Robert Frost said that poems begin with a lump in the throat. Human rights do, too, and they have done so for almost 4,000 years, back at least to 1740 BC when King Hammurabi codified his laws against unfair trials, torture, and slavery. At the end of the day, the reason any one of us cares about human rights is because we feel sick at heart at the sight of misery.

But whose misery? King Hammurabi's strictures against torture and slavery applied only to his own people, the Babylonians. His archenemies, the Assyrians, fell outside the scope of his code's protection; Assyrians could be tortured and enslaved without compunction. 

Similarly, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the U. S. Bill of Rights guaranteed rights only for the French and the Americans. They had little value for the Thai or the Congolese. Indeed, it took a very long time for human beings to feel sick at heart at the sight of everybody's misery — not just at the misery of their own clan or tribe or nation, not just at the misery of the nobles or the ruling class or the wealthy.

Indeed, it was not until 1948 — 3,688 years after Hammurabi — that the people of the world managed to agree that everybody's misery mattered. One reason the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted on December 10, 1948, is such a revolutionary document, even after 62 years, is exactly because it is universal and thereby trumps every political ideology, every cultural practice, every parochial claim.

And the other reason it is revolutionary is because it is a declaration rather than a revelation. Before the UDHR, the grounds upon which people had argued for the protection of human dignity had been either religious or naturalistic, either because God wanted it or Nature's law required it.   

As a member of the clergy, I would be the last to deny that God is an enviable ally. But I would also be the first to acknowledge that God's will is sometimes rather hard to discern, even within a singular religious tradition. In the early Christian church, for example, a group called the Montanists believed that only those who ate a steady diet of radishes had any chance to be saved. Had their view prevailed, priests would be offering communion salad today instead of communion wafers.

Natural law is hardly any more helpful. John Locke believed that natural law required that rights be extended to everyone — except, of course, poor people and women. On the other hand, the Danish novelist Isak Dinnessen once asked, "What is a human being but an elaborate machine for turning red wine into urine?" and some might claim that idea to have the sanction of natural law. Who's to choose between them?

That is why it is fortunate that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration of international opinion, not a revelation of either God or Nature's predilections — a declaration of 33 rights that every single one of us can claim merely for being born human, from the right to a fair trial to the right to marry and receive an education. It is a declaration by the world community of a promise it has made to itself, a covenant it has entered into with itself, to order its common life in a certain fashion. Indeed, that is what rights are: promises to which we can appeal in the face of misery.

Does the Universal Declaration have the force of law? It was not originally intended to. Back in 1948, the United States was one of the most vociferous opponents of any implication that the Universal Declaration constituted an enforceable guarantee. The U. S. State Department called it a "hortatory statement of aspirations." But over the years that exhortation has been cited by courts, incorporated into constitutions, and elaborated upon by additional treaties, covenants, conventions, and protocols until today it is regarded as a source of customary law.

The truth is, however, that the legal standing of the Universal Declaration, important as it is, is less critical than its mythic power. Ask any of the world's sacred texts what makes us human and how human life should be ordered and every one of them — religious ones like the Bible and the Koran, cultural ones like the Magna Carta and the Analects of Confucius — will provide us answers. But every one of those answers is associated with an idiosyncratic tradition, and only one cuts across every boundary, every margin, every faith, and every culture; only one sacred text, one mythic voice, in the entire world tackles two of the most controversial subjects in human history, namely, the nature of humanity and the ethics of public order, and still manages to claim the fealty of every quarter — and that is the UDHR. 

That is an astonishing achievement. Such a voice would be worth celebrating every year but certainly in its 62nd, a year in which human rights remain under great challenge in places like Sudan and Congo and North Korea and Burma, to say nothing of the United States. But it's also a year in which the promise of human rights still inspires millions and fuels the work of human rights around the world, including right here at your own UUSC.

We could ask for no more dramatic example of the UDHR's power than the empty chair at today's Nobel Prize ceremony. Nineteen countries succumbed to China's pressure not to honor Liu Xiaobo, but close to 45 resisted — and that is a victory for the UDHR and human rights allies everywhere.

