“At the age of eleven I got curious about God and the Scriptures. At the age of thirteen I discovered a band called U2. I was always disconcerted by the fact that, while the Scriptures show Jesus helping the poor and the sick, most churches didn’t seem to be interested. U2 did however and Bono especially seemed to have a better grasp of theology than most preachers I had ever run across. Bono had become someone I looked up to, so it seemed natural to support the cause that he had taken up in Africa. The fact that the poverty which surrounded me living in Los Angeles paled in comparison to the poverty in places like Africa was an eye opener.

Then I read of a story about a man named Lawrence Ndou in Malawi. He had AIDS and happened to be one of the fortunate ones who received the retroviral. The problem was that his wife had already died of AIDS and the woman he was currently in love with was infected. Unfortunately she didn’t have the retroviral. He was faced with the decision of watching the woman he loves die, giving her the drugs and orphaning his children, or splitting the drugs with her ensuring only that they both die slowly. This is not the type of decision I could even begin to comprehend. It was after hearing this that I realized the true devastation of poverty. The people dying are not just numbers. They are human beings with dreams and hopes and loves. Locked inside the mind of a child dying in Africa may be the cure for cancer or the next great novel or the next great symphony. Only the world will never know it because extreme poverty ensures that they will never even have a chance. These were the realizations that led me to The ONE Campaign and Make Trade Fair. These were the realizations that made want to do whatever I could do, however I could do it, to help end the devastation of extreme poverty.”

-Scott, member of The ONE Campaign, Placentia, 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