On the campaign trail here in Florida we caught up with Governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. We saw Mitt in downtown Orlando on a stop along the trail. After his speech we approached the governor and commended him for talking about his plans to combat global poverty.
After the meeting with Governor Romney we caught word that Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was having an impromptu press conference at the airport. ONE members were able to chat with the governor and thanked him for his support. Gov. Huckabee was nice enough to take a photo with us before jumping in an SUV and heading off to his next stop. Ready, set, all GOP eyes on Florida!
Here’s the latest from ONE member Dan Robinson as he progresses up Mt. Aconcagua. There’s been some illness among the group, and breathing gets harder and harder. Once they reach Camp 4, they’ll tackle the summit. For those of you just tuning in, Dan is voluntarily climbing each of the Seven Summits and planting the ONE flag on top of each. Check out his blog at: http://www.dan-robinson.com/.
-Chandler Smith
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Moving on to camp 2….
We spent most of today carrying equipment and supplies from 17,500 feet to 19,200 feet. It was a grueling process but I felt really strong climbing up the mountain. The air up here is really thin and with every step it is getting harder to breathe. We will spend another night at 17,500 feet then climb up to Camp 2 tomorrow. The storm seems to be passing and there might be a chance to summit sometime next week. The views up here are absolutely breathtaking! We are just above the clouds and you can see a magnificent view of the Andes. I can’t wait to share my pictures with everyone when I get back!
8:48 pm est
-Dan Robinson
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Leaving Camp 1
Today we climbed from 15,500 feet to 17,500 feet. It is extremely windy at this altitude and there seems to be a really bad storm coming in. We will stay here for the night then return to Camp 1 tomorrow to haul equipment and supplies to the higher camp. I’m still recovering from a bad stomach bug and I have been having headaches during most of the day. This is getting extremely tough but all the encouraging messages and support has definitely kept me motivated. Thank you for taking the time to spread the message and support the cause!
This past weekend Nevada held its first ever early caucus. Like any political event, ONE was there. When I turned on CNN on Saturday I couldn’t miss seeing ONE shirts. But that was just one caucus, and with tens of thousands of members around Nevada and hundreds of caucus sites there are many more stories to be told than what was on the news.
A couple of volunteers have already sent in their stories of both easy successes and some frustrations:
It was a very successful day. In a 90-minute period I was given two separate opportunities to talk voters in my precinct about ONE and why it should be included in our party’s platform. It was well accepted both times and I had several people express their support for ONE after the meeting.
- Jack Winslow, Las Vegas Republican
Our Caucus went great–great experience! I had no problem submitting the plank. I was the only one to submit something that I wanted to include to the parties plank. Nobody objected and they all (32 people ) thought that it was a great idea. There was a great turn out at Bonanza High School. Several Thousand people.
- Rory K. Riley, Las Vegas Democrat
I talked up ONE to all my neighbors, explained the campaign, wrote down the internet source for members who seemed genuinely interested, distributed info and bracelets, delivered the resolution, and got myself elected to the county convention.
- Judy Michaels, Las Vegas Democrat
The caucus was a frustrating experience…but my frustrations were over issues other than my submission of the ONE platform. In fact, that was about the only thing that went much as I expected.
- David Entler
If you are a Nevadan ONE member, please take a moment to share your reflections from last weekend’s caucus by posting a comment below. It is important that we all have a chance to learn and find inspiration from your efforts.
Write a letter to the editor to your local paper and raise the profile of global poverty in the presidential election. We have a brand new tool that you can use to write and send a letter directly to your hometown paper. We even have some pre-written letters, talking points and writing tips to get you started. Check it out here:
I have a lot of volunteers, all of whom are dedicated and amazing people because they give up their free time to helping the world’s poor, but every once in awhile, I meet a group that leaves me slack-jawed. Chip Huber and his students at Wheaton Academy are one such group. As a school, WA has worked with ONE-partner, World Vision, over the last six years to build a medical clinic and school in Zambia. I have always thought this was “cool”, so when Chip contacted me to come speak to his class two-week intensive “Winterim” course on poverty and social justice, I thought it would be great to meet these “kids” in person.
