The Cardano Community is Changing the World
“You only have what you give. It’s by spending yourself that you become rich” — Isabel Allende
The original premise was to write a blog about the fascinating and diverse LATAM Cardano community. We quickly realized that one article could not even remotely do this amazing group justice. Spread out globally, our Spanish speaking friends are busy. They are helping children, as you will see here. They are creating NFTs and using the proceeds for charity. They are building DAOs, translating, legislating and helping farmers. We just can’t cover it all in one blog. Therefore, this post will be the first of many and will focus on two outstanding stake pools which are led by women trying to make a difference in their communities. They are a marvelous example of the work the Cardano Community is doing all over the world. We will cover different aspects of this community in later posts.
The stake pools featured here are located in Argentina and Columbia — countries of great beauty, fascinating history and diverse, welcoming culture. However, like all countries, there are also areas of desperate poverty where children and vulnerable populations struggle just to meet their daily needs. The tourist bureau doesn’t promote photos of these places, but they look like this:
The women featured in this blog recognized that there was a problem and went about finding ways to correct it. Luckily for us, they are members of the Cardano community. They operate Cardano stake pools, which help to secure the network and they are using the proceeds to fund their charity work. Lets have a look at who they are and which organizations they are helping.
White pool is led by the lovely Maria Eugenia who lives in Buenos Aires. Maria is donating one hundred percent of the operator rewards that she receives to charitable causes that benefit children. Right now her focus is on the YEAH! Foundation which provides help to the Etnia Wichi, a local indigenous people who populated the area long before the Europeans arrived in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Wichi is actually a group of tribes. Maria’s charity work currently focuses on the Chaco area, although they hope to expand their reach as the stakepool grows.
Like many tribal people, the Wichi traditional lands are constantly encroached by ranchers and farmers who are eager to take advantage of the fact that the lands are not legally protected. El Chaco is the largest subtropical dry broadleaf forest in the world and is under constant threat from agro businesses which want to plant soy and cotton. The unregulated use of pesticides for these businesses also poisons the water of the Wichi who drink river water. Over 60,000 live in a zone so isolated it is called the impenetrable zone, with no access to medical care, education or adequate nutrition. Maria’s goal is to help change all that, one step at a time. Its not an easy goal and yet Cardano has a way of making things happen. It is a 300 mile journey on dirt roads to reach these people. The YEAH! Foundation makes regular trips now with food, bicycles and toys for the children. Step by step and day by day this is hard work, dedication and Cardano making a difference. These are pictures of some of the people WHITE pool is helping with their donations.
The second pool is CCOL, Cardano Columbia, led by Carol and her husband, who operate the only physical Cardano node in Columbia and have additional servers in Germany and England. They are from Medellin, Columbia where Carol is also focused on children’s charities. As a mother of two daughters, she is sympathetic to the difficulties faced by many children in Columbia. A portion of her rewards go to the United People Foundation and the Barefoot Foundation.
The United People foundation was founded in 1992 to help children in Medellin. Colombia has a growing economy, but it is leaving many people behind. As a matter of a fact, 27–36 percent of Columbia’s people live in poverty. As in many places, minorities and those with disabilities are often disproportionately affected. While a peace deal has been signed between the FARC guerillas and the Colombian government, children are still at risk of being exposed to violence from various armed gangs that operate in both cities and rural areas. The United People foundation aims to offer children resources so that they can grow and learn in safe environments.
Another charity that Carol supports with her stake pool rewards is Fundacion Pies Descalzos or the Barefoot Foundation, which was actually founded by Shakira in 1997. Shakira is also from Columbia. The Barefoot Foundation aims to assist children in getting an education because large numbers of Colombian children do not have access to educational facilities. To rectify this problem the Barefoot Foundation is actually building schools in multiple locations around the country. But its not just buildings. They are actually creating educational programs that allow children to start in preschool and progress though all aspects of their education.
These are two stake pool operators using Cardano to improve the lives of vulnerable people in their communities. This is the power of the Cardano Community in the real world. We are making a difference- together. Please stay with us on this journey.