Benefiting Burundi

University of Oregon Students for Global Health would like to invite you to our Agate Alley Drink Wheel Event on Thursday April 8th. The event begins at 10:00 p.m. and goes until close. Every hour a lucky attendee will spin the wheel and determine the  drink of the hour. Every drink chosen will be the lucky low price of $2.50. Half of all of the sales will go to support Village Health Works, food security program in Kigutu, Burundi. For more information about the organization please visit www.villagehealthworks.org

Agate Alley Bistro is located at 1461 East 19th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97403-1426

We hope to see you there.

To Whom It May Concern:

The earthquake in Haiti exposes the vulnerability of an already destitute population. Ninety-seven percent of people who die in natural disasters die in poor countries because of inadequate access to basic services and inadequate preparation and response systems. Moreover, we recognize the United States’ historic responsibility in contributing to oppression and poverty in Haiti.

The Haitian revolt was the first slave rebellion turned successful independence movement in 1804. From that time on, the world has denied the Haitian people their potential. In 1825, a French military blockade coerced them to pay 150 million francs in reparations for their own freedom and the United States refused to acknowledge Haiti’s sovereignty until after the U.S. Civil War.

In the following century, the U.S. military invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. To the present day, the U.S. has supported countless regimes, the worst, a brutal father-son military dictatorship from the late 1950’s through the 1980’s. When democracy appeared to have finally conquered instability in the early 1990s, the U.S. created and funded military groups to remove, reinstall, and replace popularly-elected President Aristide.

U.S.-backed international economic policies have only added to the quandary. In order to grant Haiti’s request for a loan in 1986, the International Monetary Fund forced Haiti to reduce its protective trade barriers. This flooded the country with cheap, subsidized rice from the United States. Thus, out-of-business local farmers moved to the shantytowns that collapsed on the hillsides of Port-au-Prince.

Today we demand that the U.S. work in the best interests of Haiti:

(adapted from Bill Quigley’s Ten Things the United States Can and Should Do for Haiti)

1.  Allow all Haitians in the US to work. The number one source of money for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers in the US back home.  Haitians will continue to help themselves if given a chance.  Haitians in the US will continue to help when the world community moves on to other problems.

2.  Offer Haiti grants, not loans. Haiti does not need any more debt.  Make sure that the relief given helps Haiti rebuild its public sector so the country can provide its own citizens with basic public services.

3.  Require the forgiveness of debt from all of Haiti’s international creditors. Haiti has been saddled with debt since France demanded reparations in 1825. The U.S. has incredible voting power on the board of both IMF and the IDB and should argue for immediate cancellation of the $891 million of debt still on Haiti’s books.

4.  Apologize to Haitian people everywhere for Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh.

5.  Release all Haitians in US jails who are not accused of any crime. Thirty thousand people are facing deportations.  No one will be deported to Haiti for years to come.

6.  Require that all the non-governmental organizations which raise money in the US be transparent about what they raise, where the money goes, and insist that they be legally accountable to the people of Haiti. Moreover, these organizations must work to strengthen the public sector in Haiti.

7.  Treat all Haitians as we ourselves would want to be treated.

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In the words of St. Augustine “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”

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Many thanks to Tracy Kidder, Peter Hallward, Bill Quigley, Jubilee USA, Democracy Now! and Paul Farmer for the information in this letter.

HopePhones promo video from Village Health Works on Vimeo.

We have two weeks left in our Hope Phones Campaign! Donate your old cell phones and help us bring life saving communication to health workers in Africa.

The Basics: We’re taking old phones (broken or working) and recycling them through HopePhones.org. Each donated American phone will pay for 2-3 “appropriate technology” phones for community health workers, and help save thousands of dollars on fuel costs and thousands of hours of transportation time in rural, resource poor settings. Having at least one cell phone in each rural community offers invaluable access to emergency medical care. The phones from this collection campaign will benefit the communities surrounding Kigutu, Burundi in East Africa, where American/Burundian non-profit, Village Health Works, has its health clinic and community facilities.

Where to Donate: We will collect phones at our weekly meetings in Gerlinger 248 @ 7pm every Thursday. Questions? Contact michelle@uoglobalhealth.org.

Bands:  Supwitchugirl, Adventure Galley and Rare Monk and D.J. Chilly Willy

Supwithchugirl, I LOVE MY DUCKSclick here to view video

Tickets are on sale now at the University of Oregon Cultural Forum in the EMU building. We will be showing Supwitchugirl videos as a part of their live performance. All money goes to FACEAIDS a national student movement to Fight AIDS in Africa. www.faceaids.org

How will my phone make an impact?

Every cell phone given to community health workers connects distant patients to a medical clinic. A $10 cell phone will give50 families access to emergency medical care, health information, transport services, and clinic resources.

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When your old phone is received by the recycling center, it is given a value. We’ll use this value to purchase appropriate, usable cell phones for community health workers at the medical clinics. The average donated phone in the US will allow us to purchase 2-3 cell phones for clinics.

Students For Global Health will be placing Hope Phone Donation Boxes around campus. You can also bring your used cell phones to our meetings in 248 Gerlinger on the University of Oregon Campus every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Click on the link below in order to donate your used cell phone online.

uohopephones-1

How will my phone make an impact?

Every cell phone given to community health workers connects distant patients to a medical clinic. A $10 cell phone will give50 families access to emergency medical care, health information, transport services, and clinic resources.

__

When your old phone is received by the recycling center, it is given a value. We’ll use this value to purchase appropriate, usable cell phones for community health workers at the medical clinics. The average donated phone in the US will allow us to purchase 2-3 cell phones for clinics.

Students for Global Health has donation drop boxes set up around the University of Oregon Campus including the EMU as well as the Bookstore. Phones can be dropped off at our general meetings as well. We meet every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in 248 Gerlinger on the University of Oregon Campus. The Campaign will be running through the month of November. To Donate your phone online click on the link below to do so.

uohopephones-1

A true Social Entrepreneur and Servant Leader, Lou Radja continues to work tirelessly to improve the lives of many across the globe. Whether speaking on a college campus, to a boardroom, at a company retreat, or with high school students, Lou’s goal remains to uplift, educate and inspire his audience to live up to their greatness both individually and collectively. A recognized Motivational Speaker and founder of Lou Radja Enterprises, Mr. Radja has addressed and engaged global citizens all over the world on Leadership, Diversity, Service and Personal Development. As Executive Director of EduCongo, a U.S. based nonprofit organization; Lou’s energy is devoted to generating awareness and support to provide quality education for over 2,000 underprivileged children in the Congo.

A graduate of Portland State University, Lou’s background is in International Affairs with a focus on development challenges and opportunities in today’s globalized world. Over the years, growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo or living in the United States, Mr. Radja has found that knowledge backed by an inspiration to action are truly at the heart of human progress, and that’s the spirit that drives his efforts with EduCongo and Lou Radja Enterprises