We’ve done it! We’ve sent off the proposal for why we feel DigiByte would be best suited for the SOS-Venezuela project started by David Hay.

I’d like to thank all of those who’ve been involved helping prepare the document, it’s been a really great team effort :)

You can check out the proposal document here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6uKItzqLFqAR3JWLTJKx8PsFd9HHJn1/view?usp=sharing

We also have it in Spanish here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iIXBRZQfqVdzD9MCQODwmk_uh14r70xP/view?usp=sharing

The proposal puts forward why DigiByte would be the absolute best for use in Cúcuta, looking at what’s required for cryptocurrency to be mass-adopted in Venezuela, and I think we make a very strong case.

Feedback so far has been minimal, but very positive. This is a stark contrast to other proposals where holes are easily picked in the proposals from other cryptocurrencies.

I’ve even had to discuss why we use “Average” vs “Median” fees, seeing as an average fee on other blockchains is often significantly higher than the median, and they want to come across in the best light possible. Of course, higher fees will happen when you’re spending multiple UTXO inputs, which is natural in a transactional environment. Again, the attention to these little details I feel is what sets us apart, not to mention we seem to come out looking the best in all the scenarios too.

But our story doesn’t end there!

Previously we heard that David Hay was going to Venezuela earlier in March, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to send some initial “aid” with him. Have a look at this video that he recorded for us showing what our DigiByte we fundraised went to:

It’s also worth clarifying that David paid for his trip himself. Flights etc were not provided by DigiByte.

However, we low-key fundraised and sent him with enough money to give 1000 bottles of water to the Red Cross, and feed 160 orphaned children for a whole month.

It’s great to be part of a community where you have to only announce the desire to fundraise on Reddit, because you know if you also announced it on Twitter / Facebook etc that people would donate *too much*, which could be a security risk for David travelling with that kind of cash.

I want us to do this again!

David is traveling back there to do some additional ground work for the project in Cúcuta, and this time wants to help a school both with essentials and with technology.

From my talks with him so far, he’s looking to provide this school with Internet Access out of his own pocket, so that children and teachers can benefit from a modern online classroom environment utilizing tablets and online resources.

You can check it out a bit here: https://www.instagram.com/fundafosforos/

Translated from the website we have:

Our work is carried out with children between the ages of 3 and 16 in the neighborhoods of El Progreso, Camilo Daza and the urban settlement Colinas del Tunal in the city of Cúcuta. Through education, recreational, sports and recreational activities with our children, the values are reinforced to achieve their life project and, in an alternative way, parents are educated through workshops

David also has a contact on the ground there in Cúcuta who has vetted out this charity organization and found them to be upstanding.

So I told David we’d raise the DigiByte needed for 30 tablets, 30 rugged covers for the tablets, and the essentials for a classroom.

David has got in touch with the school and they’ve requested this for ‘basics’ for the classrooms:

100 foamy sheets

150 Scissors

150 Pencils

150 boxes of crayons

30 Blocks de colores

500 tissue paper

50 Cardboard

100 Small Glue

50 School paintings

15 School tables

I’ve told him that shouldn’t be a problem!

The tablets plus rugged cases should come to approx USD$60 total each, and the school tables will probably be the most expensive part of the above list, plus a bit of shipping.

How much will we need / where can I donate?

In total, I want us to fundraise around USD$2,500!

You can donate to it here: DTBJo9kyC3DsycswLjNFxVJ5Qh1KxuYnze

Going forward we’ll also be able to get semi-irregular video updates from the school on how this influx of technology has impacted the lives of the children there.

I want us as a community to show that we’re not going to shy away from a little bit of charity and goodwill, just because cryptocurrency has been in a bear market lately!

This is where the rubber meets the road, and where we have an opportunity both to use Cryptocurrencies for all the good things we’ve read about in whitepapers.