Your Voice | Letters to the Editor

Bringing Moral Voices to Penn

To the Editor:

We were thrilled with the DP`s coverage of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village project initiated by Penn alumae Anne Heyman in Rwanda (“Rebuilding lives in Rwanda,” 10/13/2009). The project is truly an amazing initiative that is rebuilding the lives of hundreds of orphans of the Rwandan genocide.

We wanted to point out that the quote on the mural in the village reads, “If you see far, you will go far.”

In addition, while the article mentioned that the youth village idea came out of the Moral Voices project at Tufts University Hillel, it failed to mention that Anne Heyman is working with Penn Hillel to develop a Moral Voices initiative at Penn. A committee of students is in the planning stages of Moral Voices at Penn and like its Tufts counterpart will be working to highlight a major global issue throughout the Penn campus. We are going to be working on the issue of human trafficking. The Moral Voices committee would like to invite interested students to join the project and can contact Rabbi Mike Uram at muram@pennhillel.org for more information or to get involved. Like the Agahozo-Shalom Youth village in Rwanda, the vision of Moral Voices is for the Jewish community to work with a variety of partners and to initiate projects that will benefit the world as whole.

RACHEL COHEN, RABBI MIKE URAM, and MORAL VOICES AT PENN

The authors are members of Moral Voices at Penn Learn about the issues, get out and vote

To the Editor:

I was disappointed to read “Student excitement low for Nov. election” in last week’s paper (10/5/2009). I remain hopeful, however, because we still have four weeks until election day. The city’s budget crisis has brought to the fore many issues important to Penn students, including public safety and continued access to Philadelphia’s first-rate recreational opportunities. The upcoming election presents candidates with sharp contrasts on how best to ensure Philadelphia’s continued success. Given the low expected turnout, those who vote — or, better yet, become involved with a campaign — will have a disproportionate impact on the outcome. I encourage all Penn students to take time in the next four weeks to learn the issues and make a difference in our city.

JOSEPH DOHERTY

The author is a member of the community

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