Honey, I'm Home!

Oh, what a wonderful three days I had in Washington!

Leadership Day on Saturday afternoon was focused on diversity outreach. The presenter had a great model for diversity training. I gave my copy away to someone who didn't get to DC in time for the session. But I'm going to ask Michael Richardson (a Hunger Fellow who organized the event) to send me a copy so I can share it with all of you at our July meeting.

On Sunday afternoon there was a workshop I was asked to present at -- Sexy, Savvy and Effective Grassroots Innovation -- for two of the things we're doing in Cedar Rapids -- tv production and diversity outreach. (I decided to think of myself as savvy and effective...) I had 12 minutes to do diversity outreach and had my presentation written out, but spoke from the heart instead. It went very well. Several people asked me for my email address after the session.

Monday morning was the Faith in Action breakfast which featured a speaker from the UMC, a speaker from the ELCA, and three speakers from Islamic Relief. I would like us to talk some time about doing UMC and ELCA outreach. Jos also asked me to share the story of our success reaching out to the Muslim American Society.

Monday morning's workshops first focused on Education, and the policy guru for the Global Fund for Education was there to explain how it's possible to take the existing Education for All Fast Track Initiative and add more transparency, more competency reporting and have it run as successfully as the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. The goal with the GFE is to have members of the G8 commit to it when they meet next month.

Then Monday afternoon Jos and I went to Congressman Loebsack's office for a meeting with Meagan Linn, his global aide. The Congressman was back in Iowa Monday, but I was very happy to meet with Meagan as we met with her last year, and she is the one who recommended to the Congressman that he sign on to two microcredit letters.

I started out, of course, thanking Meagan for her help in getting signatures on those letters. I also asked her to thank the Congressman for his work on flood relief. Then I started my requests with the letters you all had written on the appropriations requests. I barely got the words out of my mouth and Meagan came back saying the Congressman was happy with the way the committee had marked up the bill. So I moved on.

Next think I did was talk about the Global Fund for Education and how we'd like the Congressman to contact the Administration urging the President to commit to the GFE at the G8 next month. She took an info sheet, but I clearly wasn't making any progress.

So I said there's one more thing. And this is something that won't cost the taxpayers a penny. And I asked her about the Congressman cosponsoring the bill to aware a Congressional Gold Medal to Muhammed Yunus. She wasn't aware of it. I put the info sheet in front of her and told her how Dr. Yunus started microcredit by lending a total of $27 to 43 women in Bangladesh and how they became financially stable as a result and how the Grameen Bank, a microcredit lending institution, started as a result of this. Then I said, "A reporter once asked Dr. Yunus what was the first thing a woman does with the proceeds of her microcredit loan, thinking she feeds her kids or sends them to school. Dr. Yunus said, no. The first thing she does is buy her children back." At that point I had Meagan's attention. She was now looking into my eyes as I told her the rest of the story. "When a child gets to be five or six years old and she can no longer afford to keep the child fed, she's forced to sell her child into indentured servitude in return for a handful of rice. So the first thing she does with the proceeds of her microcredit loan in to buy her children back and bring her family home."

You could see the wheels turning now. Jos said later that she was probably going to go and google Muhammed Yunus to check this out. I would like us in July to work on this some more -- I would like Meagan to see that all of us in Cedar Rapids RESULTS are in support of this.

Thank you for your financial support, for your encouragement, for your believing in me, and for your prayers. I can't wait until July to see you all!

Update on RESULTS at Linn Co. Jail

I met this evening with Maridee Dugger, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Linn Co. Jail. She has a very high opinion of RESULTS and first explained to me that we couldn't do any education, and we couldn't do anything political. Those are the rules.

Then she said, "So let's figure a way around this."

The plan she came up with is to have us send cards each month to be made available to all inmates. One side of the card will explain RESULTS and the importance of writing to Members of Congress on legislation that will help end poverty in our lifetime. The other side of the card will explain the current legislation and give a sample letter.

During the month the inmates can write their letters and turn them in to the Jail Chaplain who will mail us the letters in the envelope we provide when we send the cards. We, then, fax the letters and make suggestions on how letters can be improved. The next month the process starts again.

Maridee said it will probably start slowly, but that eventually these folks, who have lots of time on their hands, will look forward to writing the letters.

So our next step is Maridee's. She is going to take this plan to the Jail Chaplain for his blessing, and to the Jail Administrator for his permission. We should know if we've been approved next week sometime.

RESULTS Monthly Meeting 6/15

We had four people in attendance to write letters to Congressman Loebsack on foreign ops appropriations requests. One person who couldn't be there stopped by to pick up the information and will get the letter written this week. I'm going to meet with Meagan Linn, the Congressman's global aide on Monday and will give her the letters then. If you'd like to write a letter, go to the RESULTS website at www.results.org and click on the Activist Info link to find the June Global Action Sheet. There is a sample letter there you can use as a reference. I will be at Christ Church Friday morning to stuff bulletins, so if you can get your letter to the church office by then I can take it with me to DC. I leave Friday afternoon.

Paula was inspiring and inspired. She plans to do outreach this fall at Coe College and start a RESULTS group among interested students there. She'll use the same materials we use and when a time is chosen, we are invited to attend. This is a great opportunity.

Leland volunteered to team with me on starting a RESULTS group at the County Jail. When I talked to the Volunteer Director, Maridee, on Sunday, she told me we would need at least two people to do this monthly meeting. I'm meeting with her Wednesday evening so we can iron out details. What we will gain is more letters to fax to Washington. What the incarcerated will gain is improved literacy skills, an opportunity to do some meaningful work on poverty issues resulting in improved self-esteem, better empowerment knowing they are working on shaping anti-poverty policy for the U.S. and for the world community, as well as another link to the community that can help them build a better life once they're released.