OK since I haven't posted anything for a while because I haven't felt like writing since I have been writing so much for school. I am posting my school things as proof that I am working on something. Maybe someone will find one of them interesting:
First a presentation on Prezi. I assume most people have not heard of Prezi before so check it out if you want. I think it is a cool idea. This presentation is on the cooperative breeding behavior of red cockaded woodpeckers. Obviously I did not record my voice and put it in there....
Presentation
Paper on the same subject
Critical Evaluation of Germany’s Habitat Mapping Programs
Factors Influencing the Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius) Use as an Umbrella Species in German Forests
This is a mini-scientific paper on woodpeckers in a forest near campus that I wrote.
More pictures on facebook
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
RE: Sue
Sue had this response to my previous post:Thanks for the update - interesting thoughts. I tried to post a comment but the system didn't like me, so I'll reply here.
I am interested in your thoughts about consumption and self-sufficiency. As our societies have become more complex, we have sub-specialised and we now trade our knowledge and skills into a pool that allows us to benefit from the knowledge and skills of others. Accordingly, our circumtances have changed so that most of us don't have the space, ability or even motivation to be self-sufficient. What we want to be able to do (including overseas air travel) is now much more complex and demanding.
I was taught many self-sufficieny skills by me peasant Italian parents, even though we lived in suburban SYdney. As a teenager, I made a lot of my own clothes - it was cheaper than buying. These days, though, it costs more to buy the fabric and equipment than to buy cheap imports.
I have kept up the skills of making salami and pasta sauce - but only for sentimental reasons - I don;t grow the tomatoes or slaughter the pig. And, though my parents did it to get access to that food and to save money, none of that operates for me. I'm not prepared to limit my self to eating only what I can grow, in season, and slaughter.
So here is the dilemma - is it more ethical to refuse to buy imports, to try to make your own things (given that you don;t have all the skills or materials to do it efficiently) or is it more ethical to support the export industries of China and Mexico? We know that these developing countries have slave-labor conditions - but will that improve with increasing prosperity?
I'd be interested to hear your developing thoughts, in the context or your studies and discussions.
Sue
Here is what I wrote back:
Hi Sue,
Hmm. These are all very interesting questions that probably have no real answers but certainly are worth some discussion. I am not an ethicist (although we do have one in the family) but I can attempt to better explain my feelings on this topic. What I find so challenging about these topics is walking the border between what makes me happy, what is best for the people around me, what is best for the global good, and at what time scales are we discussing?
As an individual (Present)– Both of us live in places where if we chose to we do not have to cook ever. We could eat out, buy frozen pizzas, etc. But we both grew up in a culture of cooking with our families and get a inherent joy out of these activities. This joy for me extends to gardening (which I am not nearly as experienced at) but does not extend to clothes making (maybe some day). In our current economy and social situation these enjoying the act of cooking, growing and making are vital to making them worth doing. I would include bicycling to work, walking to the grocery store, and taking a train in these categories. But I think that this desire is often over-looked and considered trivial. I think many people think that I am trying to be healthy by eating many fresh vegetables, but that’s just what I like to eat.
(Future) – I am not alone, but probably in the minority with the view of that during my lifetime I foresee a reversal back to an agrarian, less “developed” lifestyle as likely. Probably up until 40 years ago or so, many people were prepared for this change, but recently, I doubt that many people could survive when they need to eat what they can grow and cook. I personally enjoy eating locally grown food because I think it tastes better and I feel more in touch with the seasons when I eat cherries in July and beets in February (backwards in OZ). I think things like pineapple are fantastic when I eat it 3 times a year, but quickly loses its impressiveness when I eat it more often. But I don’t think that everyone needs to stay totally strict about this, Europeans have been eating pepper from India for hundreds of years. But I think that some ability to be able to realize that our lifestyle is not working, find a piece of land, and survive for a few more generations is a possibility. Then we must have some basic skill sets in order to do this. I see this as a small investment which would pay off in large manners, should a societal reversal happen.
