For example if your name is Лэрри Фэргуссон (fake Russian pseudonym) then you can have that on your name badge, but the Friend fishing it out for you is going by phonetics. Л is an El sound (L) and Ф we all recognize from Phi, as an F sound. So in finding the nametag, a Last = "F", First = "L" search algorithm is used.
My original vision was of R2DToo / Dignity Village as field-testing campuses for such as Institute for Integral Design's lean-to prototypes, made of a pan deck material and solar paneled, better than simply corrugated metal, already a staple in refugee world.
Other refugee camp / disaster relief shelter solutions would likewise get a dress rehearsal in these pre-deployment testing zones, with MVPs flying in to PDX to get the tour.
R2DToo aka Right to Survive, is already a refugee camp, in downtown Portland (W Burnside). Dignity Village is close to PDX (Portland Airport) and to a prison.
These are not new ideas, as far as these blogs are concerned, i.e. I've been suggesting prototyping disaster relief solutions in disaster relief villages for quite awhile.
R2DToo is "North Campus" vs. PSU as "South Campus" in terms of Portlandia geography. Most people refer to North and South Park Blocks as parallel concepts.
Speaking of PSU, Linsdsey is eagerly awaiting her transcript from FSU (Florida State University, where Dawn also went) which should come by snail-mail to Blue House. I'll scan it and send it to Nepal as PDF or JPG, and she can share those documents with her language-teaching university.
With enough bona fides demonstrating her intention to be a full time student, she'll get that student visa, less restrictive than the tourist one. She's been pursing getting such an upgrade all through the many earthquakes and resulting devastation.
Institute for Integral Design is Glenn's idea. Last time AFSC was planning to move, from E Burnside to somewhere else, he nursed the hope of NGOs banding together for a building on Hawthorne, by now a furniture outlet.
I knew it was a long shot, and AFSC ended up moving to ElderPlace / Providence, an admin building on Belmont across from Horse Brass.
Just as Philadelphia was choosing to pull the plug on its Portland Peace Program sponsorship, I suggested the Pauling House campus for a gift shop ala Laughing Horse Books, replacing the vacating Anthology Books.
That was a long shot again. A high end tattoo and piercing studio moved to fill the void. ElderPlace stays landlord for the AFSC office, home to an industrial strength photocopier, though that's clearly a back office.
E Burnside had a receptionist and was friendly to walk-ins in the old days, before AFSC became a ghost of its former self.
However, Stark Street Meeting (SSM) has a PSCC (Peace Committee) so the idea of needing non-Latin-1 nametags for some Portland AFSC meetup (co-hosting) is not as far fetched as one may imagine.
They've co-hosted / co-sponsored events before, and could again.
If NPYM, in the meantime, has helped make the nametag situation more cosmopolitan, then kudos to Quakers for being catholic (open minded) in that regard.