William F. Schulz, president and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, is in Washington, D.C., today, December 10, 2010, for International Human Rights Day events. He was interviewed about the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on the Michael Eric Dyson Show, aired over WEAA public radio in Baltimore and WAMU-HD3 in Washington, D.C. Listen to the interview.

This Human Rights Day, catch the latest updates on UUSC's work protecting civil liberties, promoting environmental justice, furthering economic justice, and defending rights in humanitarian crises. And find out what Human Rights Day means to UUSC staff.

Today we celebrate the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To me, International Human Rights Day is a day to remind ourselves that every day should be Human Rights Day. And for those of us who are lucky enough to not have to worry about things like clean water and safe working conditions, we must recognize that with privilege comes responsibility. Today is a chance to reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with people around the world in pursuit of ensuring human rights for everyone and creating a world free from oppression. It's a tall order, but we can't get there if we don't try!

Below, a handful of UUSC staff share what Human Rights Day means to them.

"On Human Rights Day, I am reminded that human rights should be respected every day. We should be as thankful every day as we are on Thanksgiving. We should be as excited every day as we are on New Year's Eve. We should feast every day like it's Rosh Hashanah or Id al-Fitr. We should honor our departed loved ones every day as we do on Memorial Day or Dia de los Muertos. There is enough love in the world for every day to be like Valentine's Day, enough goodwill to make every day seem like Christmas, enough light in the world for every day to be like Kwanzaa, Diwali, or Hannukah. Every day should be Human Rights Day."
—Mark Simon, Senior Associate for Web Administration and Graphic Design

"As a human-rights worker, my immediate response is that every day is Human Rights Day for me. However, I'm one of the lucky few in the world who can go through a day without really thinking about human rights and how they apply to me, because I am fortunate to have immediate and unquestioned access to many of those rights. Though human rights are universal and inalienable, many people are not as fortunate as I in benefitting from them. So, Human Rights Day is a chance to pause and think about this with more intention. It's also a chance to reflect on the corollary to rights: obligations. We usually hear about obligations in terms of those that the state has (to respect, protect, and fulfill). I think we, as people concerned with justice, have obligations, too — obligations to claim and exercise our own rights and help others to do the same."
—Gretchen Alther, Senior Associate for Rights in Humanitarian Crises

"Among many thoughts, International Human Rights Day for me is a day to celebrate the legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, the principal architect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and especially to reflect on her prescient words that universal human rights begin close to home, in our communities, churches, schools, colleges, workplaces. ‘Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.'"
—Dick Campbell, Senior Associate for Media and Public Affairs

"Human Rights Day is a time to reflect on the fact that we all have the same intrinsic worth as people, and think about how we can actively work to create a more just world where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full human potential whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, or class."
—Kate Wallace, Program Assistant for Member Development

"Human Rights Day for me is not only historical observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights over 60 years ago, but also a call for mindfulness and action, to continually strive for UUSC's mission of advancing human rights and social justice around the world, guided by the Declaration and also by Unitarian Universalist principles."
—Lauralyn Smith, Senior Associate for Member Development

"On December 10 we celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly.  As we celebrate the declaration of these rights, it is incumbent on us to also examine our responsibilities. It is the responsibility of all who value human rights to stand in solidarity with those who are still fighting for theirs and to speak out against injustice wherever and whenever we see it. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'"
—Kara Smith, Campaign Assistant

"Celebrating Human Rights Day calls us to stay focused on our highest aspirations of working each day, through actions large and small, toward social justice. It reminds us that the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will not have been fulfilled until we ensure that all people not only have their basic needs met but also have the freedom and opportunities to realize their full potential."
—Ariel Jacobson, Senior Associate for Economic Justice  

"Human Rights Day is a reminder of what our world could be like if we were to achieve true fairness and equality. It is also an annual reminder for those of us who work every day to make justice a reality, knowing that if we persevere, as Unitarian minister Theodore Parker said, the arc may be long but it eventually bends toward justice."
—Maxine Neil, Director of Institutional Advancement

The work of the Civil Liberties unit focuses on protecting the rights of women and activists in the Middle East as well as combating racial and religious profiling of Muslims in the United States. On Human Rights Day, we offer you updates on some of our exciting work with partners around the world.

