The Jane Austen Maids Foundation: Maximum Extreme 5

It's the middle of the month, so it's time for another donation. This is the fifth installment of the Foundation. Soon I'll run out of movie sequels. Though Maximum Extreme 5 doesn't actually exist. It's a reference to the Charlie's Angels movies. The Maximum Extreme movies are the ones that the Matt Leblanc "stars" in within the these movies. If there ever was a Charlie's Angels 5, then there would also be a Maximum Extreme 5.

I think Jane Austen would have liked the kick ass attitude of the Angels. She would have liked National Women's history month too. In her juvenilia (so called cuz it's her stuff written when she was younger), The History of England, she focused on women, and more than once she has a character talk about the issue of history. In Persuasion, for example, Anne Elliot tells another character that all histories are written by men, and therefore tell their view of things. She would have appreciated the moxie shown by women who make history.


This kind of moxie is what it takes for two teens to try to save the planet. This last Sunday, with my body as well as the TV schedule on incorrect time, I found myself watching a show called Eco Company. It was about schools and teens (mostly in California) helping the environment. Project Jatropha was one of the programs. Started by two teens, 12 and 13 at the time, this project works to give tobacco farmers in India an alternative crop so they don't lose money when they cut back on growing tobacco. Tobacco uses firewood to process the leaves, and this firewood is being illegally harvested from a nearby national forest and animal sanctuary. Jatropha, on the other hand, is a plant that utilizes the carbon dioxide in the air (helping everyone's environment). The seeds from the jatropha plant are made into biofuel, and the byproducts can be used into other things. Everything from the process is used somewhere. The plants live and produce about 50 yrs, and enrich the soil, replenishing nutrients. They also have a secondary project involving planting teak trees, also with multiple uses.

My donation this time is going to Project Jatropha. The budget is there on the website, detailed for the anyone to see. Phase I was funded by one of the founder's winnings from his 7th grade spelling bee. These teenagers are not wasting money or funneling it elsewhere. This project deserves funding.