Highlights:

I met many women from different countries.

I visited the 911 Memorial.

I toured the Wall St. area.

I attended the play, “The Total Bent.”

I have attached pictures and a video.

I participated in the Artisan’s Market at the UN Church Center and sold and autographed copies of our first book “Married to Sin.”

I presented a presentation on child poverty, sexual abuse, and parental neglect in reference to “Married to Sin.”

Memorable Stories:

1. One woman noted that women in her village have to walk long distances to get clean water. During the walk, they are exposed to wild animals and hungry men.

2. Another woman said that women in her country have to grab their belonging and children to leave villages in the middle of the night when the militia approaches. Sometimes they have to leave older and or disabled relatives behind. The following day, they have to worry about food, water, and shelter.

I attended the UN Conference on the Status of Women CSW 56 (Feb 29 – March 3, 2012) as a member of Rural Development Leadership Network RDLN which is a multicultural organization with a national membership. I became a member in 1998 at the request of Shirley Sherrod who was then a director for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in Albany, Georgia. At that time, I was a business developer for the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives in Jackson, Mississippi. The Federation is the parent organization of MAC. I obtained funds from USDA as a community organizer for Southern Echo to obtain a masters degree in Rural Community Development & Public Policy. I am also a Billie Jean Young Scholar. Part of my degree credits were awarded from my work at MAC with a farm in North, Mississippi (Family Farmers Cooperatives).

If anyone works in a rural community, consider joining RDLN? Through my affiliation with RDLN, I have traveled to New Mexico, visited Indian Reservations, and agricultural and farm sites across the nation. I also have viable friendships with people of all races and nationalities. The founder and president of RDLN, Starry Krueger, once sat beside me at a job interview with CJ Jones who was the Director of Development at Voice of Calvary Ministries and engaged in the interview. Lee Harper, the current owner of Konoinia Coffee House, hired me.  Harper was then the president of Voice of Calvary Ministries. CJ Jones is a rural leader and a participant of RDLN.

Visit Rural Development Leadership Network for more information: 

http://www.ruraldevelopment.org/

Meredith Coleman McGee

www.typingsolutions.biz