Barakat

UUSC partner Barakat conducted nine rights training workshop for teachers in Afghanistan. The focus of the workshops is to train teachers on the rights of citizens in Afghanistan, particularly the rights of women, and help them to engage their students on the issue of human rights in the classroom. The success of this program has led to an increasing demand from the government of Afghanistan to expand these workshops to reach a greater number of government schools and departments of education.

HAMSA

Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance is engaging in groundbreaking dialogue sessions that address issues of faith, civil rights, and freedom of speech. In Cairo, HAMSA led student activists through training sessions on debating and public discourse in order to give these young reformers the tools to address civil-rights challenges through open and respectful dialogue and to celebrate persuasion, rather than violence, as an ideal method for shaping social attitudes and changing public policy.  Students prepared and participated in a live debate that was broadcast on local Cairo radio station, Radio Hortyna.

Building Bridges

Anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech in the United States is the highest and most vitriolic since 9/11. The conflation of all Muslims with terrorists is a dangerous and false assumption and threatens the foundations of religious freedoms and civil protections that make up this country's foundations. Two years ago, UUSC created the Building Bridges project in order to combat the negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in the United States and to create a model that local citizens could apply in their own towns and cities. UUSC has teamed up with local Unitarian Universalist congregations to combat this distressing trend and reach out to our Muslim brothers and sisters to change the climate of fear and prejudice. This spring in Seattle, we will host our fourth Building Bridges workshop with local area UU and Muslim organizations.

As we take time to contemplate the state of the world this Human Rights Day, I sat down with Martha Thompson, manager of UUSC's Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program, to hear about the latest on our work around the world with marginalized communities in recovery from war and natural disasters.

Uganda

UUSC staff were just in northern Uganda as part of the Witness to a Return Home JustJourney, during which participants learned about the inspiring work that has — after just two years of support — helped more than 12,000 Acholi resettle 29 villages in 2 parishes. And those 29 villages are serving as magnets, drawing other displaced people back. After up to 20 years living in camps during the war with the Lord's Resistance Army, there is much healing and rebuilding involved in returning home. As the Acholi people reestablish their lives, they are not only rebuilding their homes and land but also reweaving their culture and reintegrating former child soldiers into villages to create cohesive communities.

Gaza

UUSC has pioneered work with Architecture for Humanity and the American Friends Service Committee to develop low-cost appropriate ways to repair houses in Gaza that were damaged during Operation Cast Lead, a three-week military conflict in late 2008 and early 2009. It's not just about fixing structural damage, though, it's about restoring human dignity. With our partners, we've finalized a report that catalogs the damages and outlines repair strategies. And now we're sharing it with other organizations in the shelter cluster in Gaza who have funds to act on the information.

Haiti

As we approach the one-year commemoration of the earthquake in Haiti, we've used approximately 40 percent of our Haiti Relief Fund to support survivors in myriad ways. One of the projects we're excited to see succeeding is the work with the Trauma Resource Institute of training a corps of 80 Haitian grassroots community organizers who will work as trauma resilience counselors. Next year, 20 of those 80 will become trainers themselves. We're also supporting and increasing safety for unaccompanied children in camps, since they're at high risk for sexual exploitation and child slavery. And through KOFAVIV, we're working against gender-based violence in the camps as well — they're in the process of training 100 camp activists on the issue.

Darfur

Our work in Darfur has spread to North Darfur, where we're partnering with UNIFEM to train police in northern Darfur and work with the U.N. gender officers the way that we did in South Darfur. While Darfur is too often left out of mainstream news coverage, we're still weaving a web of protection for women and girls in camps for internally displaced persons.

Pakistan

As UUSC staff takes off for an assessment visit to Pakistan, we're continuing to work with our partners there, Bedari and Barakat. With Bedari, we're setting up women's centers for people that are displaced within their villages. In the areas we're working in, mainly in the southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh, many displaced people are in debt slavery. Young girls are sometimes used as assets in paying off debts and denied any rights whatsoever — and at a time like this, when people's livelihoods have been destroyed, there will be a likely rise in this practice. So we're focused on looking at how we can protect women and girls from this and how we can support people rebuilding their livelihoods.

