Wednesday, March 17, 2010

'Shower of Aid Brings Flood of Progress'


With the help of Harvard-trained economist, Jeffrey Sachs, former president Clinton, philanthropist Bill Gates and UN Secretary Generals, Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, more than 80 different Millennium Villages across Africa that have helped to improve the livelihoods of thousands.

The Millennium Villages were developed by Sachs to test out on a small scale the role that improved education, health, agriculture and infrastructure can have on a population within a developing country.

The result...

A village in rural Sauri, Kenya has doubled its agricultural yields, dropped its child mortality by 30%, increased school attendance and test scores, and increased cellphone ownership (a telltale sign of prosperity in rural Africa) - all of which was accomplished in only a five year period.

To learn more about this and other Millennium Villages, read the following article in the New York Times or check out Sach's Millennium Village website.

- Tiffanie Depew

SOURCE: New York Times & Millennium Villages.org