Society – I think that any attempt to shorten the chain of mystery between our things and us is a step in the right direction. Salami in the grocery story came from a pig in Brazil, butchered in Argentina, made into Salami in Mexico, shipped to china for distribution, and to Sydney for you. Obviously totally imaginative, but also quite possible. Each of these steps are carried out with one thing in mind, getting a product on the shelf that is cheaper than the other products. Even products in the grocery store that are gourmet have this same goal. Because we cannot follow the chain backwards, we cannot scrutinize anything they do except the end price. When we meet a butcher in a small store and talk to him about his salami that he made, we are getting closer. When we make our own salami out of meat we know nothing about we are getting closer. When Jim and Nick kill a pig this fall and make Salami out of this we have really accomplished the goal of disentangling these steps. And all that this allows us to do is to put quality back into the equation at every step. When we compromise quality for ease, it is our decision not a decision someone else is making and the only way I know is by looking at the price tag. But it gives us an appreciation of how much work it was for us to make this product and that when I buy it for $3.50 it is so cheap. Cheap enough that I am a little scared about how they made it that cheaply.
As far as I can tell, developing countries are developing from Europeans conquering them, imposing their religious, monetary, and government systems on them. While there are people who are benefitting from our purchase of Chilean grapes, its not the people that I want to be benefiting. It is our demand that drives these countries to great environmental and humanitarian problems. I do not have a solution in mind, but the established monetary system is not the solution. This connects back to the idea of being so disconnected from our food/products. We are interested in buying fair trade organic coffee, but where does that money go? We lose something important when we don’t know where our money is going and where our things are coming from.
And Sue again:
Hi, Ryan
Thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Yes - please post it on the blog. That was my initial intention but for some reason I couldn't get my message to upload there.
I sense so many great conversations out of the work you have done and discussions you have had since we last met. You must make it back here!
I have had some interesting discussions on a blog called "The Skeptical Obstetrician". It is the blog of a woman who previously worked as a specialist obstetrician, but gave up her medical career to concentrate on her family. What she blogs about is the cult of anti-science within the natural childbirth and anti-vaccination movement. In a sense, her blog is about pragmatism and evidence vs blind ideology.
As I get older, I find myself becoming more and more pragmatic - but not in a mean way - more in a way that understands human nature and human motivation more.
I don;t see the world reverting back to self-sufficiency. Why? Because experiencing and consuming only that which we can provide for ourselves limits us so much. That was OK in the days (or in locations) when people had no experience of the wider world, but it doesn't work when we have knowledge of what is available in the world, but just can't share it.
SO, of course we can choose to make and do a range of things for ourselves - which I do for both quality and sentimental reasons. BUT, a huge step removed from my peasant-lifestyle parents, I don't raise pigs and slaughter them for my salami, and I don;t grow cotton or flax, spin and weave for fabric for my sewing.
I agree with you that, when we buy products from developing countries - even so-called "free trade" products, we have no way of knowing how much money ends up in the hands of the growers. I don;t think, though, that going back to "old ways" is in any way Utopian - peasants were always exploited by landowners - as far back as we can go. No society has ever been able to set up truly socialist economies because human nature always drives a few people to seek power and advantage.
Feel free to post this on the blog as well - let's keep the discussion going!
I just attempted to write a response, but it did not go well... It is almost 11 and I have class early. I cannot guarantee a quick response post, but one will be posted in the future....
I would enjoy any thoughts from anyone else. Apparently the comment tab is not so reliable. So send me an email: ryanmgilpin@gmail.com.
I am interested in your thoughts about consumption and self-sufficiency. As our societies have become more complex, we have sub-specialised and we now trade our knowledge and skills into a pool that allows us to benefit from the knowledge and skills of others. Accordingly, our circumtances have changed so that most of us don't have the space, ability or even motivation to be self-sufficient. What we want to be able to do (including overseas air travel) is now much more complex and demanding.
I was taught many self-sufficieny skills by me peasant Italian parents, even though we lived in suburban SYdney. As a teenager, I made a lot of my own clothes - it was cheaper than buying. These days, though, it costs more to buy the fabric and equipment than to buy cheap imports.
I have kept up the skills of making salami and pasta sauce - but only for sentimental reasons - I don;t grow the tomatoes or slaughter the pig. And, though my parents did it to get access to that food and to save money, none of that operates for me. I'm not prepared to limit my self to eating only what I can grow, in season, and slaughter.
So here is the dilemma - is it more ethical to refuse to buy imports, to try to make your own things (given that you don;t have all the skills or materials to do it efficiently) or is it more ethical to support the export industries of China and Mexico? We know that these developing countries have slave-labor conditions - but will that improve with increasing prosperity?
