The South African Statistical Association organized a successful international conference from 27th to 31st of October, 2008. The conference was held at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria formally a white-biased university. Many internationally known statisticians all over the globe showcased their work in statistics by presenting papers. I happened to present a paper titled “stochastic optimization model for monitoring millennium development goals: case of HIV/AIDS”. It was well received by my audience. The same paper was chosen to be presented at the inaugural workshop of seminar series organized by Statistics South Africa on the 31st October, 2008.