Fight Global Poverty

I want to let you all know about a cool non-profit that is doing great things: Kiva.org

Kiva.org allows individuals to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing so,
individuals like you provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.

It's a new, direct and sustainable way to fight global poverty.

Anyways, if you have a minute, please check out the site: Kiva.org. Note that they have received great press in
publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to NPR to BusinessWeek.

I recently viewed a Frontiline (PBS) program regarding Kiva.org and was blown away at how people are responding Kiva. It's people helping people around the world. How moving and sweet.

5 Minutes for our Planet

L'Alliance Pour La Planète, a group of French environmental organizations, appeals to all people to give our planet a 5-minute break. The initiative “5 Minutes for our Planet,” started in France, but quickly spread via the Internet to the whole world.

Everyone who wants to participate is requested to turn off his or her lights on the 1st of February, 2007 from 7:55 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time. It will be like a wave across the planet from East to West.

The L’Alliance says that it's not so much about saving the energy, but about letting citizens, media and political decision-makers focus on the energy that's being wasted and the urgency to take action.

A five-minute break for our planet: it doesn't take all that long and costs nothing.

Why February 1st? It will be the eve of the United Nations Climate-Change Report to be issued in Paris on Friday, February 2nd.

The Power of One can change the world, but as a collective we can make a greater impact.

Please circulate this message.

For more information in French go to L'Alliance Pour La Planète , www.lalliance.fr
For more information in Spanish go to Amigos de la Tierra, www.tierra.org
(No information about this event was found in English).