I'd be interested to hear your developing thoughts, in the context or your studies and discussions.
Sue
Here is what I wrote back:
Hi Sue,
Hmm. These are all very interesting questions that probably have no real answers but certainly are worth some discussion. I am not an ethicist (although we do have one in the family) but I can attempt to better explain my feelings on this topic. What I find so challenging about these topics is walking the border between what makes me happy, what is best for the people around me, what is best for the global good, and at what time scales are we discussing?
As an individual (Present)– Both of us live in places where if we chose to we do not have to cook ever. We could eat out, buy frozen pizzas, etc. But we both grew up in a culture of cooking with our families and get a inherent joy out of these activities. This joy for me extends to gardening (which I am not nearly as experienced at) but does not extend to clothes making (maybe some day). In our current economy and social situation these enjoying the act of cooking, growing and making are vital to making them worth doing. I would include bicycling to work, walking to the grocery store, and taking a train in these categories. But I think that this desire is often over-looked and considered trivial. I think many people think that I am trying to be healthy by eating many fresh vegetables, but that’s just what I like to eat.
(Future) – I am not alone, but probably in the minority with the view of that during my lifetime I foresee a reversal back to an agrarian, less “developed” lifestyle as likely. Probably up until 40 years ago or so, many people were prepared for this change, but recently, I doubt that many people could survive when they need to eat what they can grow and cook. I personally enjoy eating locally grown food because I think it tastes better and I feel more in touch with the seasons when I eat cherries in July and beets in February (backwards in OZ). I think things like pineapple are fantastic when I eat it 3 times a year, but quickly loses its impressiveness when I eat it more often. But I don’t think that everyone needs to stay totally strict about this, Europeans have been eating pepper from India for hundreds of years. But I think that some ability to be able to realize that our lifestyle is not working, find a piece of land, and survive for a few more generations is a possibility. Then we must have some basic skill sets in order to do this. I see this as a small investment which would pay off in large manners, should a societal reversal happen.
Society – I think that any attempt to shorten the chain of mystery between our things and us is a step in the right direction. Salami in the grocery story came from a pig in Brazil, butchered in Argentina, made into Salami in Mexico, shipped to china for distribution, and to Sydney for you. Obviously totally imaginative, but also quite possible. Each of these steps are carried out with one thing in mind, getting a product on the shelf that is cheaper than the other products. Even products in the grocery store that are gourmet have this same goal. Because we cannot follow the chain backwards, we cannot scrutinize anything they do except the end price. When we meet a butcher in a small store and talk to him about his salami that he made, we are getting closer. When we make our own salami out of meat we know nothing about we are getting closer. When Jim and Nick kill a pig this fall and make Salami out of this we have really accomplished the goal of disentangling these steps. And all that this allows us to do is to put quality back into the equation at every step. When we compromise quality for ease, it is our decision not a decision someone else is making and the only way I know is by looking at the price tag. But it gives us an appreciation of how much work it was for us to make this product and that when I buy it for $3.50 it is so cheap. Cheap enough that I am a little scared about how they made it that cheaply.
As far as I can tell, developing countries are developing from Europeans conquering them, imposing their religious, monetary, and government systems on them. While there are people who are benefitting from our purchase of Chilean grapes, its not the people that I want to be benefiting. It is our demand that drives these countries to great environmental and humanitarian problems. I do not have a solution in mind, but the established monetary system is not the solution. This connects back to the idea of being so disconnected from our food/products. We are interested in buying fair trade organic coffee, but where does that money go? We lose something important when we don’t know where our money is going and where our things are coming from.
And Sue again:
Hi, Ryan
Thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Yes - please post it on the blog. That was my initial intention but for some reason I couldn't get my message to upload there.
I sense so many great conversations out of the work you have done and discussions you have had since we last met. You must make it back here!
I have had some interesting discussions on a blog called "The Skeptical Obstetrician". It is the blog of a woman who previously worked as a specialist obstetrician, but gave up her medical career to concentrate on her family. What she blogs about is the cult of anti-science within the natural childbirth and anti-vaccination movement. In a sense, her blog is about pragmatism and evidence vs blind ideology.
