Hi everyone!
My name is Nikolaus Kirchler. I’m an NGO professional in humanitarian response and development projects and the moderator of 
Instead of finishing my computer science degree I switched and completed the Master in International Social Sciences at a small private university in Germany. At that time in the early 2000s there were only a hand full places in all of Europe where one could achieve a university degree in humanitarian response and development topics. I wanted to make a difference for people in need and also conquer the world. Sitting in an office programming software nobody cares about did not sound too appealing in that regard. In hindsight, I could have been a blockchain developer making millions. At least I would have been able to acquire Bitcoin in 2010 when it was at 10 cents and I first heard about it. Nothing was developed at that time making the process a headache. I neglected the idea of spending 100€ of my students allowances for BTC. But I’m happy where I am today. When you enter the NGO sector it comes with a precondition with almost certainty: You will never be able to own a Porsche (younger than 10 years old). Your rewards come from somewhere else – and to me that matters more.
July 2011, I started my working life with ADRA Germany in the Libya response. At that time Muammar Gaddafi was still alive and I was in his former capital the day he got killed. We were working hard to get as many people as possible out of the firing line and ensure they receive the basics to be able to survive.
There, I also met my beautiful wife. She was working for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) (I might tell you more about that astonishing story in a later blog post). We were making jokes about the war coming to Syria. Her home country. It was a ridiculous thought. Boy were we wrong!!
How did I get to STEEM?
Do you know that feeling when you see your crush, your heart makes a jump and your stomach feels giggly? Then you take a deep breath to calm yourself down? It’s energizing. It’s special. It gives you meaning in life. But it can also get exhausting. To the point where you cannot eat anymore, because your stomach is just toasted. Something wants to get out. It’s building up steam in your body and threatens to burst. I’m almost bursting. This needs to get out.
Source: 9gag.com
Yes, the latter is the woman I married. However, when talking about Steemit and this community the first part is true. Passion, that is exactly what is described here. I want to follow passion.
Recently I was on 6-month paternity leave to spend precious time with my beautiful newborn daughter. Here is my favorite picture of Valentina Levana when she was 6 months old. The most beautiful, smart, lovely, funny and easy going baby one can imagine, with a smile that can melt ice on North Pole. I couldn’t be more proud of her. While she’s still small and cute you can call her Tina.
During that time at home I wanted to write a book. A brilliant idea and whoever writes that book will become wealthy. I have the structure, well thought out chapters and sub-headlines, a massive data collection and profound knowledge about the topic, even some paragraphs written… it’s a massive project. Apparently, slightly too big for now. So, I guess blogging is more my level. 2 pages is considerable more easy than 400.
Long story short, last month I was in Greece to develop a refugee support project where we apply for funding from the European Union. One night in the lonely hotel room I stumbled over the YouTube channel of that crazy dude with a massive ego, Mr. 
What to expect from this account and why you should follow and upvote?
First of all, this is my private blog. I post about everything I deem worth sharing and feel comfortable enough to voice an expert opinion to add to the overall value of STEEM. More important, it can and probably will be the perfect complement to the official 
Due to the affiliation with
Thank you notes
At this point a massive THANKY YOU to all the people who work and code in the background to make this project an ongoing success-story!
The (app) developers 
the top 50 witnesses and runner-up witnesses 
all the whales who follow their responsibility for the STEEM society by acting accordingly and oh so many more who post countless brilliant articles and form this network, you da real MVP. What I see every day here at Steemit fills my heart with joy. I’m already following more than 100 of you and many more to come.
Let’s meet in person at STEEMFEST
This is as well an official submission for the #minnowsupportproject Paid Trip to STEEMFEST.
It’s the perfect timing to meet so many steemians in person in Portugal. With the current setup, I’m the perfect candidate to grow and foster the charity support idea around STEEM.
The basic draft strategy laid out in the introduction post of
Needed budget for the trip to STEEMFEST:
- $ 250 roundtrip flight ticket incl. fees from airport FRA to LIS
- $ 50 transfer to and from the airport
- $ 330 for 4 nights HF Garden (Nov. 1 – 5) (with an option to arrive earlier if devs want to explore charity app possibilities during hackathon)
- Other living expenses (mainly food) I will cover. I also have to eat and live when home ; ).
I would probably bring my wife and little Tina as well, so you can meet them and they can spend some time in Lisbon. It’s too much to ask for their reimbursement and I would be more than happy and grateful when part of my own expenses is covered.
And now I’m curious about what will happen next.