As many of you will remember, four years ago U2’s Bono and
DATA traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa with a gaggle of journalists and then-U.S
Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil. The
impetus for that trip was to draw the world’s attention to the emergency of
AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. Today we came back looking for answers and to
see what progress has been made since that historic trip in 2002.

After a short plane ride from Johannesburg,
we landed on a small airstrip in Maseru,
Lesotho around
1:00pm. Many of us were a little tired
from our long flights to get here but full of energy for a full day touring
this beautiful country. Leading the pack
off the plane, DATA co-founders Bono and Bobby Shriver were followed by
representatives from ONE.org, RED and EDUN, some journalists and a film crew. A small welcoming party greeted us and we
were quickly ushered off to our first stop at the Lesotho Precious Garment
Makers Factory.

This clothing factory was most impressive. An assembly line of hard working African men
and women sang for us at our arrival and we watched as they carefully and
meticulously sewed and hemmed t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies for The Gap and
Old Navy. We witnessed as some of the
first RED products came off the line emblazoned with that proud stamp: (RED) Made in Lesotho,
Africa.
Everything was made from 100% African cotton and the t-shirts especially
were soft like butter to the touch. The garment
factory employs thousands of workers who are now able to use this money to feed
their families, put their children through school and begin to lift themselves
out of the trappings of extreme poverty.
It was a beautiful thing to witness and we all left feeling encouraged
by the incredible work being done here.
As many have said before, TRADE is a viable and needed resource for
improving the lives of the millions of Africans who live on less than a dollar
a day.

Tonight as I write this most of our party is downstairs celebrating
with local business people the announcement of a new AIDS testing and treatment
initiative for factory workers and enjoying the incredible sounds of the Lesotho choir
comprised entirely of local garment workers.
The local garment workers also put on an exciting and vibrant fashion
show showing off the local clothing that they produce here in Lesotho. The beautiful Lesotho
men and women on the catwalk could seriously rival Milan
and Paris’
finest!

We’ve got a full day tomorrow starting in Lesotho at Butha
Buthe Hospital
and Paballong ART Clinic before flying up to Rwanda so I’m going to call it a
night! Stay tuned to this blog for more
updates.