In September, international organizations, heads of state, celebrities and specialists gathered to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As you may know, the MDGs were set in 2000 to achieve eight anti-poverty goals by 2015. In the midst of the coverage of these grand events, some of us working in international development ironically noted that while these high profile attendees wined, dined and debated the relative merits of each MDG plan, the actual “poor”, (the object of these goals) were not invited to these elite events.
INTRODUCING VIA: VILLAGES IN ACTION CONFERENCE
So I thought, why not take the conversation to them? Why not build a platform for villages to be heard? Thus VIA: Villages in Action was born. I posted a detailed article on how VIA came to be. You can read it here. »
We are excited to announce that on November 27, 2010, the first 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 the link below.
Date
Saturday, November 27, 2010 from 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location
Kikuube Village
Masindi, UGANDA