Hi and good morning.
Starting off, after the absence of Labor…day. Welcome back!
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Here’s a story about a story.
The thing that I believe in, personally, is that it’s sometimes hard to imagine that small things really matter — but they do. And in a way, sometimes we think that doing only big things will ever amount to anything. Big deals, big projects, big signatures. But grand things can come from small things; it’s the way of the world, the way of work, the path of how things are built. Small, dreamed — then assembled — bigger! And we also can visualize the character of rippling — one little gesture goes somewhere, then further rippling out, and it comes back in new forms — and is reflected out, beautifully, in new resonance.
We’ve got friends, that have sites and organizations, that help people with micro lending. There’s the Global Partnerships work of Bill and Paula Clapp (website) — we just helped them with their kick off to their new Seattle International Foundation. That’s one group.
And there’s the person that I first met at Apple, in the 80s, when I was working with Steve Jobs — Mike Murray. Right there back then, operational guy at Apple, then — then product guru HR master at Microsoft; and now: (website). That’s another group, doing great things.
And then, friend Tom Bartholomew forwarded this one along too. Please, see below. The idea is simple — contribute a small amount of money, as a loan — and you change someone’s life in another part of the planet — and they pay you back.
I usually don’t send out notes about stories, BUT….
I did a story on the Today Show this morning which I think is worth sharing. The story is about Kiva, a new website that allows you loan money to Third World entrepreneurs — very poor people who have very simple businesses.
For example, I loaned 25 bucks to a bicycle taxi driver in Kenya so he and his wife could set up a vegetable stand. He is already paying me back. Miriam loaned 25 bucks to a storeowner in Iraq. When he repaid her, she loaned the same 25 dollars to a woman farmer in Guatemala.
The Today Show has put together a good webpage about all this. You can watch my Today Show story and my video-blog which has more information about Kiva and how to fund a loan, and you can read more about lenders and borrowers. Just click on this link or paste it into your browser and start poking around.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/20534002/
thanks, John Larson
Unbelievable idea — yes; truth — it’s working.
Check ’em out, all of them. Happy after Labor Day brake. Back to work, like the rest of the planet.
I’ll be working in WallaWalla today. Back tonight, at work in Seattle tomorrow.
warmest wishes | tsg
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Exploring creative integrations:
http://www.tim.girvin.com/