Bliss and Mayhem

Kiva.org - Micro-Financing helping to alleviate poverty

Earlier this year, back in July, I signed up to become a Kiva lender. If you’re not sure what a Kiva lender is, in a nutshell it is a non – profit organisation that was established in October 2005 with a mission to connect people through lending (micro-financing) to alleviate poverty. I loaned $25 to this lady from Bali, Indonesia, her name is Harini and it was to help her buy more fish to sell through her business. Her total loan through Kiva was $750. That’s over one million rupiah and in rural Bali that is A LOT of money.... Read more →

Nusa Lembongan. This little island off Bali.

Nusa Lembongan has recently become my most favourite place in the world. We visited this tiny island on our last trip to Bali. Imagine what Bali would have been like 30 years ago and that is how it feels stepping onto Lembongan. There is no traffic, no stallholders hassling you. The pace over there is slow, relaxing and exactly what we needed for a 2-day stop over to chill out, refuel and explore. It was the highlight for me of our trip, and when we return back to Bali – I will be booking at least 4 nights over on... Read more →

Back in Black. Mental Illness still has stigma

Image via Pinterest A few nights ago, I watched the doco-movie about Amy Winehouse. I had known of her, had listened to some of her music, but let’s say I never really followed the paparazzi fuelled exposure that was up until her death. This movie, which documents Amy’s life in never seen before footage timelines from the ages of 14 until 27 where she was found dead after a history of drug and alcohol abuse. It has stayed in the back of my mind ever since. You never really know what is really going on for someone. But I can... Read more →