| About |
|
|
|
Hours: Location: Last updated: |
About the Hourglass: The Origin: Oxfam at Brown opened a non-profit, student-run café in the Underground at the beginning of October, 2001. This project had been in the works for a year and we raised lots of support and funds to jump-start the effort. This space is just be Oxfam dominated; campus groups are invited to meet in the space, students can perform or have artwork in the café, and most of all we want your input because students are in charge of the space. All music, speakers and events are planned by students. It is a great place to hang out, show your talents, learn about third world justice issues and be in a hub of activism and social consciousness. The profits: All profits go to Oxfam America , an NGO that finds sustainable solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice through community partnerships around the world. The name: The name for the café comes from a project developed by Oxfam at Brown in 1994, known as the Marble Project. Members designed a 10' tall hourglass filled with marbles. Each marble symbolized a child. One marble would fall from the top to the bottom of the hourglass every 2.5 seconds, the rate at which a child would die world wide from hunger or hunger related causes. The project received a national award for excellence and originality in student organizing, given by Vice President Al Gore. Fair trade: Fair trade means that both parties in a transaction get a fair deal. When you choose a package of coffee bearing the Fair Trade Certified label, you are assured that the farmer received a fair price for his/her harvest. (The average coffee farmer earns less thant $3 a day) Your purchase of Fair Trade Certified coffee is also a vote for environmentally responsible farming methods. In the News: Read the George Street Journal article about us. See the Tufts café ...our inspiration.
Oxfam stands for the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. It was started in Oxford, England in 1942 in response to the European famine related issues resulting from the Second World War. Ten other countries world wide, including the United States and Australia, have started chapters of Oxfam. They comprise what is known as Oxfam International. Oxfam's Mission: Oxfam America is dedicated to creating lasting solutions to hunger, poverty, and social injustice through long-term partnerships with poor communities around the world. As a privately funded organization, we can speak with conviction and integrity as we challenge the structural barriers that foster conflict and human suffering and limit people from gaining the skills, resources, and power to become self-sufficient. Oxfam implements various global projects that target areas particularly affected by hunger. The projects focus on developing self-sufficiency of the communities in which they are based, as opposed to merely providing relief in the form of food aid. Oxfam's projects operate on the communal level, and are developed by evaluating issues causing poverty and hunger in the community and subsequently the possible infrastructure that could end hunger and foster the attainment of self sufficiency. Examples of projects in which Oxfam America has been or is involved range from a women's literacy program in India and providing microloans and agriculture education programs for small scale organic farmers in California. About Oxfam at Brown: |
