First step: The idea
For quite some time, I have wanted to dedicate time to creating a personal project leveraging my knowledge in technology, and now I have finally found the motivation to at least dive into not only conceptualizing the idea but also carrying out the implementation with everything it entails.
When I say “quite some time ago,” I mean at least seven years ago when the idea of creating a project from scratch with a fairly clear concept came to me: Help NGOs that are dedicated to rescuing animals.
Since I started working in the tech world, I have dreamed of putting my knowledge to use for a noble cause. In all these years working for others, I have created captivating and technologically competent projects, where I have proven to myself that I am quite good at this technology thing. I have tried to take the plunge into being “self-employed” a couple of times: creating a platform for real estate agencies and another for boat rentals. Both business ideas already existed with the hope that I would offer something that the current platforms did not have. Over time, I realized that the approach I took when embarking on these ventures was incorrect. I was doing it from a position of wanting to create a business that would give me money and allow me to live comfortably from that business.
I started with a lot of motivation, but after a while, I almost completely lost it, and the projects remained half-finished; I lacked knowledge in Business Administration to properly manage the few resources I had and make the most of them, to conduct the necessary market studies to find out if these initiatives were feasible and profitable businesses. These disagreements caused me frustration and discouragement, which almost led me to abandon all hope of creating something by leveraging my creativity and the knowledge I had acquired over so many years in the technology industry.
This state of lethargy has lasted me quite a few years, more than I would have liked. But everything changed since I started reading the book “The Artist’s Way”, which I recommend to anyone who feels that inner urge to create things, as it helped me reconcile with my inner artistic and creative side. Following its advice and exercises, I revived the flame of motivation to create something, or at least plant the seed of something that can organically grow on its own thanks to the community.
One of the exercises proposed by “The Artist’s Way” is to write three pages daily of whatever comes to your mind; the book calls it “morning pages”. In short, writing these lines helped me discover exactly what my will was trying to say; what my will wanted me to invest my time and abilities in. And for many, it may seem very obvious what I discovered, but for me, it wasn’t so much: “Invest your time and resources in what you truly believe is worth it and that you would be proud to do.”
Well, delving into my inner self, starting from this premise, I realized that what I wanted and have always wanted is to help animals. In fact, when I was a child, I always dreamed of being a veterinarian or studying zoology. Being more specific, I always dreamed of studying “something” to understand animal psychology and to know if they have consciousness, feelings, etc. I have always had a special sensitivity towards animals.
Due to life’s circumstances and a lack of time in my daily routine, I have never actively collaborated with NGOs that rescue animals. That is to say, I haven’t done fieldwork. But I have always been willing to donate money or resources to those NGOs that were near my area of residence. Now with social media, I can contribute by donating some money to NGOs that are on the other side of the world.
However, I always have the same doubt. How can I ensure that the money I am donating to these NGOs on the other side of the world is being invested in their mission? How can it be guaranteed that this NGO X is not a fraud and uses animals as an excuse to get money? Unfortunately, there have been many cases of heartless people who use animals as a lure and play with the sensitivity of millions of people who truly care about rescuing and giving animals a dignified life.
With all this data, the following idea came to me. What if I could create a platform that indisputably guarantees that the money donated to NGOs that truly help animals is reaching its destination and is being fully invested in saving animals? And that’s where RESCATHENA was born. (It is the union between Rescue and Chain).
Here is the link to the RESCATHENA manifesto, but to summarize, it is a “blockchain” that both animal rescue NGOs and donors can be part of. The blockchain will ensure, through its “smart contracts,” that every euro/dollar/peso a donor transfers to the NGO or NGOs they prefer is fully invested in their mission. It is a completely open-source project where I hope the community will be the one to evolve the project. If you want to know more, I invite you to read the project’s manifesto.
The objective of this blog post is not to explain in detail what RESCATHENA consists of, but to highlight its evolution step by step. It is a logbook exercise so that, over the years, if the project proves to be useful and achieves its goal, even on a small scale, its history can at least be followed through this series of articles.