past few hours wading through the website and I'm blown away. Kiva personalises the activity of microfinance by profiling each entrepreneur, and by having the volunteer field workers (who are posted with local micro-lending institutions that administer the Kiva funds) write regular blog style updates on the activities of the entrepreneurs in their area. Repayments by the entepreneurs are tracked, usually over a period of 6 - 12 months, and repaid to the lenders. Lending amounts are made in increments of US$25, and you choose who the loan goes to.
Rather than donations, the money is lent and eventually repaid so that the lenders can elect to retrieve their outlay or lend it to another entepreneur. The default rate on the loans seems really low at around 1.3%, but as Kiva warns it is often due to the nature of local unstable economies or even nature (such as crop failures) and so often out of their control. I had a quick look at some of the lender profiles, and some of these people are amazing! Like one retired couple who's portfolio of loans made runs to 5 pages! I love the idea that the money has a life, one that cycles through the lives of these people, helping them achieve new levels of independence, and then can be recycled to help others.
Currently US$25 is a little over AUS$38. Thirty eight bucks! Not such a big amount at all. A trip to the movies and a couple of drinks afterwards. A paperback novel or two. The price of a little indulgence. When I get paid tomorrow I'm going to sink that $38 into a loan instead. Maybe it'll buy a goat or two.
Deb over at freakgirl wrote a blog entry about an organisation called Kiva. I've just spent the past few hours wading through the website and I'm blown away. Kiva personalises the activity of microfinance by profiling each entrepreneur, and by having the volunteer field workers (who are posted with local micro-lending institutions that administer the Kiva funds) write regular blog style updates on the activities of the entrepreneurs in their area. Repayments by the entepreneurs are tracked, usually over a period of 6 - 12 months, and repaid to the lenders. Lending amounts are made in increments of US$25, and you choose who the loan goes to.
Rather than donations, the money is lent and eventually repaid so that the lenders can elect to retrieve their outlay or lend it to another entepreneur. The default rate on the loans seems really low at around 1.3%, but as Kiva warns it is often due to the nature of local unstable economies or even nature (such as crop failures) and so often out of their control. I had a quick look at some of the lender profiles, and some of these people are amazing! Like one retired couple who's portfolio of loans made runs to 5 pages! I love the idea that the money has a life, one that cycles through the lives of these people, helping them achieve new levels of independence, and then can be recycled to help others.
Currently US$25 is a little over AUS$38. Thirty eight bucks! Not such a big amount at all. A trip to the movies and a couple of drinks afterwards. A paperback novel or two. The price of a little indulgence. When I get paid tomorrow I'm going to sink that $38 into a loan instead. Maybe it'll buy a goat or two.
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