URGI Minutes 3/1/10

March Theme: Democratic Republic of Congo

HIGHLIGHTS:
-Congo’s Tin Soldiers in Gleason: March 4th from 7:45-10pm
- Look for additional clips if you’d like and share them after the movie!
-Saturday Volunteering: starts March 6th at 10 am- 12pmish? meet at ITS at 9:30am (if interested, contact Suresh) as well as Saturday AFTER break
-Emergency Volunteering: March 20th at 11 am at the field house- games, arts and crafts (if you have crafts at home, shoeboxes, paint, etc bring it!)

Next Douglass Advocacy event
- guerilla theater- Midnight Ramblers will bring it up to see if members are interested and get back to us. perhaps the Thursday after the first week back from break.
-Alternative plan? Paper petitions. Visuals (movie clips, projectors), wall-wide pet! ition ( huge piece of papers, write petition on top and everyone signs underneath) –for week after break.

Bracelets – Elena, prices:
-50-100 bracelets @ .90cents each.
-we could just make our own- for group income
flex reservation for April- common connection. Bridget!

Refugee CAMPus – Joe and Kelli
Volunteers? Adrienne Elena Bridget Suresh Rob Julia Brinda and Kelli. Email Joe/Kelli if interested!
o Meetings after normal meetings
-Open to anyone who wants to do it- perhaps the people doing the fasting for Refugee for a week being hosts?
• *An all day event, 4-9/10pm.
• *Hirst Lounge-With option of going outside.
• No tents.
• Thursday ,April 22nd- reserve Hirst- Kelli!
•&nbs! p; Screen a movie, music, fun things
• Dinner/night event, April 19th-23rd
• Scavenger hunt outside
• Approach all groups, can you give 3-5 volunteers→ these are people attending the event

World Water Day co-sponsorship
- WWD event- speaker from Water for Sudan, by Pan African Students Association-John Turner speaking about what the organization does in Southern Sudan ( which is improve water quality) March 18th in Sloane auditorium 7-8pm. We advertise for event and help post/print a few flyers.
- Money for flyers- Luke! 100 flyers.
- co-sponsoring Zev Kedem with CAB and Hillel at same time.

Elections: March 29th – start thinking about the position you would like
-Positions: Pres (2 co- or pres a! nd vp), Secretary, Awareness and Advocacy (2), Social and Fundraising (2), Business manager, Webmaster, Banaa Chair

Awareness Discussion – Brinda
Brief History of Democratic Republic of Congo
-independence from Belgium in 1960
in 1965 army chief Joseph Mobutu seized power, his reign was full of corruption, - demanded his portrait be hung in public buildings and his face on money
-renamed country Zaire in 1971
- used the threat of communism from neighboring Angola to receive aid from US and other countries and instead of putting this money towards infrastructure and economy, he pocketed much of it for himself.
-debated that US aid also could have been for their own commercial interest in the country’s vast mineral resources
- Post cold-war the US lost interest, so in 1997 when Rwandans and Ugandans invaded the country to attack the Hutu militia that had leaked in, they overthr! ew Mobutu’s government with the aid of anti-Mobutu politicians.
-Laurent Kabila in power at this point, renamed country the Democratic Republic of Congo, though there was some hope for Kabila’s rule, he began acting like a dictator and didn’t have a plan for the country either. He created unrest amongst his former allies (Rwanda and Uganda) by demanding they leave the country and by receiving support for new countries-Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
-This marked the start of a war between multiple foreign armies and rebel groups within the country. Kabila assassinated in 2001 and his son Joseph came into power- Joseph instituted peace talks but conflict reignited. Finally talks between Ugandan rebels and Kabila came to a peace accord with agreement they would share power. In 2006 Congo had first multi party elections-Kabila won.
Stats: 5.4 million dead (mostly due to starvation/disease, many are children, much sexual violence)
**commercial interest in Congo’s resources* seems to be why most foreign countries are still involved and conflict continues.

Ongoing projects:

· Banaa.org – Bridget and Joe and Luke