Oxfam Action Corps 2012 Recruitment

Hey Everyone,

Oxfam America is currently recruiting new volunteers for 2012-2013. If you are interested in joining the Oxfam Action Corps please sign up and spread the word by February 14^th at http://www.oxfamactioncorps.org.

Join the Oxfam Action Corps to support women farmers, fight global hunger, and build a better food system!  You will meet great people and work together to change laws that can save lives, defend the rights of the world’s poorest farmers, and protect communities from rising food prices and climate change.  You will gain leadership skills, have fun, and change the world!

Anybody can join the local effort!   All levels of experience are welcome.  You can also apply for Oxfam’s free four-day leadership training in Washington D.C. May 12 – May 15.

This year, we will mobilize for the GROW campaign for global food justice.  The women and men in poor countries who struggle to grow enough food to feed their families are facing competition for land and water, rising prices, and climate change.  We will call for laws that support women and farmers, sustainable practices, and resilience to climate change, and ensure a better future for people in the poorest regions of the world. 

This is a year-round volunteer opportunity, with a deadline of February 14 to apply for the spring training.  Find out more and sign up at http://www.oxfamactioncorps.org .

Check out this video to see what we are all about:

Wear a green scarf in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan

Ten years into the war in Afghanistan, nearly half of Afghans live in poverty, while only one in five girls attends primary school. Despite the hardships, many Afghans young and old carry on with their lives, discuss, create, and imagine a better world. "Recent history has been harsh to Afghan women - and we don't want to see it repeated," said one Afghan woman leader in October 2011. "We are a voice that must be heard."

This winter, as world leaders debate Afghanistan's future, join the international relief and development organization Oxfam as we show solidarity with Afghan women's efforts. Take a photo of yourself wearing a green scarf, in honor of the green headscarf worn by Afghan women working for peace and equal rights. Then visit Oxfam America's online photobook at www.oxfamamerica.org/photobook and click "start here" to upload your photo. Oxfam will share the collected images with women leaders in Afghanistan.

Say it with sweet potatoes - "don't uproot foreign aid!"

Say it with sweet potatoes - "don't uproot foreign aid!"

Today and in coming days Congress is debating cuts to life-saving foreign aid, and Oxfam volunteer leaders are delivering petitions to save foreign aid to Senate offices along with an unusual twist:  sweet potatoes.  Why sweet potatoes?  Because this Thanksgiving staple is also a feature of aid programs that boost nutrition in Africa. 

 

A special orange-fleshed variety (conventionally bred) is rich in vitamin-A and drought resistant.  Promoting it in place of less-nutritious varieties in communities in Africa has helped boost immune systems, prevent blindness, and improve livelihoods for growers.   (A keen-eyed foodie will know that those pictured above are actually yams doing their best sweet potato impression.)

But this noble root is just one out of hundreds of such simple, cost-effective projects that are saving lives and livelihoods around the world - and funded by US foreign aid programs like Feed the Future!  

On Tuesday, a group of Oxfam Action Corps Minnesota volunteers visited Senator Amy Klobuchar's office to deliver sweet potatoes, the letter below, and hundreds of petition signatures. This was done to let Klobuchar and her staff know that we, as Minnesotans, want to see simple, cost-effective projects, such as providing nourishing sweet potatoes to malnourished populations, protected. This is the second visit to her office in less than a month. We will contintue to watch our representatives in Congress and encourage them to protect vulnerable populations.

 

Life-saving funding is on the line – and your call could be the one to save it.
Congress is threatening to cut support for poverty-fighting foreign assistance, including for programs that:

• Feed more than 46 million of the world’s poorest people,

• Prevent more than 114,000 children from being born with HIV,

• Save 3 million lives through immunization programs, and

• Help poor people lift themselves out of poverty. 

It’s up to us to speak up for those whose lives are changed – and saved – by this funding.  Congress is about to finalize the budget for next year and years to come.  Before they do, we need you to make a quick call to send them a clear message: don’t cut poverty-fighting foreign assistance.

Here's how to make your call:

Call the Congressional switchboard at (202)-224-3121 and tell the operator your name and where you’re calling from.  Ask to speak to your Representative – the operator will connect you.
Tell the staffer:  “I’m calling to oppose cuts to poverty-focused foreign aid in FY12 and beyond. Do not cut the deficit on the backs of the world’s poor. Many lives depend on these programs that give the world’s poorest people the tools they need to help lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.  With high food prices and extreme weather events threatening millions around the world, now is not the time to cut life-saving assistance – which makes up less than 1% of the US budget. These strategic investments help make a safer world today and avert costlier interventions and humanitarian emergencies tomorrow.”
When you’re done, you can call your Senators through the switchboard and ask for their support as well.
Once you've ended your call, email Oxfam Action Corps Minnesota at minnesota@oxfamactioncorps.org to let us know how it went!