NURU

On Sunday, September 11, Jeff and Sarah hosted a gathering of folks who were interested in learning about the NURU project. The purpose of NURU International is to eradicate extreme poverty by holistically empowering rural communities to achieve self-sufficiency and inspiring the developed world to confront the crisis of extreme poverty.

Sarah and her friends prepared a wonderful buffet for the guests. Jamie and Jen are preparing the caramelized onion salad with blue cheese.



The spiral ham was super. It was glazed perfectly. This was one of my favorites.

Who could go wrong with wine, cheese, and grapes?

The desserts were wonderful!

Hummus and pita along with cucumber sandwiches were also on the buffet.

John Hancox introduced Billy Williams who explained the NURU project. John is a dermatologist that is in the practice with Jeff at Mountaineer Dermatology. He and his family are wonderful folks and we are blessed to have them as friends.

Billy Williams is posing with lovely wife, Jamie. Billy is the Grassroots Movement Director at NURU International. They live in Morgantown. Billy is a renaissance man. He speaks Français, KiSwahili, Shawnee, American English. He is a member of the Eagle Clan of the Youghiogaheny River Band of Shawnee Indians and served as an elected representative of their tribal government for 8 years.


Let me post the purposes of NURU. This is lifted from their Facebook page. Please visit their website at http://www.nuruinternational.org/

HOW NURU WORKS:

1. WE LISTEN to those living in extreme poverty through interviews, community meetings, and extensive surveys.

2. WE INNOVATE with local leaders and brainstorm appropriate, sustainable solutions to their greatest needs.

3. WE EMPOWER the poor through training and mentorship to lift themselves out of poverty.

4. WE PARTNER with other NGOs and organizations that employ local people to undertake infrastructure projects (like drilling new wells and building new schools), and invite volunteers in the developed world to come to Africa and share their expertise.

5. WE EVALAUTE our work by inviting outside teams of professionals to measure our results and tell us what we can do better. We then go back to step one and listen all over again to create even better solutions.

6. WE SCALE our work by training trainers to go out and empower other local communities.

7. WE LEAVE after 5 years to prevent dependency.

I would hope you would become involved with this important endeavor.

It was a great afternoon with family and new friends. Thanks to Sarah and Jeff for hosting this important gathering.