As we celebrate Human Rights Day, there are three special updates I want to share with you. 

Hope in Crops: protecting the environment and empowering women

Protecting the Kakamega Forest, Kenya's last remaining rain forest, from deforestation is the greatest passion of UUSC's partner SoilFarm Multi-Culture Group (SFMG). In the '80s and '90s, members of SFMG endured severe opposition to their work to protect the forest from government development, but they emerged successful. Recently, they discovered that communities around the forest had been cutting trees for income and for firewood. SFMG realized that they cannot protect the forest without also addressing the extreme poverty that has bedeviled forest communities.

SFMG has brought environmental protection and livelihood support together in a grassroots project called Hope in Crops. The project seeks to protect the rainforest and mitigate the impacts of climate change on the forest and neighboring communities — and provide income-generating activities for its members — through the planting of trees and indigenous crops, basket weaving, raising cattle for milk production, bee keeping, and environmental education.

Over 300 families headed by women have benefitted from Hope in Crops. Frieda, a member of the Shagungu women cooperative, said about the project: "The food crops help give us alternative so we do not deforest by cutting trees for firewood. Trees also provide shade during the sunny and dry season when planted around the home. Cassava is good for children for lunch. As for the sweet potatoes we sell some and get the necessities that we do not have. This is helping reduce poverty. We're now putting our land to good use because of what we're learning. Money realized from selling also help us buy items for school for our children." And not only that, SFMG is also using the Hope in Crops project to eliminate female genital mutilation among the Nandi people who live nearby the Kakamega Forest.

This holiday season, UUSC is supporting the Hope in Crops project by selling hand-woven baskets made by a SFMG cooperative, ornaments that represent the bee-keeping project, and a Hope in Crops gift bag. Please visit our online store if you will like to support Hope in Crops.

UUSC partners advocate for change in Cancun

UUSC partners the Asia Pacific Research Network (Philippines), the Center for Human Rights and the Environment (Argentina), and Habitat International Coalition (Mexico) are participating in the United Nations Climate Change conference (COP-16) taking place in Cancun, Mexico, November 29-December 10, 2010. Together with other human-rights and social-justice activists from around the world, UUSC's partners are advocating for governments to keep their commitments to reduce carbon emissions; recognize and address the impact of climate change on human rights; and keep their commitments to people in less developed countries. UUSC is proud of the commitments of its partners to a more secure and just world.

Water activist killed in Philippines

It is not all good news as we celebrate Human Rights Day this year. UUSC's partner and ally the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) and the Water for the People Network lost committed activist Carlo "Caloy" Rodriguez. The third water activist to be killed in the Philippines, Rodriguez was shot while on his way home on November 12, 2010. Carlo was president of the workers' union of the Calamba Water District and a strong supporter of the country's nationwide campaign against water privatization. While colleagues in APRN and the Water for the People Network mourn his death and are advocating for a full, impartial investigation, they also continue their important efforts on climate change and water justice. Read UUSC's official statement of concern and condolence.

In the past year, over 780 UU congregations have shown their commitment to providing a just wage for small-scale farmers by purchasing fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate, and other products from Equal Exchange through the UUSC Coffee Project. The ripple effects of this dedication are felt halfway around the world, as Equal Exchange contributes a portion of the proceeds from the Coffee Project back to support UUSC's efforts in building long-term partnerships with small farmer and producer groups through the Small Farmer Fund. 

In Bungoma, Kenya, a town just 20 miles from the border of Uganda, young people who have finished high school must work to provide for their daily upkeep and that of their families, even though it is very difficult to find decent work. Increasingly, these youth are finding themselves in the role of sole heads-of-household, due to loss of their parents from HIV/AIDS or other circumstances. The town's proximity to the border renders these young people vulnerable to prostitution, trafficking, early marriage, risky forms of work, and other exploitation.

UUSC's economic justice partner Muungano (a name that translates to "togetherness") is uniting the community to address the economic and social issues it is facing by providing livelihoods for youth while connecting them to traditional agriculture. With the help of UUSC, Muungano is training youth to run their own catering businesses, cooking for local events like weddings. They also rent land to grow organic, traditional crops, which they use to prepare nutritious and affordable meals for people with HIV/AIDS to ensure the effectiveness of their medication.

