Washingtonians Come Together Against Global Poverty [photoessay]

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (OneWorld) - Tens of millions of people around the world came together in their respective home towns over the past two days "to show that they refuse to stay silent or seated in the face of poverty." The "Stand Up and Speak Out" rallies have been held annually since 2000, when world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration committing to meet eight world-changing goals by 2015 -- on hunger, education, health care, gender equality, the environment, and more. In Washington, DC the Stand Up and Speak Out event was introduced by the District's Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Natwar Gandhi. Dr. Gandhi recognized that living in the United States can, at times, make it "difficult to visualize the horrors of poverty," but he urged that "we must think of people far away as family" and thus care for them as such. Roughly 50 people joined Dr. Gandhi as he stood up and spoke out in the capital's beautiful Meridian Hill Park. Participants giving the peace sign. © Ida Wahlstrom The event was hosted by the Art of Living, an organization with centers around the world that helps people find inner peace and harmony so that they can better serve others. Among those representing Art of Living was Christopher Smythe-Macaulay, a former Peace Corps volunteer who grew up in West Africa. Christopher Smythe-Macauly introducing the first of the evening's performances. © Ida Wahlstrom Explaining why the event was significant to him, Smythe-Macaulay focused on the importance of taking action, saying "[the world has] become the way it is now because so many of us have been quiet; it's time for love, it's time for peace to be louder than violence and ignorance." The event featured poetry and music from the community, including an original poetry reading by Angelena Simms, the event's youngest attendee. Simms' poem explored further the theme of peace, suggesting that having peace speak louder than violence will bring individuals a personal sense of happiness and liberty. "What is Peace?... Peace is a melody, A sort of lightness of being, The melody of peace now sings in my soul and I dance the dance of freedom." Angelena Simms. © Ida Wahlstrom Echoing Dr. Gandhi's words, Washington, DC community member Elle Wilhite emphasized that "we are at a turning point in the world where we must become the 'one world' family" in order to more forcefully and effectively confront global hardships like poverty. Aman Gonal, another Art of Living Volunteer, echoed Wilhite's sentiments as she described why she wanted to Stand Up and Speak Out -- to bring awareness to these issues and to be together with her community. From right to left: Amita Mongia, Mongia's daughter, and Elle Wilhite. © Ida Wahlstrom "I think that it's really important that people create more awareness around human values and human rights. And beyond human rights, just getting back to that oneness despite race or class or religion. It's really important to me to be at events like this...just to be together with the community. I think that reintegrating that sense of belonging, that sense of the community is really critical right now." Although Angelena Simms and her brother Azmi were the only representatives of the district's younger generations, Amita Mongia, a teacher at a Montgomery County public school, explained that youth of all ages stood up and spoke out for global peace and justice. "One of the goals that we have at our student council is to look at the world as an extended community and so the children have been involved with several projects to feed the homeless during Thanksgiving or to get presents for children that wouldn't get them otherwise during Christmas....So this morning over the PA [Public Address] system the entire school stood up -- they crouched down and then they stood up -- and they said a very kid-friendly pledge: 'Can you imagine there being children that don't have food to eat when they're hungry? You have food to eat. Can you imagine there not being a doctor to help them when they're sick? You have a doctor.' So like that there was a great deal of empathy and understanding...It was almost like a moment of silence to remember all the people...that don't have [what we have]." Stand Up and Speak Out participants in one of many meditation rooms at the Art of Living's National Center. © Ida Wahlstrom The evening concluded with a meditation session led by the Art of Living. Local organizers held similar rallies in cities such as Bamako, Mali; Bandung, Indonesia; Brasília, Brazil; Changsha, China; Dhaka, Bangaladesh; Dili, East Timor; Mombasa, Kenya; Philipsburg, New Jersey; and Stockholm, Sweden. As of Wednesday evening, over 23 million people had reported taking part in a Stand Up and Speak Out event during the 24-hour period spanning October 16 and 17. The numbers were expected to grow to around 50 million as tallies continue to stream in from far-flung regions of the world. For more on the efforts to eliminate poverty worldwide and to join the OneWorld dialogue, see the latest edition of Perspectives magazine: "Are We Making Poverty History? Halfway to 2015."

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