I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain as well as Dr. Henry Kissinger and Peggy Noonan on Sep. 20. This was my second time speaking with Senator McCain about our cooperative mission to eliminate extreme poverty and the importance of microfinance as a key player in making poverty history. We spoke about President Bush’s Millenium Challenge Corporation and the fight against corruption in foreign countries.

As you can tell by previous blog posts, Senator McCain is no stranger to the efforts of the ONE Campaign. I urged him to give a speech on global poverty and explained that this is not a Democratic issue nor is it a Republican issue; this is our responsibility as citizens of the great country that we live in. I explained that as the most powerful nation in the world we must step up to make a difference in the lives of individuals who need our help now.

I look forward to my next meeting with the Arizona senator at the end of October. One person at a time – that’s what it is going to take to make this mission a successful one. Until then…”make it happen!”

- Peter C. D’Aleo
Program Director, FORGE Microfinance Institute (ONE Partner)
www.FORGEnow.org