Tomorrow, Iowa will launch our state’s ONE Vote campaign. If you live in Iowa, I hope you’ll join us.

Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Sally Pederson and ONE volunteers will be there to kick off this unprecedented bi-partisan effort.

Doors open at 8:45 a.m. at the Historical Building Terrace at 600 East Locust Street in Des Moines. The event starts at 9.

Come and be a part of history.

Governor Thompson spoke at the US Center for Citizen Diplomacy Forum in Des Moines on the 13th. While he was the Secretary of Health and Human Services, he made many trips to very poverty stricken countries and went on trips delivering life-saving vaccines to people in African countries. He mentioned many of his achievements while he was in office and highlighted many of his presidential goals.

After his speech, I thanked the governor for everything he has done. He was happy to take a picture and display his ONE band.

Last night, Gov. Tommy Thompson came to Hanover, New Hampshire, to address a group of Republican voters and let them know why he wants to be the next president of the United States.

Many ONE members best know Gov. Tommy Thompson as President Bush’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, and are very familiar with his work as the first head of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

I was standing with a few members of the Dartmouth College Republicans, many wearing ONE bands themselves, when Gov. Thompson came over and saw my ONE pin. Before I could say anything, Gov. Thompson asked me if I had a ONE band for him. I laughed and gave him one that he immediately put on.

During his stump speech, Gov. Thompson talked about his work with the Bush administration and how he was the first Sec. of HHS to travel outside of the country to places in Africa and in Afghanistan. Gov. Thompson shared a story about going to an impoverished area in Afghanistan where there was a hospital with no running water or electricity. He then came home and talked with “Powell, Condi and Rumsfeld” and got money to build a hospital that was able to treat people, especially expecting mothers, in a clean, safe, and humane way. He described to the room, the first day that hospital opened and how the people of the area loved America, and loved what the American people had helped provide for them.

Gov. Thompson then spoke about how he would like to outfit two giant cruise liners with 1,000 medical beds a piece. He would help enlist the best young and idealists American doctors to travel on these boats around the globe stopping in at impoverished ports in places like Ethiopia and Somalia to help treat the sick and poor. He described the American flag waving in the wind as these boats would dock, and told the crowd how it would help those in need and show the world exactly the type of great nation that the United States is. He called his plan, “Medical Diplomacy,” and stressed the need for America to continue to take a leading role in efforts like basic education and basic survival healthcare in the developing world.

After the event I was able to talk with Gov. Thompson and thank him for his past efforts, and for remembering the world’s poorest people in his own campaign for president. He thanked me, and the ONE Campaign, and told me that he also has an entire plan to fight global malaria that he wants to talk about.

Last night was just another example of the growing movement of Americans that realize we can change the world and save lives in the developing world – you don’t have to belong to a certain political party to do so, you just have to care.

ONE was just announced as the winner of this month’s MySpace Impact
Award! The award recognizes ONE’s successful poverty relief advocacy both outside
and within the MySpace community and also comes with a $10,000 prize,
which will go toward ONE members’ continued fight against the global crisis
of extreme poverty.

Thanks to all of you who voted! Because of your support, the vote was
really never even close–out of the three finalists for the award, ONE
received about 75% of the total vote, a testament to ONE’s increasingly
broad recognition and support.

ONE’s MySpace community dwarfs that of almost all other organizations
and campaigns with over 110,000 friends. Super-volunteer Danny Castro created the
page over two years ago and still maintains it, spending about two hours
a day on the page.

Go here for more info.

“All of the people who design things in the world, spend all their time solving problems for the richest 10% of the world’s customers” Dr. Paul Polak, CEO International Development Enterprises (IDE)

This month the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum opens an exhibit showcasing inventors, entrepenuers, and innovators designing new and cost-effective solutions to problems facing the world’s poor. Titled “Design For The Other 90%” it highlights inventions that not only ensure people’s basic survival but gives them tools they can use to gain their own prosperity, for the long term benefit of their families and local communities. The New York Times Online has video about the exhibit and the Cooper-Hewitt website has a great interactive map that lets you discover technologies in use around the globe today.

The exhibit has six main areas of focus, shelter, health, water, education, energy, and transport, and the website features photos and descriptions of over 40 inventions. My favorite? The Q Drum. Why? In its execution, it underlines the main theme of this exhibition. A simple invention, yes, but if someone hadn’t taken the time to examine the problem and actually do something, design something, this “simple invention” would not be available for use today.

So, what’s your favorite invention? Take a look at the inventions online, comeback here, and post your favorite in the comments. And if you are in New York City and plan to go to the exhibit, let Virginia, who manages this blog, know; maybe we’ll ask you to write the next post.

