Say Hello to Our Friends
"En esta vida no hay nada como un buen amigo"
In this life there is nothing like a good friend. What's even better, of course, is a global village of good friends- which is exactly what Chef's 2/17 Twitter Space became. As we all know, Cardano is a large, global community which naturally is made up of smaller subgroups. Chef Theo wanted to provide a forum for the Cardano LATAM community to hear about their projects and also to determine how he and The Cardano Army could better support their efforts. It was an amazing space and I highly advise going back and listening to the recording if you missed it as this blog is a poor substitute for the free-flowing conversation in the Twitter space. Regardless, here is a bit about some of our guests and the projects that they are working on.
ALDEA Dao was so named to express both the idea of a village and the power of the decentralized and autonomous Latin American community. ALDEA strives to be the Latin American DAO that promotes collaboration and a focus on the goal of solving common problems. A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that is built and managed by community rules, not by a central government. The challenges faced by the LATAM community are extensive, but the drive to overcome them is even greater. ALDEA DAO is positioning itself to be the mechanism which brings together a global village to promote Cardano in the region, finance the development of dApps, and propose solutions to economic or social problems. Whatever the future holds, Aldea DAO will bring together a powerful and talented community with one mission: to build a bright future for LATAM community and Cardano as a global currency.
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Itza - Latin Stakepools got into crypto in 2013 as a result of studying cryptography. He briefly mined Litecoin but stopped due to an increase in difficulty. Later he discovered Cardano and realized that setting up an SPO was another opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial spirit. He wants to get more people from Argentina involved with Crypto because it will help people get their power back and have more control of their capital. So part of his mission is continually educating people about decentralization and reasons why the small pools need to be supported. He has a YouTube channel in Spanish to educate about Cardano and is working on NFT art Gallery with his sister to help artists who have been unable to display their work in physical galleries. It's a unique project because its physical art that is displayed in NFT form. The buyer receives the actual physical art and an NFT.
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ADAOne just exemplifies Cardano in that it is made up of a global team with a wealth of experience and is committed to Cardano's long term vision. Even their motto is "The World Will Be As One". The team is comprised of members from Argentina, Australia and Taiwan. They support decentralization by having their own servers and nodes, thus avoiding recentralization on over used cloud servers. ADAOne just received Catalyst F7 funding for their Platform for Solar Farms project. Their intention is to construct a solar farm in San Juan, Argentina which is one of the poorest regions of the country and has the highest sun exposure. Their intention is to not only build a solar farm, but also to tokenize it so that small investors can participate. They are currently in phase one of the project which is to research and build a business model. Details of their project can be found in this link.
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White pool is led by the lovely Maria Eugenia who lives in Peru. 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.
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CCOL, Cardano Columbia, is led by Carol and her husband, who operate the only physical Cardano node in Columbia having 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.
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Alfred from Topo Pool. is currently living in Peru, Alfred is leaving Peru as there is a low awareness of crypto there. In IT his whole life, Alfred feels that Cardano can help address some of the wealth disparities in Latin America. His mission is to help poor people in Argentina and Peru. TOPO pool has relays on three continents and guarantees 99% uptime. In regard to decentralization he has mixed feelings, a few pools are holding too much stake but on the other hand, it's not sustainable to have 5000 pools producing no blocks. He feels that we need a better ranking system that doesn't favor multipools. Also Alfred pointed out that geographic distribution of pools is also important across the globe, not just primarily in Europe and the US where they are today. TOPO is also working on a solar project and will announce details soon.
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Staking with DOT5 earns you ADA, SUNDAE, BISON and HI tokens. Additionally they sponsor a 100ADA giveaway every month to a random delegator. Currently they have a 0% margin fee, which may rise but will never go over .5%. If you delegate with them you can also access their Custom API which helps process your transactions in the Cardano blockchain more rapidly! Their Private Discord for Delegators works to enhance direct communication and ADA rewards distribution. It is a great place to safely learn about all the opportunities available in the Cardano ecosystem.
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The first stake pool of the Cardano network 100% committed to promoting the adoption of blockchain and smart contracts in Latin America. They are convinced that many of the problems that exist today in the region can be addressed by the mission and vision inherent in the Cardano ecosystem. They believe it is possible to generate a positive change in the way that we interact with each other and with governments and private companies throughout the continent. This pool is a great choice if you are interested in learning about technology as they are actively involved with ALDEA, Milkomeda, Gamechanger Wallet and Bobclats.
I think it is safe to say we were just amazed by all of the talent and projects in our Latin American Community. As a result, Chef Theo will hold this space on a monthly basis so that we can stay up to date with all of their activities. In the meantime please check out all of these wonderful stake pools and consider delegating with them!
By Traveler Jo | CardanoArmy.io
You can find Traveler Jo somewhere close to the sea. She loves Cardano, kayaking and food - not necessarily in that order. She's busy exploring the world, always in the company of her husband, tired dog and indignant felines.