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13th
November 2008
If you thought
this Grassroots Uganda
fundraiser was big, think again!
I love talking to crowds about things that
I am passionate about. Take
this launch event that I went to the other day for example.
TheYeogiyo.com - the
event organisers - had been kind enough to
supply me a table where I could peddle the
GrassRootsUganda.com
wares. During the opening address, I managed to
snaffle the microphone and babble on
both about
GrassRootsUganda.com and various
Meaningful
Volunteer projects. Talking about
Project Lifecycle and using the words "Menstrual Cycle" in
front of a group of three hundred complete strangers should have
been nerve-wracking, but it wasn't.
It was while I was giving one such talk at
the House of Sharing
that a young lady heard my speech about the ills of
Northern Uganda and
the oh-so-many tragic
stories. She contacted me not long afterwards and told
me how inspired she was and that she wanted to do a fundraiser
for the ladies in Uganda. Her idea was to host an event
called Rubber Seoul to both mark World AIDS day and raise some
much needed funds for the Grassroots Uganda ladies.
Rubber Seoul has grown and grown to a size
that not even she envisaged. We are partnering with
Little Travellers
- a great NGO that provides funds for victims of HIV in South
Africa. It will be held at four venues across Seoul on the
6th of December. Entry into the event will be 10,000 won
(about $US7.50) and each participant will get a
Grassroots
Uganda necklace and a
Little
Traveller.
We have already raised over $US2,000 in
sponsorship alone (about $US300 of which is coming from
Meaningful Volunteer)!
 When
I say "we", I kinda mean "them". The young lady and the
folks from Little Travellers have done most, if not all, of the
leg work. I am just along for the ride. The
Grassroots Uganda flag is being waved strong and proud, which is
just awesome.
I guess the lesson from all this is that
if you have some social issue that burns inside of you - whether
it is human rights violations, grinding poverty, equal rights
for all or women's empowerment - then don't shut up about it!
Keep saying the message over and over! I am sure that some
of the people at the aforementioned launch party thought I was a
complete idiot for babbling on about menstrual cycles when all
the wanted to do was to stand around and drink beer. But I
am also sure that at least one person listened closely and was
hopefully inspired to do something more.
See here and
here for posters for the event.
The are quite snazzy.
Here are the details of the event:
JANES GROOVE (an array of music
selected to charge you for the evening)
8:30pm Doors open
9:15pm Trampauline
10pm Sotto Gamba
10:50pm The EV Boys
SENSATION (Lounge beats will build into house before
accelerating into techno in due time)
10pm DJ_S
1am Shannon Aston
(more TBA)
FF (The bands at FF will be of the Rock/ Indie line)
9pm Doors Open
9:10pm Pony
9:50pm Pink Elephant
10:40pm Galaxy Express
11:40pm We Need Surgery
12:30am DJ Eddie
DGBD (Bands start with a punkish kick, gradually
morphing in to a more genial soundscape)
10:30pm Doors Open
11:15pm Tear Jerks
Midnight Captain Bootbois
1am Rock Tigers
2am G Jays
For our afternoon lecture line-up visit:
http://blog.naver.com/aidsday
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