Do you love Africa?
I do! - so I have spent my morning composing the following fundraising letter in anticipation of an upcoming return to E Africa this summer, God willing. Not that my blog readers have tons of extra change floating around, but hey, worth a shot-and if this is Philistine, and I don't know it yet, you have my sincerest advance apologies.
June 8, 2006
Dearest People,
In the summer of 2005, I had the privilege of traveling to Rwanda to meet with twenty-three young Rwandans for an introductory training program on behalf of The World Youth Alliance. The World Youth Alliance is a non-government global coalition of young people who are committed to promoting the dignity of the human person and building solidarity among youth from developed and developing nations. Founded in 1999, the Alliance currently embraces over one million young people from over 100 nationalities. My meetings with the marvelous university students and young professionals who had survived the Rwandan genocide extended the Alliance’s mission: to train young people to impact policy and culture at the regional and international levels, particularly with regard to problems of poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the dignity of women throughout East Africa.
This summer, the Alliance celebrates the formation of many new communities of young people committed to enacting progress in Africa, especially in Kenya/Nairobi, Rwanda, and Nigeria. I am writing to ask you to be a part of thousands of young Africans’ eagerness to do their part in building a world worthy of its people.
You can be involved by addressing the critical issue of what has been called the book famine in Africa. We in the West simply have no idea of the value of a book on the African continent, where a small paperback may cost US $ 20.00- though the daily wage may only be the equivalent of US $3.00. Still, the availability of the World Youth Alliance’s suggested readings is critical for the training of future political and cultural leaders in the methods and principles of human dignity. We would like to provide each Africa chapter with one “training set” of foundational books by this Fall; this modest goal will make these inspiring works on the dignity of the person available to young people who might otherwise have no access at all to these valuable tools. Our reading list contains the following titles: Man's Search For Meaning, by Victor Frankl, Holocaust survivor; A World Made New, by Mary Ann Glendon; Man And The State, by Jacques Maritain; Centesimus Annus, by John Paul II; The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell; Lost in the Cosmos, by Walker Percy; Brave New Family, by G.K. Chesterton; and Only The Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation, by Josef Pieper.
The cost to provide and disperse each set of seven new books among our Africa chapters, which will constitute working “libraries” for groups of motivated young people for years to come, is a mere US $80.00. I invite you to get involved in this very meaningful way by making a lasting gift to one of the most exciting initiatives in the developing world that I know of. Any tax-deductible gift towards this initiative will be greatly appreciated; a mere $10.00 will secure a title in a set that will be read and appreciated by dozens of young people.
If this exciting opportunity to empower the young people of Africa catches your attention today, you can contribute online-
(Please note “contribution for Africa region’s reading list” in the available comment section online)
OR
Send your tax-deductible check to:
The World Youth Alliance
228 E 71st St
New York, NY 10021
(Please make checks payable to “The World Youth Alliance” and mark your check “For Africa- Reading List.”)
Thank you all so much for your attention...
posted by MM at 6:26 AM
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