I found out about this program by General Mills and thought it was worth passing along. I'd like to encourage all of you to participate. It won't cost you anything and will help benefit Malawi families.

Maybe you knew that Malawi was among the world's least developed and most densely-populated countries...I didn't. The life expectancy in Malawi is low (44 years of age) and they have a high infant mortality rate (89 deaths per 1,000 births, the 14th highest in the world. All of this is because of the extreme poverty there.

I belong to a group called MyBlogSpark, which is how I heard about this new program that was announced today at the Clinton Global Initiative Fifth Annual Meeting. President Clinton introduced a very unique commitment between General Mills and CARE called Join My Village. This is an online community that was developed to help fight poverty in Malawi through the empowerment of women and girls.

Here's how you can get involved:

• Visit Join My Village and join one of ten village teams to benefit approximately 75 villages in Malawi
  
  
• As a village team member, you will get to know the women and families in Malawi through frequent updates, photos and stories


• You can also track how dollars are creating change and improving lives in Malawi

• Through simple online activities - answering a quiz question, telling a friend about Join My Village, or joining a village team - $1 will be unlocked by General Mills and will go to CARE's poverty fighting programs in the Malawi villages (limit of 3 activities per person per day, and $15,000 per online village team - or $150,000 in total)


• Additionally, General Mills will match personal contributions dollar-for-dollar for up to $50 per donor, $15,000 per village team or $150,000 in total


• CARE will distribute all funds raised directly to Malawi to provide economic opportunities for women and increase access to quality education for girls

Join My Village is setting out to drive measurable and long-term positive impact with women and families in Africa by tapping into the inherent power of women to connect with, and provide strength for, other women.

To learn more about Join My Village and help unlock funds to empower women and girls in Malawi, visit JoinMyVillage.com.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over and get signed up and start clicking!


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