Older students may be interested in taking on the challenge issued by the UN Department of Public Information and the UN Millennium Campaign to Stand up and Speak Out against poverty. Amman Imman volunteer Laurel Lundstrom has been speaking up for the people of the Azawak ever since she met Ariane Kirtley in June, 2006. Now, through Stand Up, Speak out, Laurel has initiated an opportunity for many people to Stand Up and Speak Out for people living in this region, who are among the poorest and most abandoned populations in the world.
Middle and High School Students could organize their community to make a pledge to raise funds on October 17 through the event "Drink for Water in Niger". Follow the website links and read about the event in this letter from Laurel:
Dear Friends,
17 October is the International Day of the Eradication of Poverty which is why the date has been chosen for Stand Up Against Poverty 2007. The first of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a global commitment to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. It is now mid-way to 2015 and we are falling behind in achieving this goal making it more important then ever to stand up and speak out.
To commemorate the day, UN staff members are hosting and participating in various events. Therefore, I have decided to host a virtual event and I am asking you to participate. Unified with other "Stand Up, Speak Out Against Poverty" initiatives, the event which I've called "Drink for Water in Niger" is meant to raise awareness to the people living in the Azawak Valley of Niger, who, each day, suffer because they do not have enough water to drink.
To participate, please keep track of how many glasses of water (or any other beverages that consist of water), which you consume from 9 p.m. on 16 October to 9 p.m. on 17 October. Next, for each glass, or eight ounces, of water you drink, pledge to donate $1 or more to Amman Imman, a well-digging project benefiting the people in the Azawak.
You might also want to ask your friends and/or colleagues to join in the effort by forming a group to make a pledge. Amman Imman is administered through the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan.
To read about Stand Up, Speak Out, visit: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/en/node/13866
To donate and learn more about the project, visit: http://www.waterforniger.org/page/donate/main/
Each day, we bathe, shower, flush the toilet and wash our clothes and dishes, etc. without even thinking twice. Let's take one day to recognize how lucky we are by helping those who don't have such luxuries.
Feel free to contact me with questions.
Sincerely,
Laurel
laurel@ammanimman.org
Wow, thank you so much for telling me about this event. It sounds very exciting. I went to the Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty website and I registered to host my own event! Thank you for telling me about this awesome cause. If we all stand together, we can truly eradicate extreme poverty once and for all!
ReplyDeletegreat post, thanks for letting us know about the event. what is the best way we could help?
ReplyDeleteHi,and thanks for your comment! The best way to help would be to 1) organize your friends to participate on October 16-17 and Drink Water For Niger, sending collected contributions to Program Amman Imman via their website at http://www.waterforniger.org/page/donate/main/ 2) Use the resources available through this blog and tell people about the fact that there is barely any water available to 500,000 people who live in the Azawak. This is a human rights issue! 3) Help us fundraise so that more boreholes can be built. Thank you for your support and I look foward to hearing from you! Debbie
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you know but the results are in! Over 38.8 million people, in 110 countries have broken the Guinness World Record – set last year at 23.5 million - for the largest number of people to “STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY” in 24 hours.
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