As I get older, I find myself becoming more and more pragmatic - but not in a mean way - more in a way that understands human nature and human motivation more.
I don;t see the world reverting back to self-sufficiency. Why? Because experiencing and consuming only that which we can provide for ourselves limits us so much. That was OK in the days (or in locations) when people had no experience of the wider world, but it doesn't work when we have knowledge of what is available in the world, but just can't share it.
SO, of course we can choose to make and do a range of things for ourselves - which I do for both quality and sentimental reasons. BUT, a huge step removed from my peasant-lifestyle parents, I don't raise pigs and slaughter them for my salami, and I don;t grow cotton or flax, spin and weave for fabric for my sewing.
I agree with you that, when we buy products from developing countries - even so-called "free trade" products, we have no way of knowing how much money ends up in the hands of the growers. I don;t think, though, that going back to "old ways" is in any way Utopian - peasants were always exploited by landowners - as far back as we can go. No society has ever been able to set up truly socialist economies because human nature always drives a few people to seek power and advantage.
Feel free to post this on the blog as well - let's keep the discussion going!
I just attempted to write a response, but it did not go well... It is almost 11 and I have class early. I cannot guarantee a quick response post, but one will be posted in the future....
I would enjoy any thoughts from anyone else. Apparently the comment tab is not so reliable. So send me an email: ryanmgilpin@gmail.com.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Ramlings on Money
Picture from a bicycle trip cooking fresh pasta and meat sauce on a fire (probably illegal fire) we had when we were camping (possibly also illegal) in a forest near the Harz mountains. Notice good food, shoes I have worn almost every day for 2 years, and quality army cookware.
Todays ramblings will be largely based around money. I have recently been talking a lot about money for some reason (probably because Europeans keep bringing it up and I am taking a development economics class). This post will wander around quality, prioritizing, and ideology.
Since I am probably only staying in German for about 4 more months, I am trying not to accumulate much stuff which has led to me joining the trend of buying cheap things that I don’t care about like everyone always does. So I bought a 1 Euro cheese grater that has already broken. I hate that and am very frustrated that I allowed myself to have an excuse to buy something cheap when I knew the quality was poor. I had a very interesting conversation with a French guy studying agriculture here about food quality. He said that in France there was still a market for boutique cheeses made by small farmers in the country and that was one thing that he really missed about France. He went on to say that Italians really have the best food quality and will not just buy what is cheapest on the shelf. Every time that I bring food to a party to share, I get asked how expensive it was. It is hard to have a conversation with anyone about it when they buy what is cheapest as their only decision.
Last night, I was repeatedly told how unglaublig (unbelievable) it is that we can get drivers licenses for so cheap. In Germany driving classes and license fees and everything are about 1500 Euros. I have heard similar numbers from Swedish people. They said that it would be cheaper to fly to America, get a drivers license and fly back (obviously not actually possible). I countered by saying that, that was exactly what I was doing for my Masters program. I went to one of the cheapest schools in California at 7000 Euros per year. I am paying 700 Euros per semester here (half as much on rent, no car) and everyone complains that Goettingen is way more expensive than the other schools in Germany. Even with my flights, school is much cheaper than getting a Masters in the US (obviously ignoring RA’s and all sorts of complicating factors). But this shows what our governments find is important to spend their money on. In Germany we have more of a socialist system where expensive things are taxed (cars, gas) and important things are subsidized (education, health care). I have to believe that America is on the wrong side of this financial equation.
I have found that I am happiest when I make money as small of a factor as possible in my decisions. Obviously it takes a certain amount of capital to be able to think beyond immediate needs, and I am very lucky. But when making decision based purely on quality, I think that I end up eating healthy food, wearing the same shoes for years, and rarely buying the most expensive things. Over the long run, I think that this decision making is cheaper. I will continue to develop this thought, it is not yet complete.
I want to write about this in relation to buying a farm and living on the land where I could make and eat really high quality food, but I think this is long enough. Maybe later.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Ramblings on Oldness
The central theme of this post is going to be oldness. Everywhere I go, everything is so old. In America the only comparable building is Chaco Canyon. I live in a town founded 1000 years ago in a Univsersity that is 300 years old. The innenstadt has a canal and cobblestone streets. Most buildings are hundres of years old and have beautiful trim, paint, balconies, and tiled roofs.
