Tuesday, August 19, 2025

a horse of a different color!

Naturally, when someone starts talking of equine animals, my mind goes to "The Wizard Of Oz".
I can't help it - that movie has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
 
That's partly what drew me to Nariman's loan at Kiva.
Horses.
Everyone else in Kazakhstan who had animals were interested in getting more cattle or more sheep.
Not him.
In his bio, he states that he "owns 174 registered horses — all documented with veterinary records and official tags".
Impressive!
This loan will help him improve his livestock facilities and develop milk processing.
Yes, that's right: this horse ranch is a dairy farm...
with products derived from mare's milk...
wow!
That's amazing!!!
I made sure to post on his loan page, to encourage others to become part of this change.
"I am fascinated by the originality of this dairy farmer! Not cows, not goats, not sheep - horses are the source! He even has an established clientele for his mare's milk products! That's why I chose this loan: to support innovation!
I then sent the above message to all the other Nerdfighters of Kiva to make sure they knew about this one. 
Why was I wanting to make sure others knew of Nariman?
Because of this: I was the very first person to lend to him.
That's never happened to me before.
I felt that I was meant to find this one loan amidst all of those clamoring from my attention from that country not yet in my portfolio.
Enough repayments from others I'd lent to had finally amassed to enough for a new loan, so I stipulated "countries I've not yet lent to" in the search.
Pages and pages of people with loans sprang forth!
I whittled down the list to three, including Nariman.
All had established farms, all ran them with their entire family.
But, this was the only one with horses...
this was the only one using mare's milk...
and that innovation struck a chord with me.
I do hope his loan is a success over the next 13 days.
I like the thought of, maybe, someday, trying mare's milk cheese.

Friday, August 15, 2025

still wishing with others


Yes, that's right, I used 4000 of my AARP Reward Points again to help others' dreams come true!

That was earlier today, before my volunteer shift at the 13th Savannah VOICE Festival.

It was right in keeping with the concert theme, too, come to think of it!

"Once Upon A Time"... yes, wishes and dreams and fairy tales can come true!

Just ask anyone at the Wish Of A Lifetime Foundation!

Friday, August 1, 2025

helping aarp with ending senior poverty


Yep, I did it again...

I took 4,000 points that I earned on aarp.org and I donated it back to the AARP Foundation.

No one should have to choose between food and medicine.

I choose to believe a made a difference for at least one person.