URGI Minutes 2/22/10

Theme this month: Haiti

HIGHLIGHTS:
* Movie in Gleason: March 4th from 7:45pm-10pm

Neon Party
-300ish people in attendance, donations total: $175! Straight to UNHCR

Refugee tutoring – Suresh
o Saturday March 6th at School without walls, high school students- NEED to be committed, email Kelli/Joe if interested!

Douglass Advocacy event
- guerilla theater, table, petition for DR Congo with established group ( Midnight Ramblers? TOOP?)
-date TBD

Bracelets
- Elena and Adrienne! (friendship, livestrong-ish bracelets)

Refugee CAMPus
- Met with Emergency, URGI could do the live-in portion-, challenging groups on campus to live in tents like a refugee (winner gets prize)- we’ll be on the organizational side of the event. Each day, different contests (most signatures for petition, most donations, etc.)
Other ideas?
- Hirst Lounge- ONE night event
- Each group represents one country
- During the day, more of an awareness event, perhaps on the quad?
- If you have an idea, email Kelli/Joe!

Refugee crafts
- March 20th!
-Once a month in the gym, group of refugees kids and parents (if kids are younger) ---11am-2pm. First hour and a half playing in the gym/crafts then lunch then tours of the campus to the students
-Emergency looking into asking Meridians if they would be interested

Awareness Discussion – Kelli
- Haitian government trying to get people out of camps and back home, their reasons pertain to sanitation issues as well as people are getting too comfortable where they are (to establish order again and rebuild.)
- problem is people have nowhere to go
- most children are very sick and ½ of Haitis population is under 15 years old, huge issue.
- originally camps were good, well stocked but now people are being forced out by police in a brutal way-people are crying out to reporters and at that point police calmed down.
- stats: 200,000 dead, 1.2 million homeless
- living out of makeshift tents (rainy season is approaching)
- in order to get people to leave camps, police are sending away relief trucks
- government press is using private land to build better tent camps
→ if interested in donating to Doctors without Borders to Haiti, go to JAMNESTY- this Saturday at SAM, featuring 4 bands. 10pm-12pm (accepting donations at door), there will be info on Haiti, line where you can text money. Petitions all around the house! (10 different ones→ human rights, not necessarily on Haiti)

Ongoing projects:

* Banaa.org – Bridget and Joe and Luke
* Jumpstart: Feb. 17th-19th
* Falling Whistles: April 10th