"How do you feel about helping stave off starvation for/in at least one individual in a country with a religiously oppressive government, no means of income and no access to outside aid?"

That is the question I asked my sponsor a few days ago. Thus began a lot of correspondence back and forth to determine how much crypto to send to my Iranian contact (whom only accepts XNO), which I would need to exchange from BCH (since the ATM my sponsor uses can't send XNO). According to my contact, there was some sort of international fund set up, but the Iranian government blocked or confiscated the fiat (I'm, not sure which), leaving citizens to fend for themselves. He has also been unable to set up a crypto-based fundraiser, due to the difficulty of accessing the Web from within Iran.

The three of us managed to establish this much: The amount he requires is at least that which is sufficient to buy food for at least one person for one month. (Whether he has dependents other than his dog, I don't know.) The guy is literally starving to death and his teeth are falling out due to malnutrition (scurvy or something related).

The short version is this: Access to the Internet is blocked by the Iranian government, which has made it impossible for businesses to function. That has resulted in a lack of jobs/income. Coupled with hyperinflation, people have no income or means of getting any. Thus, citizens cannot afford to buy food and medicine, nor pay for fuel and accommodation. People are dying of starvation.

I had a look at the exchange rate for Iranian Reals (IRR) and, compared to the US dollar, the stuff might as well be grains of sand, they're worth so little. My contact needs about $55 worth of crypto to get by for a month (whereas I need about $300), which equates to well over two million IRR! I reckon that he operates strictly in Nano (XNO) because when you're dealing with that, even small amounts in transaction fees end up making a big difference to any exchange or transfer he makes.

It took some doing to move and convert the BCH to XNO, but I managed to get that done over the course of a few days. I am pleased to report that, thanks to the generosity of my Spanish sponsor, the Babylon Project has made its first donation of Nano (XNO) to a man in Iran. That seems rather fitting, since the city of Babylon is in the neighboring country that is now Iraq. An amount of ~84.045 XNO has been sent to a man known to me only as Gilgamesh, so that he may purchase food and medicine for himself and his dog for the month of June 2023. He has been unable to find adequate words to express his joy at receiving such a generous amount, considering that he has only ever received about $8.00 worth of crypto in total during prior months and that has not been sufficient.

I certainly hope that this is not going to be a once-off thing and that I will be able to continue to help him going forward. To that end, I have set up a fundraiser page on the Send Nano Website, for the Babylon project. I am also happy to accept donations directly, either in BCH or Nano:

• Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Donations: bitcoincash:bpp7utd6agdn86pcq0snujkya3x8tup39eu5384yup8
• Nano (XNO) Donations: nano_1rzx1i93oumxduxcr4ks7uybbxco8huj6aqs3t1zbtz5of5f8opixc56xs9a

Please also check out the donation/fundraiser page on the Send Nano site. All donations received will be send to Iranian citizens. Thank you for your support.

Thumbnail image: The Tower of Babylon