Forum to spotlight global poverty relief efforts

By Ashley White

Mirror Forum Editor
February 29, 2008

A short road trip to Moorhead, Minn., will not stop Augustana students from supporting the encouraging messages of peace and hope.

The 20th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum will take place on March 7-8, at Concordia College in Moorhead.  This year, the forum will focus on helping those burdened by poverty and hardships within specific communities. The theme for the forum is entitled “Striving for Peace: Investing in Community.”

Muhammad Yunus, a joint winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, is the featured speaker for the forum. Yunus is also the founder of the Grameen Bank, which provides small, low-cost loans to the people of Bangladesh in an effort to offset the effects of poverty in that country.

According to a January interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Yunus believes that poverty is one problem in today’s world that can be solved through human intervention.  In his new book, Creating a World Without Poverty, Yunus uses the idea of social business to provide practical solutions for the increasing problems of poverty, healthcare and public education.

Senior Sarah Mason plans to attend the forum this year and is excited to hear what Yunus has to offer through his perspective as a Bangladeshi. 

“Any time we get the opportunity to hear a different global perspective, I think we are at a great advantage in our ever more connected world,” she said. “I think inviting students, faculty and citizens into a global perspective is important and often overlooked.”

Other students also feel that attending the forum provides a broader understanding of peace.

Senior Kari Lenander plans to attend, and by doing so, she hopes to benefit by developing an “increase in awareness and excitement through education and community.”

Concordia is one of the five Midwest Evangelical Lutheran Church of America  (ELCA) colleges that host the Peace Prize Forum each year.  These colleges, including Augustana, co-sponsor the event with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. 

The forum is designed to draw international speakers in an effort to educate

students at these colleges about the peace efforts that exist outside the borders of the United States.

Mason believes that all students should take advantage of the opportunity to hear these speakers and return as intermediaries for peace on Augustana’s campus. 

“Going to the Peace Prize Forum expands my classroom to hear lectures from world leaders,” Mason said. “It simply makes sense to support a time to pause and consider what peace looks like and the processes by which it can be achieved.”

Other plenary speakers for the event include Greg Mortenson and Jeffrey Sachs.  Augustana students can register to attend by visiting Concordia’s Web site, www.cord.edu. Registration costs $25 per person, and it includes a forum-sponsored bus to Concordia as well as lodging in residence halls.