Please join Mrs. Arlinda Halliburton Almeida and the TransAfrica Forum family in a memorial service celebrating the life of our friend Raymond “Ray” Almeida, Saturday, March 6, at 11:00 am at Unity of Washington (formerly Metropolitan Baptist Church) located at 1225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009.  Ray’s dedicated and passionate advocacy on behalf of Africa was an inspiration for us; his passing is a great loss and he is dearly missed.  Ray’s contributions to African self determination were rich are varied, and included support for Africa’s anti-colonial struggles, advocacy for community-based development, and mobilizing international support for African agriculture.  While working with Bread for the World, Ray helped craft the Africa: Seeds of Hope Act in 1998, which launched programs for the development of agriculture and rural communities in Africa.  Ray, a Cape Verdean, was awarded Cape Verde's highest recognition for his work on behalf of the country.