Yesterday, our Marine ONE, Michael Castaldo and his family did a “double banding” of both Sen. Dodd and Rep. Shea-Porter in Rochester, NH.

Michael had previously banded two candidates in one day when he banded Sen. Obama and Mayor Giuliani at different events, but this was the first time he spoke with two elected officials at one event.

Michael thanked Sen. Dodd for his work in the Senate and thanked Rep. Shea-Porter for joining in a bi-partisan effort to defeat an amendment last week that would have severely cut life-saving and poverty-reducing funds for the developing world. He also thanked her for voting for HR2764 which passed the House and included more than a 2 billion dollar increase in US efforts to combat global poverty and global disease – something that the ONE Campaign was urging members to call their representatives on last week.

Good people on both sides of the aisle in DC are making real, and concrete efforts, to fight global hunger and extreme poverty. By recognizing their efforts on behalf of all Americans, we can encourage them to do even more and ultimately make poverty history.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd came to Nashua, NH, today to hold a rally about national service. A group of ONE members came out to make sure that the Senator saw, and heard from ONE Vote ‘08 while on the campaign trail.

After the speech, ONE members – both Republican and Democrat – were able to talk with Sen. Dodd about fighting AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, and let him know that it is an important issue to Americans.

ONE member, and staunch conservative, Kevin Keefe was able to give Sen. Dodd a ONE band and thank him for the Global Child Survival Act that he introduced in the Senate with Sen. Smith (R). Sen. Dodd said that he was very familiar with the ONE Campaign noticed the ONE shirts and bands in the crowd.

By organizing, and coming together as ONE, we are making sure that the poorest people on Earth are not forgotten here in the Granite State. Saving lives in the developing world is an issue that is uniting all Americans and through ONE Vote ‘08, we will make sure that all candidates from both sides of the political aisle know that our generation can and will make extreme poverty history.

Stars aligned for me to join a group of fellow Western Washington RESULTS members, 24 strong this year, to the International Conference in Washington DC for training, networking, and lobbying. I take the issue important to ONE, to Bread for the World, to Jubilee USA, and to RESULTS with me when I meet with or write to my representative and others in our nation’s leadership. Not all at once, but all are in pursuit of the same bottom line, giving the least of the earth their rightful place at the conference tables of the world. Until they are strong enough to sit there, we all can help find and hold them a seat.

The lobby day for Bread and RESULTS this year fell on Tuesday, June 12th, and it was an immensely busy day on the floor of congress with the voting lasting late into the evening, bumping a banquet reservation out from many we invited, including my Congressman Rick Larsen. But he took 30 minutes out of his busy day to spend with three of us his constituents.

My topic of presentation was a request for cosigning onto HR 2266, The Child Survival Act. I shared how I lost my newborn son to an infection discovered too late for lack of an antibiotic I could have attained at my local chemist for less than 25p. My second son, same infection, simple antibiotic, and he’s 16 now. Annually two million little ones, under five years old, are losing their lives due to lack of medicines that are available at our local chemists, local pharmacies. Even tho we no longer have our child we never stop being their mom, their birthday rolls around every year. and mothers in highly-indebted poor countries miss their’s as much as I miss mine. Just when we think we’re over it, someone’s infant or child-sized funeral brings it all back, all too often. These moms in these countries experience this all too often as a regular fabric of their lives.

At the Vote ’08 launch the previous day, Senator Frist shared something that effected me deeply. He spoke of a trip to Kenya, of how the local children come out to greet the visitors, and of how a boy had a toddler brother by his side. After introductions, when asked who the little one was, the brother said his name was America. Interesting name, said the senator. Yes sir, my mom named him America because he is alive thanx to America.

Bono had shared that when discussing what eventually became PEPFAR with President Bush. He shared what good advertisement these pills could be America, and to paint the pills red, white, and blue if we wished. I think that is what happened here. I secretly wondered why homeland security dollars weren’t considered for this.

I later checked the bills on Thomas.gov website for a weekly report to our Seattle group leader on cosigners, and in the busy-ness of the day, my congressman paused to co-signed onto the issues we asked him. And I’m extremely grateful, I wrote and told him so. We won’t always bat 1000, Babe Ruth didn’t either. But our congressmen and women are more than often parents, have parents, all really have good hearts that want the best for us and the for the world. Often they just need to be reminded in the tyranny of the urgent of the things that are important, and have expressed appreciation for those of us who do remind them of these important matters.

