Archive for the ‘Good Ideas’ Category

March 11th, 2010 - 5:14 pm § in Around Town, Belize, Doing, Good Ideas, Volunteer

“Don’t get your reading material from the dump.”

This morning while heading into work, we dumped our garbage. Driven by our protected areas manager, Nat, two other volunteers and I assisted in the process by tossing bags and crates of rubbish on top of one of many exposed piles of trash along a road off the highway. Nat, jaded by his time in [...][...]

March 11th, 2010 - 10:46 am § in Colombia, Culture, Good Ideas

Inevitable Stereotypes

As a gringo in Colombia, more often than not, you will be asked, “So what did you think of Colombia before you decided to visit?” Being objective, before you make the trip, cocaine cartels and violence will pop into your head to some extent. You may not mention this and opt for a more pl[...]

February 23rd, 2010 - 6:41 pm § in Brazil, Good Ideas

It All Started with Our Apple IIGS…

When I was little, my family bought a computer over which my sister and I would constantly fight. To quote a great movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy: “It was the most useful thing the gods had ever given them, a real labor-saving device. But the gods had been careless. They had sent only one. And [...[...]

February 19th, 2010 - 1:25 pm § in Culture, Good Ideas, Nicaragua

When Microenergy and Microfinance Meet

Part of my role at blueEnergy is to manage our two loans through our local microfinance institution. Who would have thought a portfolio of a little over $1,200 would be so challenging? Earlier in 2009, blueEnergy received funds to subsidize individual solar systems for two communities: Set Net Point[...]

February 17th, 2010 - 1:04 pm § in Around Town, Day in the Life, Good Ideas, Nicaragua

Safety Versus Freedom

While living in Managua, the hardest things I’ve had to balance are my personal safety and my sense of freedom. Everyone I meet here is paranoid about personal safety-often for good cause I’ll admit. A lot of the recommendations are fairly obvious and apply to just about any big city: Don’t wa[...]

February 5th, 2010 - 5:56 pm § in Doing, Good Ideas, Looking, Tips & Resources

Making It Happen For Yourself

When it comes to establishing oneself in a new foreign place, learning the difference between “trolling for opportunities” vs. “putting the word out”  is important. When I first set out with the idea of finding somewhere to volunteer at, I spent a lot of time trolling for id[...]

January 8th, 2010 - 3:33 am § in Brazil, Good Ideas, News, Uncategorized

You Down with UPP (Yeah you know me)

According to a new statistic revealed last Tuesday by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, more than 11,000 people have died at the hands of authorities in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo since 2003. A substantial portion of this number is derived from the off-duty or “extrajudicial” kil[...]

January 6th, 2010 - 8:26 pm § in Good Ideas, Mexico

All-Female Transport in Mexico

Growing up as a tomboy, I loathed the color pink. I associated it with baking and kittens and babies and lipstick – every stereotype as a woman that even then I subconsciously knew I couldn’t stomach. Even though I now love the color pink (and I don’t wear make-up or feel affection[...]

December 23rd, 2009 - 12:18 pm § in Doing, Good Ideas, Guatemala

Evaluating Our Impact

As 2009 comes to a close, many of us volunteering in Latin America will find ourselves in a reflective mood, evaluating what we’ve accomplished and setting new goals for 2010. I was put in an especially pensive state the other day by the visit of two exuberant women, Fran Early and Connie Newton, [...]

December 10th, 2009 - 1:55 pm § in Around Town, Brazil, Event, Good Ideas, Social Entrepreneurship

It’s all About the Benjamins, Baby…

Thanks to you, we came a close second in October’s Ideablob competition.  But don’t be too down! We didn’t win, but a lot of people learned about our cause. Now we’re in another competition, this time with better odds and a bigger reward. But we need your vote! No donation is needed[...]





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