In the year 2000, 191 members of the United Nations promised to fulfill eight goals of development by 2015. The goals pertain to the reduction of poverty, environmental sustainability and to women’s development.
In the spring of 2007, I was working at a clinic. Though, I felt I was helping, I couldn’t also help but feel that I was making a rich doctor more money.
Getting involved in an organization that emphasized action and promoted the power of one was important to me. I got involved with the Borgen Project as an intern. The Borgen Project aims to put pressure on the U.S. government in order that they put more emphasis on global poverty.
This is not glamorous work. If you took a photo of us we’d be hunched over computers in a cramped office space. I’m not risking anything by volunteering, except, maybe carpal tunnel, and yet, I feel like now more than ever in my life, I am making a difference.
To learn about the political process, I feel is one of the most patriotic things an American can do. Getting a bill passed is not impossible or far-fetched. In fact, it is not difficult to sit down with your local representatives in a meeting. Our leaders are accessible and they want to hear from us. We want them to know we care about hunger, lack of clean water, and the wretched living conditions that poverty forces 800 million people into. Our voices are being heard.