Former President Jimmy Carter Speaks at Snowbird
Brenda Lewis
Issue date: 2/15/05 Section: Community
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn spoke at Snowbird Cliff Lodge on February 10, 2005. Before an estimated 220 invited dinner guests, the famous couple talked about The Carter Center in a Town Hall meeting format. The dinner and discussion were the beginning of The Carter Center Winter Weekend which is an annual fundraiser for the not-for-profit, non-governmental organization.
"When I came home from the White House, I didn't have a job," said Carter. He said he wondered what he was going to do for the next 25 years. In 1982, Carter and his wife, in partnership with Emory University, founded The Carter Center to advance peace and health worldwide. "We don't duplicate anything anyone else does," the former President said. "We go where vacuums exist."
Health and hunger in third world countries are a major concern for the Carter Center. In a video, "Waging Peace," Carter said that peace is secondary to a population that is starving.
The Center is responsible for teaching farmers how to double their production through weed control and using basic farming methods that are a matter of course for US farms. The goal is not to have a cash crop, but to feed the community in which the farming is done.
Carter spoke about children in Africa he'd seen who, at a distance, looked to be wearing sunglasses. On closer inspection, he found that their eyes were covered with flies-flies so thick and insistent that the children simply stopped brushing them away. The team from The Carter Center taught the children about washing their faces.
When he told about building 69,500 latrines in Ethiopia alone, Carter smiled and said that the crowd was looking at two expert latrine builders. Directing the audience to Rosalynn, the former President said, "Now I'll turn the program over to the boss."
Mrs. Carter has been involved with improving the public's awareness of mental health issues since 1971 when her husband was still governor of Georgia. Throughout the years, she found that mental health organizations lacked unity. One of her goals, through the Carter Center, is to help them support each other and get them all working toward a common goal. "This year," she said, "I want to focus on children and early detection."
"When I came home from the White House, I didn't have a job," said Carter. He said he wondered what he was going to do for the next 25 years. In 1982, Carter and his wife, in partnership with Emory University, founded The Carter Center to advance peace and health worldwide. "We don't duplicate anything anyone else does," the former President said. "We go where vacuums exist."
Health and hunger in third world countries are a major concern for the Carter Center. In a video, "Waging Peace," Carter said that peace is secondary to a population that is starving.
The Center is responsible for teaching farmers how to double their production through weed control and using basic farming methods that are a matter of course for US farms. The goal is not to have a cash crop, but to feed the community in which the farming is done.
Carter spoke about children in Africa he'd seen who, at a distance, looked to be wearing sunglasses. On closer inspection, he found that their eyes were covered with flies-flies so thick and insistent that the children simply stopped brushing them away. The team from The Carter Center taught the children about washing their faces.
When he told about building 69,500 latrines in Ethiopia alone, Carter smiled and said that the crowd was looking at two expert latrine builders. Directing the audience to Rosalynn, the former President said, "Now I'll turn the program over to the boss."
Mrs. Carter has been involved with improving the public's awareness of mental health issues since 1971 when her husband was still governor of Georgia. Throughout the years, she found that mental health organizations lacked unity. One of her goals, through the Carter Center, is to help them support each other and get them all working toward a common goal. "This year," she said, "I want to focus on children and early detection."
