Voices of African Mothers Roof Raising Bemefit Gala

Online, September 15, 2010 (Newswire.com) - New York, New York - Voices of African Mothers, Inc. (VAM) is having a Gala event on Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 6:30 pm at 520 Park Avenue at East 60th Street, New York, NY. VAM is hosting this event to help fund mothers, young women and youth in Ghana, West Africa. "There is an alternative to war [in African nations]... We believe this fundraiser will enable the sharing of resources and the creation of understanding among all people," says Nana-Fosu Randall, VAM Founder and Executive Director.
Connie Walker-Fowler, Board Director, said, "Voices of African Mothers stresses the need to help individuals and families work together to build hopeful, sustainable and just communities like VAM Village, located on 200 acres of land along the beautiful Volta River in the Sogakope area of Ghana." VAM works in conjunction with The John William Montessori School in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa. The school has two key programs: The HIV / AIDS awareness program, located at the school, serves the school and the community. The Conflict Resolution program, also centered at the school, introduces the staff, students, community members and others to techniques of conflict resolution and mediation.
The event will be an evening of Dinner and a Conversation with two of Radio and TV's most interesting Personalities:

Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D a pioneer of radio call-in advice and internet advice. A former television reporter on WCBS-TV, she is a popular commentator on many news and talk shows. Currently a feature columnist for national and international print media, including the New York Daily News and China TrendsHealth magazine, she has written advice columns for Family Circle Magazine, the Singapore Straits Times, and Hanako Magazine and Sankei Shinbun newspaper in Japan, and her work has been featured in the new York Times and International Herald Tribune as well as on CBS News, CNN, and China's CCTV. Her current humanitarian projects include community health in Haiti and Aids education in Africa. She was in Haiti after the earthquake, setting up psychological first aide, and recently returned from Africa, where she was helping the First Lady of Lesotho develop her girl's camp for orphans and vulnerable children.

Sheryl P. Underwood, 23rd International Grand Basileus, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Her election made her the first professional entertainer to hold the highest elected office of a National Pan-Hellenic Council organization. She also founded the African-American Female Comedian Association. Underwood first gained notoriety as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989. She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005. Underwood hosts The Sheryl Underwood Show on the Jamie Foxx's Sirius Satellite Radio channel, The Foxxhole.

"We were the first sorority to do work in Africa before it was trendy," said Underwood. Regarding the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Underwood continues, "We are a diverse organization of women who want a quality of life change for all mankind. Zeta was the way to go for me because we're about service in not just your local community, but international service."
Voices of African Mothers (VAM) is a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization, based in the U.S., empowering African women since 2004. VAM is a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Our programs are designed to improve the family life of our participants by framing them around the 8 Millennium Development Goals:

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education
3. Promote Gender equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Mortality
5. Ensure Environmental Sustainability Develop a global Partnership for Development
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

VAM is not exclusively a women's organization. It welcomes men to participate in its activities. It urges men to adopt the role of providers and protectors, offering support to their wives, daughters, mothers and sisters in their endeavor to become fully empowered and active in their communities.

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