About 30 minutes from Goettingen is the 600 year old Einbecker Brewery. They have been making their Bock for that long and also make a Helles (light) and Dunkel (dark). The hour and a half all-you-can-drink social time after the tour was dangerous. On a side note, Germans get very upset when you say all there beet tastes the same. It certainly does not all taste the same, but every beer I have had is a Pilsner. Secondary side note: Budweiser is a good beer brewed in the Czech Republic. Budweiser in the states is named after it and generally a sad point on that is what people know about American beer.
Prague is so beautiful. Walking to the castle was great because I would just walk to the coolest oldest building I could see, then the next one, then I was at the castle with views of the whole city (see photo). Partying with Miles and Mo was good too.
Three of us from my language course went on a 3 day bicycle tour to the Harz Mountains and back. We almost never cycled on roads with cars, stopped in towns every 20 minutes for map, food, water, etc. And had beautiful pastoral Germany in between each little town. We talked to a Rancher, someone speaking a wierd German dialect and tons of walkers offering help with directions. Really a great trip and I couldnt be happier to have met Ezgi and Tibo.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Boring Details
This post is trying to get some boring details out of the way that should be written down sooner or later so I will try to make this short and suess. So I guess first is about how to get a hold of me there are two good ways and many other ways.
1. Email:ryanmgilpin@gmail.com
2. Call or text: 925 353 8366
a. Calls will be routed through google voice (9253538366), to skype (9252268083), to my cellphone (017632930841) and costs me about 20 cents per minute. You will pay whatever you need to call a 925 number
b. Texts will be sent to my email maybe someday I will figure out how to forward these to my cell phone.
c. Please leave a message because on my phone your number does not show up. To call you back I will probably need to wait until I am home at the right time in both of our time zones. And there are bound to be many problems with this system for a while.
Also, I will sporadicly post pictures on this site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33101552@N05/sets/72157626216777652/
As of now, I do not know how to receive paper mail. I will work on that...
OK next topic is what I am doing and such. I am getting a Master's degree in International Nature Conservation. From what I have seen, this tends to be more ecology based than it sounds. This quarter I will take two ecology classes, one German class, one economics class, and maybe another language if I can decide where my internship will be in time. Currently I am in Goettingen, Germany at Georg-August-Univeristaet. It is right in the middle of the country in a 1000 year old city and 300 year old university. I live in a reasonably-cheap reasonably-crappy dorm on top of the hill about 1.5 kilometers from the main part of campus.
Following my time in Germany, I will go on an at least 12 week internship somewhere in the world which I am doing my best to research right now. I think I am going to try to do it in the Alps, Andes, or Himalayas, but I am a long ways from selecting a site.
In February 2012, I will start a semester in New Zealand's Lincoln University about 30 mins outside of Christchurch. Apparently the school was delayed for 3 weeks this semester because of the earthquake, but thinks everything will be fine for next year.
Following that I have 6 months to complete my thesis.
Right now I am in an intensive German Language program with a whole bunch of young study abroad people from all over the world. I might not be the oldest, but so far everyone I have asked is younger. Our conversations tend to drift between German and English with momentary explanations in Japanese, Polish, Czech, etc (I am the only American, but one Brit and several Aussies). Last night I went to a small dance club sort of place which was having a 90's night. Which meant that for the first time in my life I knew 90% of the words to every song. Including weird selections such as nirvana and rage against the machine for a dance club. I am getting ready now to go play some soccer and try to find the rock climbing wall with the fellow students. Hope everyone is off enjoying their weekend.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Ramblings on Travel in General
I think that instead of writing a typical what is different about Germany or awkward “I don’t know what is going on” story from my first few days in Germany. I will write a little bit about my thoughts on traveling in general which will probably in turn be related to my first few days.
1. Jetlag – Every time I have changed time zones the same thing has happened. Day 1 is really hard, and I go to sleep and wake up at a semi-reasonable time (5AM this trip) and go through the second day thinking that I am good to go. When I go to take a nap, sleep for 8 hours and wake up at midnight. It has happened almost every time. Actually I prefer this happening compared to the second time I came back from Europe landed at 8 PM but wasn’t tired, stayed up all night and struggled to stay awake until it got dark, and was stoked that I made it only to find that I couldn’t fall asleep until 3 or 4 AM.
