Original Story Published by: Frederick Munawa for CoinDesk, www.coindesk.com
Photo Source: Courtesy of CoinDesk
Bitcoin Ekasi, a nonprofit organization seeking to establish a bitcoin economy in Mossel Bay, South Africa, has opened the Bitcoin Ekasi Center. The center will provide financial literacy education to local residents, with a focus on the area’s younger generation and business community.
The center was co-founded by Hermann Vivier, who also co-founded The Surfer Kids, a non-profit that teaches surfing and life skills to disadvantaged kids from the same locale. Bitcoin Ekasi has already enrolled 20 kids into its program and set up 10 stores to accept bitcoin for payment.
“Ekasi” is South African for “township.” Bitcoin Ekasi is Vivier’s attempt to create a circular bitcoin economy in Mossel Bay’s JCC Camp township – a poverty-stricken community overlooking the Indian Ocean. A circular bitcoin economy is one where individuals receive and make payments in bitcoin as they would with a traditional fiat currency.
“We recently celebrated Bitcoin Ekasi’s first anniversary and it's a surreal feeling to officially open the center. In that time I have witnessed financial empowerment through bitcoin – affecting seemingly unrelated social issues in positive ways,” Vivier said in a press release. “Through the Bitcoin Ekasi Center, I am honored that our team will be able to grow this movement and inspire other communities to think differently about money.”
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