Harambee 2002 was started on October 6, 2002, in commemoration of the canonization of St. Josemaría Escrivá. The idea was to express thanks for the canonization by raising money for educational projects in Africa. Contributions were collected from pilgrims going to Rome for the canonization, and also from those who simply wanted to help out.
The new projects
In May 2003, the International Secretary of Harambee 2002 tallied up the donations to that point. With 700,000 euro collected, they could fund 18 of the 122 projects presented to the grant-awarding committee. The winning applications came from 13 countries in Africa and the grants totaled 610,000 euro.
Due to the success of the project, its organizers decided to keep it going for another round, and they began preparing for Phase Two.
In 2004, six new projects selected from those previously presented will be funded by Harambee. At Harambee 2002’s web page ( www.harambee2002.org ) a description of the new projects can be found, as well as suggestions for initiatives that can be organized to raise money for Phase Two.
A Congress on Africa and an audiovisual prize
Africa awareness is one of the objectives of Project Harambee in this second phase. Linda Corbi, Harambee 2002 coordinator, notes: "Experience in international solidarity projects shows that raising awareness is an important way to help out. Frequently, people living outside of Africa know very little about this continent. The African situation is so remote that people either don’t talk about it or speak about it in a mistaken way, as though it were a lost cause.”
The developers of Project Harambee, both recognizing that building awareness is necessary for fund-raising and also wanting to spread the positive values of African culture, have decided that in 2004 they will organize an international congress and give an audiovisual communication prize.
The Communicating Africa Congress will be celebrated in October of 2004 in Rome. It will feature presentations by scholars, journalists and writers expert on Africa, who will analyze the key factors necessary for raising awareness of the social, economic and cultural situation of sub-Saharan Africa in a measured and comprehensive manner.
The audiovisual communication prize of the Africa Awareness Congress will be awarded to television reports or documentaries that, without forgetting the difficulties of the present situation, reflect an optimistic vision of African life. More information on the prize can be found at the Harambee 2002 website.
The money going for the audiovisual communication prize and for the expense of organizing the Congress will come from sponsors specifically financing these things, rather than from funds collected by Harambee 2002 for promoting education and development projects.
Project Harambee 2002 carries out its activities in conjunction with Rome’s ICU Association, which for years has promoted international cooperation with African educational projects ( www.icu.it ).
Further information:
Secretary of Project Harambee 2002
Dott.ssa Linda Corbi
Viale G. Rossini 26 – 00198 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39-06-85300722
info@harambee2002.org
www.harambee2002.org
