G20 Update

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastic summer! We're really looking forward to seeing you again in Pittsburgh this fall. We just wanted to give an update so that everyone is up to speed.

Here is where we are with the G20 stuff:

SLIM will be on a panel at the alternative conference. Liz & Laura are confirming which panel we will be on. We should know by early next week, and then we'll need everyone who can participate to help in planning for the panel event. We'll definitely need people who have participated in past Project Malawi trips to be on the panel.

We're also planning to give presentations at club meetings in September to advocate about issues relevant to the G20, Project Malawi, and SLIM. We'd like to focus more on advocacy and education this year. Our experience in Malawi showed us that, as far as bringing about change, actions we take in the states are just as important as what we do in Malawi. So far, we are booked for presentations at:

SGAP
AIESEC
Pathfinders
FORGE
One World

We're aiming for 10 groups. Look on the blog to see which groups have already been contacted and which ones you should contact. Contact the groups now, so they have enough time to accommodate us in their schedule.

Here is the powerpoint we will use for the presentations (in PDF format):
The G20 in Pittsburgh

And here is some commentary for explaining the slides:
G20 PPT Commentary

That way, everyone can feel comfortable giving the presentation. I know we'll all be busy with move-in and the start of classes in the next few weeks, but we definitely need everyone who can to help give the presentations. If you can, let Liz and me know.

Right now, excluding the page entitled "The Case Against Structural Adjustment," the presentation is about 30 minutes long. It might be better to make it a bit shorter, like 20 min. What do you think? Please make suggestions and comments.

See you soon,
Sesi & Liz :)

Money-Driven Medicine

Hey guys, after the G-20 stuff passes, let's do a meeting based around health care reform. I would be happy to moderate it.

There's a new PBS documentary coming out. It's based on the book by Maggie Mahar, who posted the following on her blog:

http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2009/08/money-driven-medicine-on-bill-moyers-journal-pbs-friday-august-28---.html

Apparently, we can rent out the film online to show it to SLIM.

What do you think?

Hey guys,

I'm emailing and facebooking ACLU, AIESEC, AED, American Marketing Association, Amnesty International, Asian Student Alliance, African Student Organization now. I'll blog once I hear from them!

Additional water info

I just watched this recent TED talk. If you don't regularly watch the podcasts posted on TED.com, you really ought to.

In light of SLIM's recent accomplishments in water provision, this is an interesting afterthought.



The bottles are expensive, but we might want to try it out. Who knows, maybe they'll give us a discount is we write to the guy that designed them? I was thinking it might be a nice thing to give to the CBOs' top volunteers. There is currently no incentive for them, but this might be an interesting thing to present them with. Just a thought. I still think the wells are better considering the size of the CBOs, but these bottles seem great for more remote areas where people are more spread out.

Thoughts?

Project Malawi 2009 - Water Source Project Completed

Hi everyone,

As you may already know, this past May, as part of Project Malawi 2009, six SLIM members, Sesi Aliu, Christina Rak, Laura Amweg, Cori Shollenberger, Jenna Merrill, and Cory Malagise traveled to Malawi for one month. The trip was exciting, educational, and successful!



While in Malawi, the students held daily reading sessions and nightly discussions about global health, poverty and development. The students also visited community-based organizations (CBOs) in the MPALUTI CBO Network providing health and social services in rural areas surrounding Lilongwe.

These visits offered the students an opportunity to learn about the programs and activities managed by these volunteer-run organizations, including orphan care centers, outreach and home-based care, and income-generating activities. The six SLIM members also conducted interviews with CBO volunteers about their experiences in Malawi, as part of a Univ. Pittsburgh Brackenridge Summer Fellowship project.



Another objective of Project Malawi 2009 was a water sourcing project, aimed at establishing clean, drinkable water sources in villages served by one of the MPALUTI CBOs. The pictures below feature the completed water sources, elephant pumps which were erected jointly by Pump Aid, a non-profit, and the communities benefiting from the well.



SLIM and MPALUTI's partnership is going strong, and we hope to build on this relationship as the year unfolds. Thanks to all those who helped make the Project Malawi 2009 Trip a success. If you would like to get more involved with Project Malawi or SLIM, contact one of our officers and come to meetings!

Sesi Aliu
Project Malawi 2009 Trip Coordinator