Money Money Money, and other things

Grantseeking for Dummies

Heading to a Grantseeking Basics class at the Foundation Center's DC office this Friday. Hopefully it will get me out of this deer-stuck-in-headlights feeling and help me identify some potential donors for our program.

VOICES
Financial donations and laptop donations have all come to a lull. We're hoping to raise money at a small hip hop event in April or May called VOICES, or Voices Organizing for International Change, Empowerment and Support. They put on music and film events every month while raising money for non-profits around the African continent. I'd like to see if I can't get the Ambassador to come join us, as well as other members of the São Tomé community here in DC (small as it may be).

Ex-Pat Help
My friend Sosimo, who is São Tomean and works at Voice of America, is going to get together with me for lunch one of these days so we can brainstorm our options. I keep trying to work myself into the Lusophone community to see if there's money there, then suddenly get pushed out again. I'm hoping to get back in the game soon. Failure is not the falling down but the staying down, right?

Haiti Deployment

Despite a very selfish yet still slight jealousy that Haiti is getting all the used XOs, a fellow Wellesley alum recently contacted me about a Haiti deployment being developed with OLPC and Waveplace, a nonprofit in Boston. Sounds like a really great group that wants to do some amazing work for the people of Haiti. I myself have been learning French (one step closer to Creole, right?) and would love to go down and help with a deployment in the next year or two.

That's news for now!