Back here at home, STITCH is bringing together immigrant women in Mississippi, including poultry workers, child-care providers, and women who have lost their jobs, to build their leadership skills and to work as a group to address common issues. Much like the Women's Network for Social and Economic Justice that STITCH facilitates in Central America, the women in Mississippi are growing stronger by learning about issues like gender, globalization, and human rights through the Women, Labor, and Leadership curriculum.

Five hundred miles away, in Fayetteville, Ark., the Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center is forging ahead with its campaign to hold employers accountable for not paying their workers by working with city officials to pass an anti-wage theft ordinance. The Workers' Justice Center is also continuing its close collaboration with OSHA to train workers on health and safety to reduce the numbers of injuries and deaths on the job.

Who says human rights can't be fun? This weekend, UUSC partner Hands Across the Mideast Alliance is hosting their annual East Meets West benefit to support their annual Human Rights Film Festival in Cairo, Egypt, which is wrapping up this weekend. 

HAMSA is on the cutting edge of the civil-rights movement in the Middle East, and the Cairo Film Festival is a cornerstone program and the first film festival of its kind in the Middle East. Dalia Ziada, director of HAMSA's Cairo office says, "The festival aims to highlight international human-rights issues and build understanding between cultures. Many of the films focus outside the Arab world, exposing Egyptian audiences to issues we do not hear about often the news."

Tickets are currently on sale for Boston-area residents — buy your tickets in advance, because they're expected to sell out at the door. And RSVP on their Facebook event page!

See you at Club Café at 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 11!

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A few weeks ago, Dave DeSario and Chris Beattie set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro — to take on a challenge, to honor the memory of Dave's mom, and to raise money for UUSC's work in Tanzania on environmental justice. And they did it! Below, Dave reflects on the experience.

I like air conditioning, tap water, and cow's milk. I enjoy a hot shower, but honestly, even a warm one will do. Toilets are great. So is all the oxygen we have down here at sea level. Ahhh, it tastes so good! And I really have a thing for electricity. You might even say I'm addicted. I'm a young man from the suburbs that's traveled outside the United States only once (counting Montreal).

And yet, all of a sudden I heard, "Karibu Tanzania! Welcome to Tanzania! This way to Mt. Kilimanjaro." My thoughts: What have I gotten myself into? Send help.

I went to Tanzania with too many ideas about what I needed to accomplish. I went to visit my friend Chris while he was working abroad. I went to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. To learn about the world. To escape the first Thanksgiving without my mom. To get as far away from my responsibilities as I could. To experience a place so different from all that I know. To help UUSC fight for the human right to water. And to honor my mom, a UU preacher who was inspired by the work of UUSC. It was a lot to ask of one trip.

I often lay awake late into the night, too excited to sleep, my head filled with grand ambitions like these. But this time was different. I can't say that these ideas had ever come together so well.

On the trip, I was able to open my eyes for the first time to see a different way of living. What is so poor and foreign to me is familiar, everyday life to most people on the planet we share. As I traveled, I glanced on what brought UUSC to Tanzania: water for the people.  

I walked along a stream flowing down from Kilimanjaro in the direction of the town of Arusha, at the base of the mountain — a stream so cool and clear it called out for people to jump in and swim with their mouths open. I saw another stream, perhaps the same one, leave the boundary of Kilimanjaro National Park and flow alongside the main street of Arusha. Not quite as clear anymore. Further down the road, I think I caught sight of the same stream, rolling into the crowded city of Moshi and continuing to run behind the homes and businesses near the highway. I stared at it out the window on the beginning of the 10-hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam (Dar's no Montreal, let me tell you). Water that was once clear had quickly become a heavy reddish-brown that matched the color of the soil. There was trash all over the banks and caught in the current.

It was an eyesore, even for a drainage ditch on the side of the road. But people came and knelt down by the stream. Some filled up buckets, others reached in to wash their faces, and some quickly dropped their clothes to the ground, as crowded cars drove by, and walked right in, without the thought of how lovely it is to take a hot shower. In a bathroom. With a curtain. Or how good the tap water tastes in New York City. And this was Tanzania during one of the rainy seasons — what is it like trying to access water the rest of the year?

