*Day 26: Kiva Extra Credit*

This will be my extra credit blog, talking about Kiva.org

What is Kiva?
Kiva is a website where you can loan $25 to people with economical problems, so you can help them kick-start their business. They are a non-profit organization that only seek to help people in deep poverty. They have a high reputation; thanks to their 98.46% repayment rate, and their high amount of lenders. They also have high efficiency across the globe because they have over 450 volunteers in 83 different countries.

What borrowers would I pick?

Sebastian
(http://www.kiva.org/lend/964299)

By loaning Andres, I could help him buy seeds and fertilizer for his farm, giving him an opportunity to start a stable business. With the reliable income, he could get his family the things they need, specially to his mother and father, who have been such a big influence in his life. Not only will this help him, bu it will help provide food for other local businesses in the area, which he will probably be selling the crops too.

Luz Dary
(http://www.kiva.org/lend/962912)

Luz is a 48-year old woman who used to struggle by working unfairly long hours in exchange for low wages. But now that she opened her own restaurant, she earns more. Her goal is too expand her business, and she wants to buy a motorcycle to be able to have a food delivery service. To Americans, the idea of a motorcycle is kind of silly, but they are not buying a Harley Davidson hardcore bike, they are buying a motorcycle that is more closely related to a scooter. These are actually commonly used by villagers to travel around, since cars are way too expensive for them. But anyway, I am certain that Luz Dary will make good use of the vehicle if she reaches her loan goal.

Why Colombia?
I would pick people from Colombia because in Colombia, there is a problem with the government, economy and safety. Rebellious terrorists called "Las Farc" force people to leave their villages and give them their possessions. There is also a considerably high robbery rate in Colombia, and people are having trouble making enough money to support their family. Maybe Colombia isn't the country that has the people that need the most help, but I have been there, and I have seen the lives of the villagers myself, so I know how my donation would impact them. With $25 dollars, I am certain these people will be able to change their lives, and the lives of people who they love. They will be happier.

Thank you, Kiva...

Day 25: Gender Equality

OK so today in class we continued to watch a video about India and how they give more power to men than they do to women. While men make almost every decision in the household and get educated, women can never speak up or are never motivated to make their lives better. I was really intrigued by this, specially because the situation made me give a hateful stare every time I saw one of those Indian husbands who control their wive's lives. There was one guy who forced her wive to have babies over and over (which put her life in danger) until they got a second son. Are you kidding me? Its pretty clear that I am not a girl, but even I know that women can be wayyyyyyyy smarter than men at times. Gender Inequality is so stupid, those stupid men think that they are superior to women and that having a boy is good and having a girl is useless. Its just really stupid and if they want to stop being stupid then they should  modify the government system in India as soon as possible. They could even solve some problems (like over population) while they are at it. We have to do something about this situation, its even kind of an easy fix, even though it goes against their "culture".

Have some respect guys...

Day 24: My brain has been flexed

Its kinda late. I wanna go to sleep. I just finished my brain flex for Mr. Perry. I have to do this blog though. I need this grade though. Alright so today in class we went over the extra credit that has been made official. Our teacher described how the school told him that he should have not started this but he can finish it. I mean, theres really nothing wrong with it, our teacher was really smart and he planned the assignment so it wasn't "paying for your grade". You can still do it and not pay a penny so if I was the school I would be like "m8 this extra credit is awesome, this teaches kids how to donate to a good cause instead of throwing their money to someone who wants to make a potato salad. You know what, this idea is so good, you should be promoted now and increase your salary by 1 million percent." Ok, maybe not too exaggerated but the school should appreciate what Mr.Schick is dew-ing for us instead of being kind of rude and making him feel bad for what he did. In summary, what I learned right now was that, ITS A GOOD EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT STOP READING TO COVER OF THE BOOK ANALYZE THE GENIUS IDEA THAT MR.SCHICK HAS!!!

Lel whatever, im tired so yeah that's what I had 2 say sorry for spelling don't kill me thnx...

Day 23: Potato Salad

Today in class we looked deeper into the "Kiva" Website, where you can lend a person 25 dollars to kick-start their financial life. Something that I found really interesting is that the rate in which they pay people back is over 98%. That is more than the rate in which US citizens pay back their loans. Those people may be poor, but that does not mean that they are wise and intelligent in the way they invest their loan. A lot of Americans think that poor people are poor because of their fault, but they need to understand that there are a lot of outside factors caused by our harsh society. A really good reason why people should loan $25 to someone who needs it is because we need more people to invest their money correctly. Smart people would invest $25 to save a family (and get their money back), while other people, well, they invest (or throw away) $100 so someone can make potato salad. This is a complete joke, and they even funded 55 thousand dollars, even though the people on kiva are only asking a few thousand, and its a LOAN. You don't even get your money back if you invest on the potato salad project.

