On Wednesday, October 25th, students from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Bennett College gathered at Bennett College in Greensboro to formally announce their alliance in the Millennium Village Project.

The first student-led movement of its kind, the Project aims to raise $1.5 million within the current academic year for the sponsorship of a Millennium Village in Africa.

At 10:30AM, Dr. Johnetta Cole, President of Bennett, addressed students and members of the Press on the partnership between the nation’s first historically black private women’s college and two of the State’s premiere public and private universities.

Following a brief question and answer session led by student representatives, the roughly hour-long event concluded with a student rally on the Chapel Steps.

The Millennium Villages Project, a community-driven approach to poverty eradication, designed by renowned economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and Columbia University ’s The Earth Institute, consists of a comprehensive set of targeted investments in health, food production, infrastructure, and access to clean water. The model relies on practical, low-cost interventions tailored to the specific needs of each community, creating a proof of concept that can ultimately be scaled up to the national and international levels.

November 6th-10th, 2006

In order to highlight Professor Sachs’ visit and maximize our introduction into the Duke community, we have planned an “8 Goals MVP Week” awareness campaign.  For five days, MVP will be teaming up with an already established student organization to share a platform for our causes.  Each group we are working with has the flexibility to present themselves and the issue they care about in a creative, exciting way.

By building an “African” hut on the Bryan Center Plaza and involving other organizations, we hope that as Duke students pass by our hut they will take a minute to explore this unusual fixture and, on at least one of the five days, learn that MVP is fighting for something they are passionate about.  The multifaceted impact, we believe, is one of the greatest parts of the Millennium Development Goals and elevates the program’s potency on a college campus; everyone can find a goal that inspires them and the entire community can unite for a cause.

Thus, we envision these eight days as part of our long-term goal of creating a lasting relationship with the Duke student body and other student organizations.  We are thankful for the partnership of the following organizations on their designated day:

Monday: DIYA
Tuesday: the Catholic Student Center, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi
Wednesday: Generation HIV
Thursday: Environmental Alliance, Nourish International
Friday: Engineers Without Borders

Come by the hut this week on the Bryan Center plaza to purchase MVP t-shirts at $10 and sweatbands at $5!