We talked about the Millennium Development Goals and the upcoming congressional and presidential races and how the class could make an impact. I left the school excited about helping them make their first advocacy project a reality, but when Chip sent me a link to the blogs the students had been writing I was speechless. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite of the ten, but I found this line to be particularly powerful and in line with ONE’s mission:
I considered the possibility of presenting some perfect way to tell the world about AIDS, poverty, injustice, hunger, and water issues, but I don’t think there is one. The only way to spread this in a lasting way is one person or community at a time. I really believe it’s important (though not necessary) to have a relationship with someone in order for them to be influenced by your ideas and passions. As I’ve been writing this, I’ve realized that I’m contributing to the problem of ignorance that bugs me so much, and after being saturated with information over the past two weeks, that needs to change. –Josh Ellis
ONE staffer Amanda Epstein updates us from the ground in Kenya, where controversial elections held on December 27th have led to widespread rioting and violence.
-Nora Coghlan
Kenya has been topping international headlines after disputed elections between incumbent president Mwai Kibaki and opposition candidate Raila Odinga. Although President Kibaki was declared the winner, Odinga rejected the results after allegations by observers and members of Kenya’s Election Commission that the election was deeply flawed. Though tensions are high across the country, the worst of the violence has been confined to specific regions such as Nairobi, Western, Central Kenya and the Coast region. The crisis has already left close to 600 Kenyans dead and an estimated 500,000 more internally displaced. Though the worst of the violence seems to be over, there has continued to be sporadic violence across the country since the election and tensions are still high. Both President Kibaki and Odinga are under significant pressure internally and externally to come up with a solution. An international mediation team, including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former South African First Lady Graca Machel, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa will begin meeting with both sides this week. Potential solutions include addressing the issue within the Kenyan court system, a new election or a power-sharing arrangement in addition to other options.
While the unrest began with the looting and burning of shops, the violence has increasingly taken on an ethnic dimension. Though most Kenyans live in harmony regardless of tribal affiliation, Kenya has endured isolated periods of violence and tribal identities continue to be very important. Historically, whichever tribe has held the presidency has enjoyed greater access to wealth, job opportunities and better regional development. As has happened elsewhere in Africa, tribal tensions in Kenya have been aggravated by socio-economic pressures such as scarcity of good land, jobs and food.
Kenya will experience huge economic losses as a result of the unrest. In the days immediately following the election, there were significant shortages of food, fuel and basic supplies and many people could not find food to eat for several days. On the South Coast of Kenya the price of potatoes and other basic foods quadrupled overnight—an unmanageable price increase for families that were already barely scraping by. Many small businesses, homes and livelihoods have been already been destroyed. Transport was brought to a standstill in the days immediately following the election and is only now slowly starting back up. The Kenyan tourism industry will be significantly affected by the crises, which will likely result in serious job losses across the country as tourism declines. The unrest in Kenya is having a ripple effect across East Africa. Kenya’s port city, Mombasa, plays a vital role in the region’s economy and transport disruptions in Kenya are affecting fuel prices in neighboring countries and shipment of relief supplies to places such as Darfur and Somalia. Refugees from Kenya are also moving to border areas, particularly in Uganda, which could have a potentially destabilizing effect.
The Congo government reached an agreement (expected to be signed today) to end an insurgency that has forced more than 400,000 people from their homes.
“The conflict between the Congolese government and a rebel army led by Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi general, was part of the deadly legacy of the Rwandan genocide, which ensnared Congo in a vast regional conflict that began in 1996 and has limped on to the present despite a peace agreement formally ending the war in Congo in 2003.
According to some estimates, the Congo war and its aftermath have killed more than four million people, mostly because of disease and hunger, more than any other conflict since World War II.”
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Last-minute disagreements over a peace deal between the Congolese government, Tutsi rebels and Mai Mai militia threatened to scupper efforts to end fighting in the country’s east on Tuesday.”
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
