Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

K is for…… .Kiva
Kiva is a non profit organisation, based in the United States that allows people to make a loan to those folks who need financial assistance and to whom the doors of the regular financial institutions are closed. The deal is a loan is made to an individual that the lender chooses of $25 – the lender can choose more if they would like. The loan is then repaid over a series of months. 
So, how does this link to Australia I hear you ask?
Kiva can be utilised by individuals and by teams. One such team is the Genealogists for Families team which is  captained by a lady in Australia. See, there is a tentative link to Australia. Do not though, underestimate the power of the team or the work the team does. 
The team is currently 162 members strong, (made up of genealogists and their friends and family), making a total of 444 loans to various individuals. That is a huge achievement and to recognise that achievement the team, Captained by Judy Webster was awarded the 2011 GeneaBlog Award for best new Community Project. You can read Judy’s inspirational post HERE.
If you are interested you can join the team HERE and take advantage of one of the free loans that Kiva are offering. You could perhaps, do as I do, link this worth while project to honour a family event or in memory of a family member.

Genealogists for Families, We Care about Families, Past, Present & Future
The link for the A-Z Challenge 2011 post is HERE

J is for…… .Journals
When I left for my trip, which eventually saw me arrive at Sydney I had purchased a hardback journal. In that  journal I recorded notes from the plane trips, experiences at the airports, people – strangers that I spoke to, meals, arrivals and accommodations. Names and addresses of those people I met along the way and places that I explored. 

Slotted inside were napkins form restaurants that held venue specific data, tickets and postcards with the date of visit on the back. There are a few things that could not be added to the journal such as a flattened tin can from a drink at the Ettamogah Pub in Albury.

Flattened tin can from a drink at the  Ettamogah Pub 1991

Whatever the journal, whether it is written in more recent times, or from the times of the early settlers, each journal is the written capturing history of moments potentially forgotten, preserving for the future.
The link for the A-Z Challenge 2011 post is HERE

I is for…… .Inspiration & Imagination
I think that it is quite usual to be proud of the Country of your birth or of the Country where you reside, to be part of an institutions that has all the good values that we hold dear.
Australia is a Country that can be described as an inspiration and has been built by the imagination of the early immigrants and explorers. There are many other words that describe the country, but they don’t start with I! I wrote somewhere recently that Australia was built on the backs of men and women who knew poverty and desperation in England. That desperation perhaps lead to a life of “penal servitude” and or transportation. The document I read described the need to fell trees for the timbers in order for timbers to be transported across the early colony to build the foundations of buildings and houses. So a country was formed on the backs of hard working individuals for whom life in an unknown entity was better than the life they had known previously.
Of course, it was not just convicts that built Australia, it was the visions, inspirations and imagination of those free settlers. Those who saved the meagre funds that had to buy the passage fair for themselves and their families. To make the conscious decision to leave loved one and travel months by sea to a Country that was new. To keep the memory alive of home they bought with them the traditions, oral history of their culture and shared it amongst their children who would have made the voyage and to share with the children born into this new land.
I am sure we have all done it, thought of the 5 most precious things or books we would take to a desert island. Think of what items you would take to a new country and way of life. Start with what do you carry it in. No suitcases or Gucci or Antler bags in the 18th and 19th Century. No photographs to remember the people left behind. No opportunity to suddenly realise the decision is wrong and return home.
The link for the A-Z Challenge 2011 post is HERE

H is for…… .Hohnberg & Hartwig
As I mentioned last week (see D for Dawson!) I have been tentatively researching the family of my late’s cousin’s wife. I was curious about the family. The curiosity increased as I was informed that a book had been written about the early Hartwigs to Australia. This was back in the early 1990s when email had not really taken off and research was much harder. As I was in Australia and my cousin had a copy of the book, I read it cover to cover over a period of several months. Making some notes and observations.
Then in 2000, my Cousin’s wife came to the UK. We again talked about her family and I promised that I would for her family undertake some research. Spurred on again by a pending visit. I wanted to see what material I had, and what gaps I had in this particular line of research. 
The Hohnbergs and Hartwigs were from Prussia and of the Lutheran Religion. They sailed from Prussia to Australia and made their home in South Australia. With the aid of a fellow researcher from this family who has shared some notes, and Ancestry and various archives within Australia it has been possible to explore both families which arrived during the period of 1841 – 1856 the Silestia region of Prussia. 
There is much more research to do and two other letters of this challenge will explore these links further. At this time, I have names and dates and am busy trying to flesh out and organise what data I have. Needless to say the forenames of these families are confusing – for example – Johnann, Johanne, Johanna then add August, Augusta or Auguste to the name and then repeat for a generation or two. In fact, lets repeat the name either in full or variations of the forenames once or twice amongst cousins and siblings.
Confusion aside, I am fascinated and this is a whole different area of research to me and truth be told, I am loving it! 
The link for the A-Z Challenge 2011 post is HERE an earlier post is HERE