We really need to make a change in where our money goes to...

Day 22: A double sided Benefit

Today we went over the test (which I got rekt by), I fixed all the things that I got wrong so I can study for a future test. Good for me, but the interesting thing that we also talked about is the "extra credit" assignment that we can do. This really got my attention because it will certainly help me end the quarter with a B, even after not doing so great on that test. We only talked about it for 5 minutes, but our teacher got to mention that he will give us points if we help fun someone's business in a foreign country. I guess that is a good idea. Sure, I need help getting my grade up, but there are a lot of people needing help to simply be able to live. Funding someone will be life changing to them. Even though I am not sure if I am donating or loaning, people who loan to these humans in need get payed back 95% of the time. That is actually higher than in a lot of countries, even for online funding cites such as https://www.kickstarter.com/ .

But yeah, I guess in the end, we will all get that extra boost we need...

Day 21: I got rekt

OK so I somewhat studied for the human geography test because you know, I supposed it was a simple multiple choice with a word bank or something. Well, I was wrong because when

Mr. Schick handed out that test, I think I got really wrecked. I was positive that I knew what globalization meant, but of course when I have to fill out one word to complete the definition, I have no idea what to insert. I was relieved when I opened the third page to find multiple choice questions instead of fill in the blank (with no word bank), but then the multiple choice questions where little facts that were in the power point that I reviewed for 2 seconds. Seriously, I underestimated this test so much, now I feel like an irrelevant donkey. I had a whole free mod before the test, and I reviewed the power point for a few minutes, even looked at my notes, but clearly that wasn't enough. And that is not at all my teachers fault, that was my fault. This is a life experience that I will be reminded of before I go and take a test. I have to make sure I know everything, that I am making good use of my resources.

But most importantly, I have to make sure not to get rekt by another test...

Day 20: Okay

Today, everything was OK. In human Geo, we talked about the SAT's and the PSAT's, I think it will all be okay. We also talked about what we needed to know for next class's test. I think I will do OK, but a ding would also be OK. But you know, life has its moments, its ups and downs, but in the end, everything will be OK. Ok? Alright.

Well, what else can we talk about. I mean, right now I am sitting in class, with 30 minutes left of human geo, and we aren't going to do anything else. Right now, I just want to play games on my computer, but I still need those 150 words, dang it. But you know, now that I think about it, anyone can write a 150 word paragraph, but in the end, its what you write that matters. There is endless possibilities to what the 150 words can portray, the paragraph could be a masterpiece, or it could be a pile of garbage. But yeah, let me check if I have 150 words. Oh, its over 180 words, I usually pass the limit.

That is why I think my blogs are pretty okay...

Day 19: World Fact Book

Today in Geography, we browsed the world fact book some more. Here are 10 interesting facts I found:

1. What country has the highest obesity rate?
- American Samoa

2. Which is the smallest country is the world?
-The Vatican city, which has less than 1 sq km of land.

3. What country has the highest budget surplus?
The country with the highest Budget surplus is Macau, with a surplus of 35.50%

4. What country as the highest money worth of exports?
-China, with $2,252,000,000,000 worth in exports.

5. What country as the highest money worth of imports?
-United States, with $2,334,000,000,000 worth in exports.

6. What country spends the most money in their military?
-South Sudan with with a 10.32% GDP.

7. What country has the highest amount of money stored in their bank?
-Germany with $257,700,000,000 

8. What country has the lowest amount of money stored in their bank?
-United States, with -$385,800,000,000


9. What country has the highest production of electricity?
-China, with 5,169,000,000,000

10. What country has the highest amount of internet users?
-China, with 626,600,000 users.

Day 18: CIA

Today in class, we went into the CIA world fact book website to search up certain statistics. I was really impressed, they had an extensive amount of information of most, if not all countries in the world. It was interesting to see how much info the CIA has collected, and I think it is also really effective for it's purpose. Not only does it collect information for our people to study and examine, but it also helps protect the United States from threats around the world by keeping track of what every country is up too. Aside from the fact book, the CIA also has access to rather personal information. They have access to any person's phone calls, e-mails, text messages and many other things. I honestly think its a bit strange, but it is important for the safety of people. This method doesn't always work though, because there have still been mass shootings around the country, even though warnings have been ignored by people. That is why the CIA has a "report a threat" button on their front page, and I think it will help prevent a lot of disasters.

All in all, the CIA was an interesting topic...