From Honduras to El Salvador, Bridging the Bitcoin Education Gap & Unveiling Monetary Colonialism.
A tale of empowerment for the youth of Latin America.
**Notes From The Margin aims to shed light on marginalized communities and their journey to financial freedom. By subscribing, you’ll be supporting my work and receiving a regular newsletter where I share inspiring stories about the individuals and organizations working to empower these communities.
Friends, hello!
I hope you’re well and thriving! I send my regards from the beautiful Broken Group Islands (in British Columbia). Here’s a glimpse of what it’s like to kayak around these waters. Truly world-class.
In other news, my episode with The Progressive Bitcoiner came out, which you can check out below. If you do, please let me know what you think. And if you have watched it and sent me lovely words, thank you. Truly. Your words helped ease the many moments of fretting I did before its release.
Later this coming week, I’ll be in Nashville for the Global Bitcoin Summit, where I’ll be part of 100 attendees from 56 countries, spanning six continents. We’ll talk about community, human rights, and Bitcoin. I’ve been looking forward to this for months!
Now, onto this week’s goodies.
The Bitcoinization Era in the Caribbean.
AmityAge is the first Bitcoin education centre in Honduras. I noticed a tweet they’d published about their third cohost of students graduating from their Bitcoin diploma.
I wanted to learn more about AmityAge, their work, and the state of Bitcoin adoption in Honduras. Zussel Ramos, Chief Operating Officer and Bitcoin Educator shared a short summary to enlighten readers of Notes From The Margin.
Here’s what she had to say:
“AmityAge Academy, co-founded by Dusan Matuska, is leading the Bitcoin wave in Roatan [an island] and Honduras. We’ve become the go-to spot for Bitcoin education on the island, and we’re all about paving the way for a future where everyone can access financial empowerment and freedom. Our big dream? To spread our influence worldwide by setting up Bitcoin Education centers everywhere. Our curriculum, known as the “Bitcoin Diploma,” is a product of our partnership with My First Bitcoin in El Salvador.
AmityAge Academy’s collaboration with My First Bitcoin showcases our dedication to offering the highest quality Bitcoin education to our students. By aligning ourselves with this organization, we ensure that our curriculum is up to date and covers in-depth Bitcoin understanding. This partnership enables us to provide our students with an education that is backed by industry experts and respected within the Bitcoin community.
I really appreciate the mentorship of Dalia, a remarkable individual contributing to the success of the Bitcoin Diploma. We had several meetings before starting the course only brainstorming ideas to make the course easy to digest and to keep the students interested. Definitely, it involved a lot of candy prizes and other fun activities. I remember one of the challenges that we came across was the skyrocketing fees associated with on-chain transactions at the time. As the final test consists of doing lightning and also on-chain transactions, instead, I proposed an alternative approach that offered the students an opportunity to “orange pill” others and this way avoid the on-chain transaction and pay $20 or more fees per transaction.
I invited several teachers, a taxi driver, and other administrative employees. This was a total success since they onboarded all these people and introduced them to Bitcoin, the invitees were asking questions and the students were answering them flawlessly under the supervision of me and other fellow Bitcoiners. I felt really proud of this alliance between My First Bitcoin and AmityAge, together we are really creating a multiplying effect for Bitcoin Education and pioneering this movement in Central America.
But there’s more to AmityAge Academy than just Bitcoin education. We’re all about creating a circular economy right here in Roatan, and the future is looking bright. Believe it or not, nearly 60 local businesses have hopped on the Bitcoin train and now accept it as payment, thanks to our efforts. We also pay all our employees in Bitcoin. This cool blend of education and getting local businesses into the Bitcoin game is our way of promoting a circular economy right in our backyard. It’s not just about learning; it’s about making Bitcoin a part of everyday life. We believe this is a game-changer for Roatan, bringing financial freedom to the people, spreading Bitcoin knowledge, and supporting local merchants with some sats.
