Brian, Thank you for your feedback (why you donated) and suggestions.
Last night I wrote the following for Slashdot (we can submit technology
story ideas at: http://slashdot.org/submit.pl )

<a href=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Behlendorf">Brian
Behlendorf</a> has just <a href="
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistichelping/message/1707">donated
$200</a> to Kenyans building a <a href="
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mendenyo/message/1008">Pyramid of
Peace</a>. The money is converted into phone credits which are then
forwarded to activists throughout Kenya, applying a brilliant feature of
the Kenyan mobile phone system. Activists send them out further to
people from opposing tribes. They reach out even further to engage
troublemakers whose roadblocks in the center of Kenya are causing food
shortages. Ultimately, the credits are exchanged for <a href="
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistichelping/message/1705">food,
medicine and transport</a>. Prepaid phone cards ran out, so the phone
credits can be worth more than cash. Banks weren't able to open in much
of the country, and streets and roads weren't safe, so this delivery
system is especially vital, reaching isolated people early on. <a href="
http://www.ms.lt">Minciu Sodas</a> has a list of <a href="
http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KenyansToCall">Kenyans to call</a> but
has run out of funds. Phone credits can be funded directly through <a
href=" http://sambazanow.com">Sambazanow.com</a>. The image of Pyramid
of Peace comes from <a href=" http://www.nafsiafriacrobats.org">Nafsi
Afrika Acrobats</a> who are from different tribes and <a href="
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nafsiafrikasaana/message/63">actually
built one</a> to foster 'enemies embracing each other'.

Your donation and letter are a great encouragement! I will try to work
on our system to make evident what is happening in the field and how
people can help directly or indirectly. Thank you, Andrius

Brian Behlendorf wrote:
> On Wed, 9 Jan 2008, Andrius Kulikauskas wrote:
>> Brian, please can you give us suggestions on how to reach a wider
>> group of people around the world? And how to work with software
>> developers to improve the flow of our responses to our actions? And
>> how to involve more volunteers?
>
> I prefer not to post directly to mailing lists I'm not a member of,
> but I'm happy to email you and have you forward or handle appropriately.
>
> It seems to me you've got something very special here - a direct way
> to connect funds to people who can make really productive use of them.
> You've built a trust relationship with people inside Kenya, people you
> know will use that money for necessary phone calls, food and shelter,
> or other critical needs, and distribute that to others to also handle
> in a noble manner. I based my decision to donate to you on witnessing
> the conversations you're having, and while not understanding every
> detail, it looked personal and direct and thus likely to be
> transparent and trustable.
>
> I would suggest trying to put together a short (1 or 2 paragraph)
> summary of the situation and the potential to fix it in a manner that
> would make sense to someone who otherwise doesn't know anything about
> Kenya. Put that up on a web page with a link to a donation, and then
> send the word out to Slashdot, or other various well-read blogs.
> Short and succint and with a call to action ("donate via Paypal to
> ms@...") is key.
>
> As for approaching software developers - it doesn't seem to me, as an
> outsider, like the problem is software right now, but if you could
> articulate the place where something is needed, writing that up on the
> same web page and calling for volunteers to help might be worthwhile.
> Once that's done you could also approach people like Patrick Ball, the
> CTO at Benetech who's done open source software work for human rights,
> and see if he knows of communities of technical volunteers.
>
> The most important thing, the thing that drew me to donate in the
> first place, is clear consistant communication, and explaining in
> clear terms what people could do to help. Simpler is almost always
> better.
>
> Brian
>
>