After the conference, I took the train from Glasgow, Scotland to London, England. It was a five hour journey so I had some time to be alone with my thoughts. My mind was swirling from the conversations, lectures and discussions that happened at the conference. The Global food crisis. Human rights violations. Escalating violence and [...]
The last day of the conference was a very powerful day. The local host committee and the conference planners organized a march and rally for human rights. The march started at the conference center and went to the University of Glasgow. There were a number of speakers that discussed the issues of global poverty and [...]
I went to Glasgow, Scotland to attend the CIVICUS World Assembly. CIVICUS is an international civil society building organization and the World Assembly “is a forum for international civil society representatives to get together, exchange ideas, experiences and build strategies for a just world.”
At the conference, I was introduced to two nonprofit anti-poverty activists from [...]
We had two days of rest and relaxation over one of the weekends during our Habitat Humanity build. It was obvious that our weekend was put together at the last minute. Our American team leaders were still trying to put it together a few days before we left. They were well intentioned but they tried [...]
The Build Site
Our primary task on the build site was to put in the foundation for a four-plex apartment style building. It would be the final building on the site that contained three other Habitat apartment style units. This building along with a few others were being prepared for a corporate blitz build. A Romanian [...]
The Cluj-Napoco affiliate of Habitat for Humanity was formed in 1999. In under a decade, they have developed a strong and effective program. They have a two-prong approach on helping people move into or stay in affordable housing. The first was the traditional building of new houses and apartments. The second program was renovations to existing housing. The renovation program [...]
Dear Gentle Readers,
As you know, I have started to blog about my Habitat experience in Romania. Due to a combination of a stomach virus and lack of wi-fi access, blogging hasn’t been my number one priority. I received an e-mail from my friend Vickie Ott who worked on my Habitat build in Costa Rica. Her [...]
We had decided to join this Habitat For Humanity build because of the location. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw there was a build opportunity in Cluj-Nopoca, Romania. When I was Mayor and a councilmember, we had a number of opportunities to host delegations from Cluj in East Lansing. It was a perfect combination [...]
While I was in Panama at the International Association of Voluntary Efforts (IAVE) Conference, I met the director of the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign. In 2000, 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet a set of benchmarks called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.)
The overarching goal is to eradicate extreme poverty. [...]
Many of you know that I was hoping to be selected to attend the Jimmy Carter Work Project with Habitat For Humanity in New Orleans during the second week of May. Patrick and I both put our applications in via the web. We had contemplated contacting a few of my contacts with Habitat For Humanity [...]
