How does someone begin the process of changing the world? Join the Optimistic Muslim, Dr. David Liepert, as he speaks with Lorna Gladstone of the Bwindi Community Program (building schools and changing lives in Uganda), and Sara Hildebrand of Millennium Kids (working hard to help our world achieve the United Nation’s Millennium goals before 2015), about how they started, where they’re going, and how the rest of us can get started changing the world too!
“Lorna has taken it upon her heart to do something about child poverty and child education on the other side of the planet,” says Dr. David Liepert of his first guest, Lorna Gladstone. While she originally set out to explore the Impenetrable Forest and observe the majestic mountain gorillas, Lorna ended up discovering something else: Her love for the Bwindi village and its people. Lorna says, of the Bwindi Community Program, “Now I am actually the U.S. rep for sponsorships for the village!” But who are these sponsorships for? David and Lorna discuss the children of Uganda, how Eco-tourism brought awareness to the needs of these children, how the HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected their lives, and what you can do to help!
In the second half of the episode, Sara Hildebrand shares her past experiences in social justice and how that background eventually led her to create Millennium Kids. Currently, “over a billion” people in the world are living on less than $1.25 a day, with over half the world living on less than $2.00 a day. Millennium Kids seeks to eradicate poverty, as well as promote gender equality and education. Sara runs down the list of goals–all to be met by the year 2015! Will we be able to achieve everything on the list? And how can we, the everyday citizen, help things to progress in the right direction?
This episode concludes The Optimistic Muslim‘s “How Do You Change the World” interview series. It will leave you feeling happy, hopeful, and ready to change the world…for the better!