“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

I know ONE members are working hard to help improve the lives of people in Africa. In thanks, we would like to share one of our songs with you.

My band mates and I are not your typical touring musicians. We met in a refugee camp in the Republic of Guinea, having escaped from the horror of the civil war in Sierra Leone. Using simple instruments we brought some joy to people in the camps who were facing very difficult situations. Now we are called Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars and we have been fortunate enough to have our music recorded for an album called Living Like A Refugee, which will soon be released in the United States.

Listen or download for free “Living Like a Refugee.”

I know from experience how important music is. I hope our song brings you joy.

“As a mother, I have always tried to teach by example. I have always been involved in my community and my church, especially enjoying teaching Sunday School. I read about a trip to Haiti and felt called to go. Teaching young children and again trying to teach by example, I felt Haiti was indeed my “neighbor” and it was simply what God tells us to do, love thy neighbor. I went with a group of 5 churches that first trip to a mountain village in Haiti to build a medical clinic. We not only built a medical clinic in several trips to Haiti, we built a bridge of love and friendship, a bridge of hope from a group of Americans to a tiny remote village in Haiti. The joy and fulfillment I found in Haiti is indescribable. The poverty level is painful and shocking, a country so very close to ours, our neighbor in desperate need of every kind of help. Thankfully, Haiti has begun to receive assistance and education for its huge AIDS crisis. I feel we have an obligation to share our wealth, our blessings, and quite frankly there is no greater joy than doing so.”

-Elisabeth, member of The ONE Campaign, Middlefield, CT

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

A while back, a man posted a comment on this blog about natavillage.org the first ever blog out of a village in Botswana. The blog features youth groups, people living with AIDS, clinic staff, social workers and others. Nearly 40% of the people of Botswana, as the site reminds us, are HIV positive.

Check out the site’s video clips. Site administrators hope natavillage.org gives visitors “an inside look at an African village and see how people live on a day to day basis.”

The blog was recently appeared on the New York video blog (vlog) Rocketboom.com.

 “I grew up in England in a relatively poor but adequate home, and with the benefit of good health and a great education…Even as I took my Christian faith seriously, I failed to make the connections between God’s call to love and grace, and His call to justice and mercy, until the horrors of extreme poverty finally impinged on my consciousness. I wonder why it took so long? Perhaps being comfortable, and being satisfied with religious busy work, became all-consuming. We are all somewhat self-centered after all aren’t we? In any case, my route into beginning to understand the crisis of poverty started with learning about microfinance, and the possibilities for permanent poverty relief through micro enterprise. As a technology executive in a large financial services company, this appealed to me, and made me start to realize I could actually contribute to a solution…The exciting next question for me, as I approach retirement, is how can I apply all the gifts and experience God has given me so that I can give back some of the many years of inactivity of my earlier life?”

-Graham Seel, member of The ONE Campaign, Clayton, 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.

“Growing up in a wealthy suburb, helping others rarely crossed my mind. Everyone around me had everything they needed and poverty was a foreign concept to me. Last summer, my perspective shifted drastically. I was part of a team that spent the summer teaching orphans in Uganda. Meeting all of these amazing children whose lives have been torn apart by AIDS and poverty opened my eyes to the way the rest of world lives. How can we, the wealthiest people in the world, turn our backs on these beautiful, wonderful children? Why are we entitled to such riches when they have nothing? I pray every night for those children I hope that other Americans will realize just how vital it is that we help them. They don’t dream of riches. They simply want to know that they will have food to eat and parents to care for them. Surely with our many blessings, we can help them see their dreams come true.”
 
-Melissa Gilbert, member of The ONE Campaign, Atlanta, Georgia 

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

“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.

We just emailed you asking for your story, wanting to learn more about how you first found your commitment to eliminate global AIDS and extreme poverty.  The responses are coming in much faster than we can get through them. You’ve overwhelmed us.

Below is a submission from Julie in Los Angeles:
 
“I have a little boy who just turned 4. When he’s hungry, he comes to me and tells me what he wants to eat. If he wants macaroni and cheese, I make it. If he wants a peanut butter sandwich, I make it. If he wants a KitKat bar, I tell him no – he’s only allowed candy once a week. I have the option to choose his food and the privilege of always having food for him, and I think every mother should have that privilege. To have my baby tell me he was hungry and have nothing to give him would be unbearable. I would like to spare every mother that feeling, because hunger is a need that every mother should be able to fulfill, without exception, no matter where she lives in the world. That’s why I participate.”
 
Check back to here each day for the next two weeks for many more ONE members’ stories.

US Senator Barack Obama leaves today for a 15 day trip to Africa. He plans to travel to five countries, among them Kenya, the birthplace of his father and Sudan or Chad, the site of one of the most devastating human rights crises in the world. He’ll be traveling with his wife, his two daughters, and will be meeting up with his grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama.

UPDATE: The EDUN ONE t-shirts are now available at the ONE store for $40 each.

The ONE Campaign is proud to announce that the EDUN designed ONE shirt will be available from Nordstrom starting on September 11. This shirt is made in Lesotho of 100% African cotton. Buying an EDUN ONEtee will help bring trade to an area with extremely high unemployment. Lesotho, classified as one of the poorest developing countries in the world, has an average per capita income of just $402.
I’m holding an EDUN ONEtee right now. Unlike other cause shirts that I pick up and then shove in my t-shirt drawer, this one is made by a designer and is fitted and stylish. I’d wear this shirt.

More about EDUN:

EDUN is a socially conscious clothing brand created by Ali Hewson, Bono and New York clothing designer Rogan Gregory. EDUN’s aim is to bring the issue of long-term sustainable employment to the forefront via the world of high fashion.

According to the EDUN website:

In 1980 Africa had a 6% share of world trade. By 2002 this had dropped to just 2% despite the fact that Africa has 12 % of the world’s population.

If Africa could regain just an additional 1% share of global trade, it would earn $70 billion more in exports each year – more than three times what the region currently receives in international assistance. If in addition, all countries in East Asia, South Asia and Latin America were each to increase their share of world exports by 1%, the resulting gains in income could lift 128 million people out of poverty.

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