Bitcoin Joins The Fight Against Ebola Through Beam’s New Charity

Beam is a bitcoin remittance company focused on the west African market. The Ghana based company launched in early October with the mission to slash the costs of sending money to West African countries by utilizing bitcoin’s payment network. Remittance companies in the region, like Western Union or MoneyGram, charge up to 12% and can take 3 days to deliver the funds. According to its website, Beam charges 2% and delivers the money in fiat instantly to the desired recipient via their mobile phone.

Nikunj Handa, CEO of Beam, told BNC News, “I was talking with the guys at Sierra Leone Liberty Group one day (they were one of, if not, the first Ebola related charities to accept Bitcoin) about how they are converting their BTC to the local currency and they told me that they send the Bitcoins to their friends in the USA who then changes them to USD on Coinbase and then Western Union the money over.”

Handa was shocked by the inefficiency and cost. He thought his company’s bitcoin remittance platform could help deliver donations to the communities affected by the crisis. He needed someone with boots on the ground, who could deliver the money, so he started searching Linkedin for CEOs of mobile money companies.

He ended up creating a partnership with the largest mobile money vendor in Sierra Leone, Splash Cash. The company agreed to use their mobile money platform to put donations directly in the hands of the Sierra Leonean charities.

The process starts with Beam receiving the bitcoin donations and turning them into the local currency, Sierra Leonean Leones (SLL). Splash Cash then delivers the donations to charities via text messages. Charities go to one of Splash Cash’s many agents and receives the fiat through them.

The company is currently working with two charities, the Sierra Leone Liberty Group (SLLG) and Lunch Box Gift.

SLLG, was originally founded as a libertarian organization promoting the ideas of private property rights, entrepreneurship, and freedom from government oppression. They have been using bitcoin as a way to accept donations since August.

In light of the Ebola outbreak the group has changed the focus of its operations, dedicating their time and resources to fighting the disease that’s destroying their communities. The group has been running a clinic to properly disinfect people in the community, helping to contain the spread of the virus in their city.

“Sierra Leone faces many obstacles to prosperity, but the recent outbreak of Ebola in the country has created more turmoil and difficulty in the country.”
— – SLLG

Lunch Box Gift, was founded by volunteers in the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone. The charity was formed in order to provide meals to Sierra Leoneans during a three day curfew earlier this year. The government mandated lock down hoped to curb the infection rate of Ebola in the country, but ended up leaving families unable to access food and supplies. With the help of Campaign for Good Governance and the Youth And Child Advocacy Network, Lunch Box Gift delivered 2,600 meals to locals trapped at home.

Since the end of the three day curfew they have maintained their dedication to bringing fresh, hot meals to patients and healthcare workers on the frontlines of the crisis. The charity is now on track to deliver 50,000 meals to Sierra Leoneans over the next three months. The group claims their work has been particularly important in the Ebola crisis, where patients are isolated from their friends and families – making them unable to obtain food.

“Sierra Leone is in crisis at the moment.”
— – Victoria Parkinson, Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative Advisor

The Ebola outbreak began in February of this year, originating in Guinea. By May the virus had arrived in Sierra Leone. According to officials fighting the virus in affected areas, Sierra Leone is one of the worst affected countries. Last month the country suffered a record high of 121 Ebola related deaths in a single day. The U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response recently reported the virus has continued to wreak havoc on the country, saying 1,864 new beds would be needed by December in order to keep up with the growth of the virus. The report also said there have been 1,062 confirmed deaths in Sierra Leone.

Many payment processors and money vendors have reduced their fees for donations in response to the Ebola crisis. Handa holds that bitcoin still has many advantages over traditional systems. Depending on the size of the transactions, bitcoin can arrive in as little as 30 minutes to an hour. It also allows people from all over the world to send money quickly and efficiently, regardless of their local financial system or geographic location.

Bitcoin Against Ebola launched a few days ago and has already received numerous donations from the Bitcoin community. They are looking to add more charities so they can reach more people. They are also looking for additional mobile money vendors in Liberia and Guinea, so they can expand into the two countries which also have been hit hard by the outbreak.

If you are interested in donating bitcoin, head to BitcoinAgainstEbola.org.

Sophie is an artist whose secret passion is finance, economics, and technology. Shh! Don’t tell the artists she works with, they hate that kind of stuff. She loves keeping up with the ever expanding and evolving world of crypto-currency. When she isn’t painting, she can be found trying to understand the complex inner workings of markets. Another complex system she is fascinated by, are ecosystems. She often observes them on her daily hikes through nature.