Ei-iE

Schools across the world are being urged to join together in performing The Poverty Requiem on October 17th - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Sylvia Borren, Oxfam Novib’s general director, and Peter Maissan composed The Poverty Requiem as a vocal piece of five movements elaborating on the different ways in which poverty impacts on people; the suffering, the anger, the mourning, the humour and the hope. Excerpts from the requiem were performed as part of the opening ceremony of the 5th EI World Congress.

The choir of Oxfam Netherlands (NOVIB)performing the Poverty Requiem at theEI World Congress in Belin.

17th October is the day that Global Call to Action against Poverty encourage people across the world to “Stand Up and Speak Out” for the 50,000 who die each year from extreme poverty, and to hold their governments to account for progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Sylvia Borren said “this year we want the first Poverty Requiem to be performed in New Zealand, and we want it to swing around the world, ending in California and Peru. We want to get a lot of publicity, to show our leaders that we are serious about achieving the Millennium Goals.”

“We would love to have the opportunity to organize some interaction between schools, for instance in the Netherlands, with schools in Latin America, Africa and/or Asia. We hope to give the children the opportunity to interact with each other via email, and possibly skype so that children can share stories of their lives with each other. ” she continued.

If you would like to participate in this global networking, contact [email protected].

For further details of the Poverty Requiem, and to download a Teachers’ manual, visit: www.povertyrequiem.org