Weekly Wednesday Update

This is your Weekly Wednesday Update, on time and on Wednesday for once.



News Update:



This news update is about the Congo: Because of violence, a number of humanitarian aid organizations were struggling to get access to the people who need their services, and some organizations were actually pulling out. This week, a few rebel factions agreed to pull back and let the aid trucks get to where they needed to go. More on the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/)



Campaign Updates:



TOMORROW NIGHT is Beat The Genocide Out Of Darfur, our coffee house concert style fundraiser. We'll be collecting donations, but the coffee and the concert itself is free, so come by and check it out. That's tomorrow night, Thursday, November 20, at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the Student Union (Earthfoods is there during the day).



We will also be collecting signatures on letters that will go to Barack Obama asking him to take quick action in Darfur.



THE WEEK OF DECEMBER THIRD we will be holding STANDFast. THIS IS OUR MAJOR EVENT OF THE SEMESTER. It is a fundraiser for the Genocide Intervention Network, with the money going to on the ground operations in Darfur, in Burma and in the Congo.



Our biggest event in that time period will be the Congo Speakers Tour, hosted by ENOUGH. On December 3rd we will hold a pannel discussion featuring John Prendergast, known human rights activist and co-founder of ENOUGH and co-author of Not On Our Watch (one of our must reads from over the summer - if you haven't read it, you should). This is a big deal for UMass; Harvard and MIT are the only other schools in the state which will have the speakers at their school.



This will be in room 65 of Bartlett Hall at 7 pm on December 3.



Other than that, STANDFast will consist largely of small fundraisers around campus and in Amherst and Northampton. If you're interested in helping out with a donation or if you'd like to volunteer your time (both equally important) e-mail UMassDarfurGroup@gmail.com or leave us a comment.



If you have a question about the Congo Speakers Tour, e-mail UMassCongoTour@gmail.com.



And your weekly action:

Come to Beat the Genocide Out of Darfur! Thursday 11/20 at 7 pm in the Commonwealth Room of the UMass Amherst Student Union!