“When I was 17, I wanted to do something to expand my worldview beyond the horizons of middle-American privilege. I was a deeply religious person and, in my youthful zeal, I decided to visit a missionary in Zimbabwe. Ten days after my high school graduation I flew to southern Africa and worked at a bush-hospital for 5 months. I fell in love with the Shona culture and was heart-broken by their plight. In Zimbabwe, over 50% of their population is HIV positive. Countless numbers of those affected are heterosexual, monogamous married mothers. I saw first hand how indiscriminate this epidemic really is. It is a tragedy for anyone to have AIDS (regardless of gender or orientation), but it is a nightmare for mothers who have children to take care of. I am now older and have matured a great deal since those days, but I still have deep love for the Shona people and have tried to financially support that hospital for 15 years now. But much more can be done. I believe that America has the power to make a real advance against the fight against global AIDS. So many of us care; the ONE campaign allows us to speak with a single voice. We must demand more from ourselves, but unity is the first step.”

-Anthony Le Donne, member of The ONE Campaign, Sebastopol, CA

Check back each day for the next two weeks for more ONE members’ stories. And if you haven’t already, send in your story.