One of our goal at the Sama Gazette (if not our goal number one) is to raise awareness of the plights facing many people around the world: human rights issues, social, hunger and environmental issues, starvation and poverty. We hope our support is contributing to mobilize people, as we have already seen positive results among our readers who are actively supporting campaigns and joined several meetings, in France and in the United States. From RAISE Hope for Congo: Activism you can wear back in September 2009, to Change the Equation for Congo: Just 5 minutes for 5 days in April 2010 and lately on Change the Equation for Congo: Intel, Nintendo, RIM…, we received many emails and a huge amount of comments have been posted.

It is important we stay focused and mobilized because it is the only way to make things change. Last week, Enough Project announced that "in record numbers, advocates responded to the red alert calls to action, and pressed key senators to ensure that an amendment on Congo’s conflict minerals was included in the financial reform bill." We know many of you took action and urged their representative to cosponsor the Conflict Minerals Trade Act and the good news is "the conference committee accepted the conflict minerals language introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) into the final version of the bill."

Laura Heaton, writer-editor for the Enough blog, says in her article that "the House and Senate still need to vote on the full financial reform legislation (slated for next week), but advocates can claim an important victory for helping ensure that the conflict minerals component – with the strong provisions we advocated for – is part of that bill." Reacting to the news, Enough’s John Prendergast said, "A year ago most members of Congress hadn't even heard of conflict minerals. In the middle of a turbulent legislative calendar, activists all over the country were heard loudly and clearly: We demand conflict-free products and we expect our legislators to do all they can to ensure that."

Enough Project, as well as all of the Congo advocates and concerned consumers who mobilized to support the Conflict Minerals Trade Act, did an amazing job on raising awareness about conflict minerals but it is not over yet. The organization invite you to join them at the Center for American Progress (1333 H Street, NW, 10th Floor) tomorrow in Washington, D.C. Start: Jun 29 2010 - 12:00pm / End: Jun 29 2010 - 2:00pm. Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs Robert D. Hormats will share what the United States is doing to end the trade in conflict minerals. Following the speech, a panel of Congressional leaders, policy experts, and Congolese activists will discuss and respond. More information on this page.

Updated: You can register to the meeting on this page.

If you attend the meeting tomorrow, don't hesitate to share it with us. Just like Carissa Weir wrote about her experience running for Run for Congo Women: Big Things Begin with Small Steps.

Also, don't miss the article by Nick Kristof: Death by gadget. And watch and spread Enough video: Hello, I'm a Mac, and I'm helping fuel the war in the Congo.