As of now, we have celebrated three graduations of the “Bitcoin Diploma” program at our beautiful center here in Roatan. Each group has its unique characteristics, but there’s a common thread of planting a seed of understanding in young minds. They learn why the monetary system has been broken for an extended period of time and how Bitcoin can potentially serve as a solution for the future. Bitcoin represented freedoms, a detachment from the control of the state and other centralized institutions. Knowledge itself is a potent force, and by imparting this knowledge, we aim to restore power to the people.”
Thank you, Zussel, for your work and for sharing with us the state of Bitcoin education and adoption in Honduras!
- Meet Zussel Ramos:
- Follow AmityAge on Twitter: @AmityAge
- Donate bitcoin to AmityAge via their Geyser Fund page
Bitcoin Education in El Salvador’s Public Schools.
This week some incredible news came out of El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin their legal tender. It is that El Salvador will implement Bitcoin education in every public school.
Their Ministry of Education and the nonprofit organization Mi Primer Bitcoin (MPB), (meaning “My First Bitcoin”) partnered to add Bitcoin education to public school curriculums by 2024.
The Bitcoin diploma program will apparently be taught to 150 public school teachers from 75 schools to provide them with a “base knowledge” of Bitcoin. Then the teachers will return to their schools and teach from the curriculum created by the Ministry of Education.
“As the first nation to adopt Bitcoin, El Salvador will be an example for the world. Quality education is our best chance to ensure that that example is a positive one.” – John Dennehy, the founder of MPB
How do you think students learning about Bitcoin will transform El Salvador in a few years?
I for one am over the moon that the next generation of Latinos are learning about Bitcoin. All the hours spent learning, the questions asked, and the transactions sent over the network will add up to something and be part of their becoming. I can’t wait to see what they do with the revelations and freedoms Bitcoin has to offer them.
“El Salvador is leading the way with public Bitcoin education, and we expect other nations to follow. The world is watching.” – John Dennehy, the founder of MPB
Monetary Colonialism As an Exploitative System of Control.
This has been a fascinating topic for me to learn about this year.
French monetary colonialism has outlasted political colonialism in Africa. The CFA franc, a colonial currency, has allowed France to retain control over the economies of the 15 African countries mentioned below, funnel wealth back to France, and subsidize the French way of life.
These 15 countries include: Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, The Republic of Congo, Comoros, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, The Central African Republic, Gabon.
The CFA franc was introduced back in 1945 but by the 1990s it had been devalued by 99.5%. Insane!
**According to the United Nations, 10 of the 15 CFA nations are considered among the “least developed countries” in the world.
Another striking fact is that France still manufactures all of the notes and coins used in the CFA region, charging 45 million euros per year for the service. If Africans living in the CFA region want to travel abroad, they’re forced to convert their Francs to euros (since CFA currency is worthless abroad). At this point, France takes yet another cut.
Then there’s of course resource management as a hidden mechanism of control.
“With the guise of generosity, France grants loans to its CFA nations for infrastructure for developments but the work is contracted to French companies. This is the infamous double loan. The taxpayers of countries like Ivory Coast are on the hook for the entire loan plus interest, while the French get paid twice, first in an immediate sense when the loan is used to pay a French company to complete a project and then later when the principal plus interest is paid back on the loan.
By denying CFA nations the ability to produce their own manufacturing-based economies and by steering CFA nations away from consumption agriculture and towards producing inedible exports, designed for World Markets, they eliminate sovereignty and engineer dependence.” – source
Although CFA nations are politically free, their economies and money remain still under colonial rule. And as we have seen time and time again in Africa, monetary dependence is the foundation of all other dependencies. Perhaps, the secret to Africa’s real freedom depends on money… one created with open-source code.
I think that’s it, friends. Your life, in search of freedom, is one great unfolding. Keep at it and be gloriously free.
Until next time,
— Ayelen xx
(PS. If I can improve this newsletter for you, please share your thoughts with me. I’d love to hear your ideas!)