A Voice of the Voiceless -- Villages in Action

September in New York saw all the pomp and circumstance befitting of a meeting of the world's leaders. More specifically, the Millennium Development Goals were to be discussed and money promised to support them.
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September in New York saw all the pomp and circumstance befitting of a meeting of the world's leaders. The irony was that the week of TED, UN, Clinton (x2), Obama, Gates and co. was set aside to discuss the poor. More specifically, the Millennium Development Goals were to be discussed and money promised to support them.

The missing population (aka the poor, or the underdeveloped, or the needy, or the people everyone was talking about) was not missed by some.
of
was one such person and tweeted:
in response to the
that noted:


While there is a lot of discussion of the need to capture human capital in developing countries, we didn't hear from anyone who had actually lived the experience of escaping poverty. We didn't learn how families survive on $1 a day from people who have no choice but to make it work.

So, Teddy has followed through and come up with Villages in Action sponsored by BusinessFightsPoverty.org. Please read his announcement below, go to the website and learn more about what I believe to be an important beginning to bring the voice of the voiceless into the conversation.

We are excited to announce that on November 27, 2010, the first Villages in Action (VIA) conference will be held in Kikuube in Uganda; a small village with just over 260 homesteads and a population just over 1000. My mother, one of our speakers, serves as the local chairperson, as well as pastor. I was surprised that she -- a village leader -- had never heard of the MDGs. She is, however, very excited that she will have a turn at the microphone to represent her village.

We are humbled by the interest for this conference we have received and by the organizations that have already offered to help. We have just 23 days left, and every little bit counts. If you would like to help in or outside Uganda, please get in touch with us. Everyone is welcome at no charge, but if you would like to offer financial support just click here.


Date
Saturday, November 27, 2010 from 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location
Kikuube Village
Masindi, UGANDA

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