the howie

This morning I had to be at Parliament House at 6:30am, So I could set up and get a good spot for taking photos at the unveiling on a giant scroll that was a snap shot of over 112,000 signatures collected by Micah challenge, of people who have signed up to the Micah Call.

The captain of Australia got up to say some words,

It looks like he is saying something like ‘It’s ok, I know the Micah Challenge banner looks terrible”

The Opposition captain also took the stage for a response.

Then it was time for Cameron Semmens to sing us a song as this picture shows.

But ladies and gentlemen there is also a serious side to this flight, We now ask for your full attention.

This mornings event was a chance for pollies to see that making poverty history is not just a desire of a select few, it is the desire of many Australians and it’s time for us as a nation to step up.

Normally leaders of NGO’s and vocal advocates who are passionate about seeing change in the way we do aid and development weaken their message when they are actually in the presence of decision makers, but this morning there was a beautiful moment when a international guest from a developing country got up and addressed all in attendance and very clearly stated that Australia is doing a pretty crap job and we need to lift our game.

He closed with a very simple and powerful image,

The last harry potter book was distributed in such a way that 9 million people had instant access to it when it became available, but we can’t even get instant access to the 2 million people who need 12cent medicine in developing countries.