Call for Volunteers

Help organize a speaking event featuring

Valentino Achak Deng

Valentino Achak Deng is a Sudanese refugee and the subject of the bestelling book, What is the What by Dave Eggars. Since the publication of the book, he and Eggars have established the The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization working to increase access to education in post-conflict Southern Sudan by building schools, libraries, teacher-training institutes, and community centers.

In May of 2009, the foundation opened The Marial Bai Secondary School in Marial Bai, Valentino’s hometown. To learn more about the foundation, you can see their website at http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/.

Valentino will be in Boulder from September 11 to September 13. Sara Beth Ford, who has worked with refugees extensively, along with several others, is putting together a group to set up a speaking event in the Boulder-Denver area. Sara's group needs the assistance of dedicated volunteers who are interested in helping with this project. This is a wonderful opportunity to be involved in raising money for the foundation and educating people about the lives of Sudanese refugees.

If you are interested in being a part of this project, Sarah would love to hear from you. Please contact her ASAP with your name and phone numbr. Include a brief note telling how you would be interested in helping out. A preliminary planning meeting is planned for Tuesday, July 13 or Wednesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Lousiville.

This is a rare opportunity to work on a short-term project that will raise awareness of refugee issues both here and abroad.

You can contact Sara by email at sara@ersden.org.



In April of this year, New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote an excellent Op-Ed piece about Valentino Achak Deng's work in Sudan. You can access the article by clicking here.