Making Amends
Posted by Stuart at 11:40 AM on February 11, 2003
"Reconciliation is the Opposite of War"
Or so says the Jhai Foundation. I first heard of this group a few weeks ago from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle and I must say that what they are doing is incredibly cool. The group is led by a former Vietnam Vet and his desire and vision to help the people of Laos who he bombed 30 years ago.
The group has two main projects now: 1) helping the Lao farmers grow organic coffee and sell it online, and 2) giving small villages access to the Internet. The second project is the most interesting, I think (even though I did buy some coffee). They have built and are installing a "solid-state, low-wattage computer that can be powered by a foot-crank, a high-bandwidth wireless network, and support for village small businesses." Wow... somone who is actually using technology to improve people's lifes but is not looking to make a profit.
The Jhai Foundation website is a good read for now. We'll see how good the coffee is later.
Every country we have fought? I would wager that we have bombed or funded bombing in more countries than not.
*soapbox on* Thank God for non-profits like the Jhai Foundation who are willing to work hard with little compensation because the US government certainly isn't going to help out innocent people whose lives it ruined because they live in a (still) Communist country with no oil. *soapbox off*
hehehehe. Stand on that soap box there brother o mine!!! I like it!! :-)
I'm actually going to order me some coffee, as soon as I finish my Costa Rican coffee Michelle brought me when they were down there for Christmas.
If you brew yours sooner rather than later, I'd love to know how it tastes. I can only imagine quite wonderful given it is naturally/organically grown without any processing (I'm assuming - at least that what I have gathered).
Love you!!!
Wow. This is incredible. I'll definitely check out their site to learn more about them. I wish that we had at least one foundation such as this one for every country that we fought with/for. Maybe we do...I just haven't heard know about them YET.