This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

A Brighter Future

Spanish Translation

Feeding the hungry. Educating both boys and girls. Fighting illness. These are three of eight goals set by the United Nations (U.N.). The U.N. is a group of nations working together for peace. It hopes to reach these Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.

The Millennium Villages project is helping to make this happen. Eighty villages in Africa are part of the project. Local leaders are learning to lift their villages out of poverty.

The Fight for a Better Life

Hannah Sachs, 12, has visited some of the Millennium Villages. Her father, Jeffrey Sachs, is helping the villages meet their goals. When she first visited Sauri (sah-ooh-ree), Kenya, the hospital was overcrowded. "There were three kids to a bed," she says. "There was no doctor, no running water or electricity."

Hannah met farmers whose crops were withering. They could not afford the food and water needed to help plants grow. She also met children who weren't able to go to school. Some didn't go because their parents couldn't pay the fees. Others had to work. Those who were in school had trouble paying attention. There was no midday meal. But Hannah says she could tell "that the students wanted to learn."

Four years later, Hannah sees that Sauri's leaders have found solutions. The hospital has running water, electricity and free medicine. Crops are growing now that the farmers have what they need. Kids go to school for free. "Sauri's progress shows us that winning the fight against poverty" is possible, Hannah says.

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