With the generosity and encouragement of so many friends, and the support of UUSC, we raised almost $4,000 together to help UUSC in their work with the Tanzania Gender Networking Program against water privatization.

I celebrated Thanksgiving on the beach in Zanzibar with homesick Americans over chicken curry (it's poultry — that's close enough) and mashed potatoes. We raised our bottles and toasted more Kilimanjaro brand beers than we could count "to the place second-best to home." And Chris and I hiked for a week, through rain forest, across a desert, and up to the glaciers at the highest point of Africa. My mind was clear and empty of every meaningful worry (except for the fear of heights). I took a once-in-a-lifetime experience from Tanzania: a vacation, an adventure, a broader view of the world. At the same time, I was able to stand with the UUSC for human rights and environmental justice. I hope people will read this and find a way to make something like this happen for them, too.

As I learned to say in Swahili, "Nina buhati." I am very fortunate.

Nichole Cirillo, UUSC’s campaign manager, reflects below on the ingredients of a successful experiential learning trip: the partners, effective planning, and — most of all — engaged participants.

A month ago today I set out for the Just Journey to Uganda. As the trip’s leader, I was unsure of many things then — whether everyone would arrive on time (they didn’t), whether the transportation across bumpy roads would be smooth (it wasn’t), and, mainly, whether I could provide the kind of experience that would bring the issue of our partner’s work in northern Uganda to life. To animate it in a way that would make people truly understand what was at stake and how complex the process to restore justice to those affected really was.

On the way back from the airport that first night with a load of weary just-arrived participants in the van, I asked the young woman sitting next to me why she decided to come on the trip. She was effusive: the description sounded amazing, she’d never been to Africa, someone in her congregation had read about UUSC’s work. “Lots of reasons,” she said, a little bleary-eyed but happy. “But really, it was just a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I couldn’t pass up!”

Her words made me nervous, and all the way back to the hotel I worried about the sacrifice it had taken for her to get here — the cost, the time away from work, the toll of the international flights. Had I done enough, I wondered, to ensure that this woman would go home saying that this indeed had been a once-in-a-lifetime trip?

The thing is, at UUSC we can only do so much. We have fantastic partners, and our work with Caritas in Uganda is no exception. They are people who have put their lives on the line so that those ripped from their communities during the brutality of the civil war with the Lord’s Resistance Army can go home again. They are an inspiration to all those who work on behalf of justice. Staff at UUSC work hard to construct pedagogy for these trips and to lay out what we hope participants will take home with them.

But ultimately, that learning is up to the traveler. And once the plans are made, the speakers lined up, and the transportation seen to, we put our faith in those who opt to come along that they will let themselves grasp the true meaning of being there.

“The longest journey you will ever make in life is from your mind to your heart,” Chief Joseph once said. That night on the bus, I couldn’t have foreseen it, but everyone aboard would indeed be making the trip of a lifetime.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Dave DeSario and Chris Beattie, who set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro — to take on a challenge, to honor Dave's mom, and to raise money for UUSC's work in Tanzania on environmental justice. And they did it! I was really excited to check my e-mail Monday morning and find an e-mail from Dave — along with proof (see photos at right) that they made the summit.

The fact that they climbed the tallest freestanding mountain in the world is cool. But even cooler than that? Their project has raised more than $3,700 so far — almost 150 percent of their $2,500 goal — for UUSC. With one more day left in the fundraiser, it may be even more than that by the project's end; they're hoping to make it an even $4,000.

That support — fueled by their thousands of steps up the mountain and the memory of Dave's mom — will go to our work with the Tanzania Gender Network Program (TGNP). In the country that's home to Kilimanjaro, TGNP empowers women and marginalized communities while working against the effects of water privatization.

We're excited to hear more about how the trip went and what this project has meant to Dave and Chris — keep an eye out for a guest blog post from Dave soon! We all have mountains to climb and many are daunting, whether it's literally Mount Kilimanjaro or it's ensuring the right to clean water. We're happy that, in this case, the former will be part of making the latter possible.