Staying Busy in the Twin Cities!

                    Staying Busy in the Twin Cities!

                             

                                      Flogging Molly Concert

Hi there, my name is Liz Harper and I am one of the newly trained lead volunteer organizers for Oxfam Action Corps of Minnesota! I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself since I will be the one keeping you all updated over the course of this next exciting year! I am a mom, a student and a chiropractic assistant so I stay busy, but I love making time for Action Corps. Since returning from D.C. with my co-leader Kim Kokket, (see the previous blog to hear more about the trip!) we have been staying active getting the group back up and rolling! Before we could even sit down and discuss our plans, we were already getting invited to the Flogging Molly show at "The Brick" in downtown Minneapolis! We happily accepted!

Flogging Molly are long time fans of Oxfam and we have had a presence at many of their shows over the years. This was my first time seeing them and it was awesome! Jessica, Kim and I all attended the show that night, and I have to admit it was pretty cool getting let in on the "Band's list". We set-up next to the merchandise table of The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Although we didn't get to see them perform, from what we could hear they put on a great show!

We all had a great time talking to people at the show about Oxfam, and we got alot of people to sign on to help fix our broken food system! 

Drought and Disruption

After the show, we got busy working on our involvement with the Sierra Club's public forum: Drought and Disruption. I spoke on a panel along with  Jessica Tatro; Sierra Club, Jamal Osman; Somali Family Services, and Zainab Hassan; Minneapolis Foundation. We all spoke on various components of the climate change in East Africa.

It was a very moving event, with great discussion. I learned alot and was pleased to meet so many like minded individuals. You could feel the energy in the room, people are concerned and really do want to help. More and more communities around the world are recognizing the deadly impacts of climate change and the importance of doing something now. The severe drought in East Africa led to one of the worst food crisis's in history. Click here to learn more about what Oxfam is doing in East Africa.

What is important now is supporting the over 13 million still at risk in East Africa, while also attending to the looming food crisis in West and Central Africa. This food crisis has been brought on by the erratic rains that have caused poor food harvests and water shortages. Oxfam is gearing up the response and hope to reach 1.2 million people across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal with humanitarian aid. Learn More 

      

So whats next ? Do you think its too late to offset the impacts of climate change? What does our future hold if farmers can no longer farm? Leave a comment! Let us know your thoughts!