News stories tagged with "africa"

(07/26/11) Our occasional series, "Moving the World" continues with a conversation with two St. Lawrence county men who are producing a documentary about water relief in Uganda.

Ben Hull and Joshua McGrath leave for Africa this week to begin filming the documentary that will focus on efforts to install rainwater collection tanks on community buildings to provide safe, accessible drinking water. Todd Moe spoke with them earlier this summer as they prepared for the trip.

(05/25/11) Our Moving the World series continues as we talk with a Canton man who volunteers with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Alan Leo recently returned from Ghana where he worked with a group of farmers on organizing their day-to-day operations and the economics of farming. Leo, who grew up on Long Island, has been doing international development work for more than a decade, and his volunteerism has taken him all around Africa, Asia and eastern Europe. He told Todd Moe that his travels and overseas work have taught him that people are the most important part of economic development.

(03/16/11) There's a new school building in a small community in Ethiopia thanks to the work of three SUNY-Potsdam alumni. Alex and Kayla French and their friend Daniel Smith raised $20,000 and helped build a school in Gembeltu, Ethiopia.

For many years, classes were held under a big tree. The new, four-room school is made of mud, eucalyptus and cement.

As part of our series, Moving the World, Todd Moe talks with Alex, Kayla and Daniel about their grassroots fund raising success and humanitarian work in east Africa.

(A public slideshow of their work in Ethiopia will be shown this Saturday, 4:30 pm, in SUNY Potsdam's Kellas 103.)

(09/09/10) A SUNY Potsdam alumnus successfully raised $20,000 this year to help build a school in a small east African community. Alex French travels back to Gembeltu, Ethiopia this winter to help with some of the finishing touches on the school, and to talk with government leaders who've promised to provide a small yearly budget and a modest salary for the teachers. Todd Moe spoke with Alex French for an update on his humanitarian work in Africa as part of our series, Moving the World.

(08/25/10) A Clarkson University student is balancing his academic studies with running a campus charity that's supporting a school in west Africa. In our occasional series, Moving the World, we meet North Country people who take their skills, expertise and resources to share with communities around the globe. Francis Dayamba is a civil engineering senior at Clarkson. But he also wants to help make a difference in the lives of youngsters in the small west African country of Benin. Last year, Clarkson students donated $650 to pay for school uniforms and scholarships. Dayamba spoke with Todd Moe about the D'Amuge Fund.

(08/25/10) For the last four years, a Lake Placid group of musicians has shared its love of the music of West Africa. Todd Moe spoke with members of Wulaba Drum for today's "Heard Up North."

(07/21/10) In our occasional series, Moving the World, we meet North Country people who take their skills, expertise and resources to share with communities around the globe. Robin Rhodes Crowell and her husband, David, own The World Artisan, in Potsdam. They sell fair trade items made by artists around the world. A visit by organizers of the group, The Ubushobozi Project, led to the shop selling cotton shoulder bags made by young women in Rwanda. But for Rhodes Crowell, selling the bags wasn't enough. This week, she and her daughter, Emma, are in northern Rwanda. Robin is using her entrepreneurial and gardening skills to help young women and teens break the cycle of poverty. Todd Moe spoke with her before the trip to Rwanda.

(03/17/10) It started with a dirt bike ride to visit a friend's family and is now a quest to build a school in Ethiopia. Alex French, a SUNY Potsdam alumnus, spent part of last year living and working in the east African country. It was a side trip to the small community of Gembeltu, difficult to find on most maps of Ethiopia, that inspired him to give back. As part of our series, Moving the World, Todd Moe spoke with French about exploring a new culture and lending a helping hand.

(12/22/09) When Sara Snider volunteered for the Peace Corps she had one request: an assignment in a small town. She grew up in Waddington, along the St. Lawrence River, and studied economics at Notre Dame University. But a college diploma wasn't enough. Snider is in the midst of a two-year stint in western Africa where she's helping women with literacy, marketing skills and health care. Todd Moe spoke with her from Mali about life in the Peace Corps.

(01/13/09) In our occasional series, Moving the World, we meet North Country people who take their skills, expertise and resources to share with communities around the globe. Today we meet Boonville residents Terese and John Hart. They spend part of their time in the North Country, and the rest in Congo, Africa, working on land, species and habitat protection. The Harts are ecologists who first traveled to Congo in the early 70's. They've committed their lives and careers to preserving that region's environment and wildlife -- like Okapi, a forest giraffe and Bonobo, a diminutive ape. Todd Moe spoke with them about parallels with the landscape where they work in Africa and the North Country.