Kiva

My cousins Molly and Chris gave me a Kiva donation for Christmas and I've been looking through hundreds of requests before selecting the one I wanted to make the loan to. I finally found it! It's a woman who is part of a group of women trying to earn a living and support their families in the DRC, formerly my home of Zaire. Knowing exactly what challenges these women face I am so happy to have found them and to be able to made the loan. I had never heard of Kiva so for those of you who are also not familiar, here is a brief explanation:

Kiva a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

Here is my recipient and her story:

Odia is a member of the business group Abigaël. A young entrepreneur, she is 44 years old and married with six young children. Her husband is a police officer. She sells food products and other items, and has been practicing this income-generating activity for three years.

She has been granted her 4th loan from Hekima. She will use this new credit to buy fish, one carton of cigarettes, etc. for resale.

She wants to see her children grow up comfortably, and she would also like to buy a plot of land. She wishes to thank Hekima for its efforts to help poor women who don’t have access to traditional banking.

THANK YOU MOLLY AND CHRIS!

Gumbo throw-down

4 entries into the Gumbo throw down this weekend. All were very different. #1 combined some pasta into the Gumbo, #2 was a chicken and andouille sausage Gumbo, #3 was shrimp and crab Gumbo, and #4 was crawfish and okra Gumbo. They were all delicious but #3 was the winner.

Presentation of the trophy!

COPIA visits AMI

Great week on Anna Maria with my friends from Washington! My friends Susana, Meredith, Susan and Terry (who own a consulting company together) came to the island for a "working vacation" and we all had a wonderful visit. Aside from getting some work done, we had some good meals, a fun shopping trip to Sarasota, many beach walks and even a "spa" day by the pool! They went home rested and in great spirits! Come back soon!

24 hours on AMI

The sun setting to the west over the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening 7 Feb

The moon rising to the east over Anna Maria Island on Tuesday evening 7 Feb

The moon setting to the west over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday morning 8 Feb

The sun rising to the east over Anna Maria Island on Wednesday morning of 8 Feb

The sun setting behind the clouds to the west over the Gulf of Mexico evening of 8 Feb

The glass tree

I've seen these in various catalogues but have never seen one in someone's yard! During a leisurely pontoon boat ride through the canals of Anna Maria, what did I see but glass everywhere!

Polar Bear Plunge

My brother-in-law and my niece and nephew participating in the Polar Bear Plunge into Lake Michigan today. 15 Degrees and as you can see, lots of snow and ice they had to break up to clear an area to jump into. When my nephew was asked after the jump what his favorite part of the whole experience was, his response was "nothing"! Can't say that I blame him!

Manatees

Today's outing was to visit the manatees and we saw lots of them! The Florida manatee is a large, plant-eating, warm-blooded marine mammal found in Florida's shallow coastal waters, rivers and springs. The average adult manatee or "sea cow" is about 10 feet long and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds. It has a large, seal-like body that tapers to a large, spatula-shaped flat tail. The two forelimbs or flippers of the manatee are paddle-shaped with up to four nails at the tip of each flipper. Manatees spend approximately six to eight hours per day feeding. Their hearty appetites consist of 60 to 100 pounds of vegetation each day. The location of the manatee's mouth is well adapted for feeding on bottom vegetation. Manatees eat submerged and floating vegetation. Here are a few of the ones we were lucky enough to find!

Lots of barnacles seem to like the back of this one!

This fella was waving to me!!!

The tail popped up when diving down for food!

This one appeared to be sunning on his or her back.