[North Carolina] Economist to boost anti-poverty effort

from The News and Observer

CHAPEL HILL - Jeffrey Sachs, economist and author of "The End of Poverty," will speak this week at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University to highlight a student effort to raise $1.5 million to support an African village.

Sachs will speak at 11 a.m. Friday in UNC-CH's Memorial Hall, and at 1:30 p.m. in Duke's Page Auditorium. He also will participate in a student rally against poverty at 12:15 p.m. in the Pit, a popular gathering spot at the center of UNC-CH's campus. The events are free and open to the public.

Sachs' visit will focus on the alliance among students at Bennett College, Duke and UNC-CH who are leading an effort to raise $1.5 million for the Millennium Village Project. This project aims to lift small African villages out of poverty in five years. The students are sponsoring the village of Marenyo in western Kenya.