Overall I met with three local congressmen, two congressional aides, my Senator Patty Murray, and Senator Cantwell’s aide, not necessarily for the first time but first time in DC. A congressional breakfast. Dinner with Stephen Lewis as a speaker. Joint session with Bread for the World at American University. If I can do this, anyone can . . . . with some correspondence and planning, your congressmen’s doors are open and we are welcome there, in your district or in DC. It comes with our citizenship, our unique form of government, yes, “we the people.” I’d rather sit on the couch near them and interact honestly and graciously than carry a placard or complain of how it is, we can individually and corporately effect change, especially to be a voice for the voiceless. In our obscene comfort of the west, it’s at most a mild inconvenience to partake in these processes. Many of us have been inspired to pursue these issues. But now, I’ve had a taste of how good it is and how good it can become, of how we’re being heard and taken seriously, and I’m more than inspired, I just can’t NOT do this stuff. I’m no longer inspired, I’m infected.

Stay close, Sammi in Seattle =)

Presidential candidates often talk about faith. This campaign season is no different, except that the candidates often mention the fight against poverty in the same breath.

Most recently, while speaking at the 50th anniversary convention of the United Church of Christ, Barack Obama brought up the role that people of faith are playing in movements like the ONE Campaign. From the New York Times:

“…Mr. Obama said that religion has a rightful role to play in American politics, and he praised people of faith who he said are now using their influence to try to unite Americans against problems like poverty, AIDS, the health care crisis and the violence in Darfur.

While not all ONE members are motivated by faith, this reference shows that we are getting our message through to the candidates, and that they are increasingly aware of our efforts to make extreme poverty and global disease a central issue in the race to the White House.

Updated: Fixed omission.

Yesterday marked a milestone for the ONE Campaign and should show volunteers and members everywhere the impact of your heroic efforts.With the passage yesterday of the (fiscal year 2008) State and Foreign Operations Appropriation bill, the House committed more than $2 billion in additional funding to poverty-fighting development assistance.

There are a lot of hurdles to pass before the bill becomes law. Next week it will be debated in the US Senate, where fortunately, ONE Campaign efforts are already being noticed. For example, in a recent Senate hearing, the ONE Campaign was specifically identified by name to Senator Lugar when he asked how to create a constituency for development in America.

The process of addressing the emergency of disease and extreme poverty requires both electoral victory and legislative accountability. Yesterday’s legislative milestone is a credit to the hard work conducted by members of The ONE Campaign everywhere.

This is a great chance for us to thank the thousands of ONE Campaign members who called and wrote Congress in support of this monumental legislation. When the Senate takes up the bill next week, your voice can be heard yet again.

See below the fold for the ONE Campaign press release heralding yesterday’s historic vote.

ONE Praises House for Historic Poverty-Fighting Effort

$2+ billion more in poverty-fighting assistance is historic bi-partisan commitment in fight

Washington, DC – ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History praised the House of Representatives today for their bi-partisan support of a historic increase of over $2 billion in poverty-fighting development assistance over last year. The funds were included in the FY2008 State-Foreign Operations spending bill, which passed the House early this morning.

“The United States House of Representatives became a global leader today in the fight against treatable, preventable disease and extreme poverty and as a result bolstered America’s security,” said Kimberly Cadena, spokesperson for the ONE Campaign. “The increase the House supported will allow for the continued funding of responsible and effective solutions such as child and maternal health programs and the Global Fund, which have a proven track record of saving lives. The goodwill these programs create for America around the world strengthens our friendships with other nations and makes our nation and world healthier and more secure. Every member of the House of Representatives that supported this bill today should feel incredibly proud of what they’ve worked to accomplish.”

The increase applies to child and maternal health programs, basic education, global health programs to fight HIV/AIDS and the expansion of clean water programs, among others.

Cadena continued, “The bi-partisan support this historic increase received demonstrates that the fight against extreme poverty and global disease is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it’s a human issue. The urge to do the right thing resonates with all Americans and our elected leaders are responding to the overwhelming support their constituent members of the ONE Campaign have for these issues. It is imperative that the next President of the United States continue to do more, because America’s security depends on our action. Programs like these build goodwill for America abroad and a legacy of generosity and compassion here at home.”

Last fiscal year, Congress supported a $1.45 billion increase in poverty-fighting development assistance over the previous year after hundreds of thousands of ONE members wrote letters to their Congressional representatives. This year’s historic increase builds on that momentum.

ONE: THE CAMPAIGN TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans — ONE by ONE — to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is a coalition of millions of people and more than 100 of the nation’s leading relief, humanitarian and advocacy organizations.

For more information, please visit: http://www.one.org/.