A 400-person choir will perform a “Poverty Requiem” in Kenya’s Central Rift Valley on October 17 as part of an international effort to raise awareness about eradicating extreme poverty and hunger across the world. The Poverty Requiem was designed by individuals in the Netherlands in response to step up efforts on the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, the primary of which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. October 17th marks the halfway point to when those goals are to be achieved
42 performances will be staged in at least 23 countries.
The Molo-based Poverty Requiem will be held in Molo Stadium from 8:30 a.m. to dusk. It includes the 400-member choir, speeches, exhibits, food, cultural entertainment and a bicycle race.
Community Development and Public Relations Officer Moses N. Gachiri and other NGO members spent a week in the Netherlands last month for training on how to localize the worldwide event, designed to create awareness around the world that the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are not reaching its ultimate goal: to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by 2015. October 17 marks the halfway point for those goals to be reached. For more information on the Poverty Requiem initiative, visit the web site at www.povertyrequiem.org.
Gachiri is working with 12 choirs from district schools and community groups, a Salvation Army brass band and percussionists. Massive choirs from around the world will be singing the same moving and inspirational songs with titles such as “Hope” and “Fair Share.”
Speakers for the “Stand Up and Speak Out” event will include leaders from local and international NGOs and universities who are working on poverty and hunger issues, including members of the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum, PELUM, Moi Univeristy and others. Exhibitors include various NGOs and intervention groups in the region. The event is free to the public and traditional foods will be available for a donation. NECOFA is also collecting food donations for refugees of tribal conflicts living on Kokwa Island off Lake Baringo.
The bicycle race will begin 8:30, and the top prize is a new bicycle. Other prizes will be announced at the event.
The schedule is as follows:
· 8:30 a.m.: Bicycle Race
· 9 a.m.: Assembly
· 9:30 a.m.: Present petition to the District Commission, urging the government to speed up the implementation of the MDGs.
· 10:30 a.m. – Noon: Exhibition in the Molo Stadium. Showcases various NGOs and intervention groups.
· Noon – 1 p.m.: Speak Out
· 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Traditional and Cultural troop performances.
· 2 p.m.: 400-member Poverty Requiem Choir performs in Molo Stadium.
Why stand up and speak out? Every day, 50,000 people die as a result of extreme poverty and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. For the first time in history, we have the resources to change this. In 2000, leaders of 189 countries signed up to the Millennium Development Goals, a global plan to halve extreme poverty by 2015. We need you to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT to make governments honour their commitments – it will not happen without all of us taking a stand.
For more information, please contact:
NECOFA Country Coordinator
Samuel Karanja Muhunyu
254 722 647112
necofakenya@
muhunyusk@yahoo.com
PO Box 819 Molo
20106 Kenya