2. Walking - I walk a lot when I am traveling. Maybe Americans just don’t walk much, but I probably walked at least 6 miles every day in Africa and have done the same here. I didn’t walk that much in Ecuador, but I walked a lot in Australia.
3. Eating - I almost always love the food when I am travelling. Except maybe Kenya. But I always have trouble deciding what to eat. I am not sure why I have such difficulty when food is on the line, but sandwich shops, bakeries, or shwarma places that have things in the window that I can point to normally win. Goettingen has 4 places selling salami hanging from the ceiling, my weakness thus far (see attached picture of over half my meals since landing). When cooking for myself I cook differently from when at home, but certainly also not like a local.
4. English – I speak a very different version of my English when I am travelling, and I don’t even know if it is easier for foreigners to understand. For instance I’ve noticed that I say “Something like this” instead of “something like that”. For example, “I am looking for a book about hiking in Germany, or something like this.” That is the example that comes to mind but my English changes a lot. My German has been sufficient in 95% of the situations not involving conversations with my advisor and getting better.
5. Independence – Traveling allows me to walk an interesting line between loneliness and freedom to do whatever I want. It is very freeing to be able to walk for hours through downtown with no plans, eat when I am hungry and sleep when I am tired and do whatever I want to do right at that moment. But it is also a strange feeling that no one will come and convince me to do go for a hike or get a beer. I don’t get lonely very often, but it is bound to happen in the following weeks so far from my loved ones.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Rwanda Is You and Me
A few days ago the GO team was having lunch in Muhanga. Costa (our host) gets up before the food arrives and wanders off. He shows up as we are finishing our food and sends his food back for something else. When that comes out he tastes it, tells them it is no good, and orders something not on the menu. That comes out and he starts eating, and we tell him that we are already late for our meeting with the mayor. When he finishes eating we walk to the mayor’s office, about 45 minutes late. Bart mentions on the walk over to the mayor’s office that it was “kind of a rock star move.” After thinking about it, Costa is absolutely a Rwandan rock star. Here are five illustrations of Costa's rock starness.
1. I am sitting in Costas living room, having never met him, but he invited us over to a graduation party at his house. Family members slowly trickle in and reassure us that Costa will arrive soon. We are shocked when Costa walks in wearing a cap and gown. Thirty family and friends sit in a circle feasting in the yard using various levels of English to converse with us. Costa tells stories in 3 different languages, translates many things for us and cannot stop smiling.
2. During a ten o’clock dinner, Costa tells us that he spent the day checking up on a recently placed orphan two hours away. The orphan has been put into a family as a week trial before Costa asks if they like the family. The orphan approves of the family, but Costa must be at the office at 8 clock the next morning (leaving at 5 AM) to get a stamp so that the adoption can be official.
3. While Eve and Denise tried to teach me how to do laundry and speak Kinrwandan (I cannot say chicken or get shoes clean), I learn that Costa’s wife is their older sister. They watched their mother be murdered in the genocide in 1994 while hiding above the ceiling. Two orphans live with the family, children of those who murdered the family’s parents. Costa met the orphans and upon noticing their struggles asked them to join the family in Kigali.
4. I wake up early, and Costa is frantically tying his shoes. He explains that his friend’s child is very sick and to tell everyone he would meet us later. Costa rides the kid to the hospital on the back of a bicycle. Then, he gets in an argument with the mother who is convinced that he is cursed, not sick. After the positive TB X-ray Costa convinces the doctors not to let the child leave until he is healthy. On the way home he calls a friend to go to the hospital and stand guard.
5. Costa convinces a friend who owns a mini-bus to drive for a family outing to a genocide memorial. Nineteen people fill the minibus; many have never been to this memorial and had families killed in the genocide. After many tears and emotional moments we pile back into the bus and drive to a soccer game. Bart, Costa, Kyle and I are thrown into the action and at the end Costa brings out 1300 pens, a trophy and a soccer ball for the kids.
Early in our friendship with Costa, he said that he was not the best man in Rwanda. I told him a few days ago that I have not met very many Rwandans, but it will take a lot to convince me otherwise. I find it hard to not support people doing amazing things for their community.
More blogs and pictures here.
http://groundworkopportunities.tumblr.com/
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