Tons of people came and we finished all the kits in record time. We had 3 hours to assemble 1,500 kits – but it was all done in just one hour.
During that time, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle came by to help out, as did the band DAUGHTRY. We should have video of all that by tomorrow.
‘Til then, I’ll just have to apologize sheepishly for this very amateur camera-work. It does give you a sense of the atmosphere in the room.
We’re at the service project. It kicked off with short speeches by ONE President and CEO David Lane and an incredible Zambian AIDS activist Princess Zulu.
Right now, volunteers are running off to prepare kits for AIDS caregivers around the world.
The kits include simple items like wash cloths, cotton balls, soap, petroleum jelly. The kinds of things we take for granted everyday in America. And the kinds of things that can literally save lives around the world. Each bag of cotton balls, for example, will be washed and re-used for months.
I’m attaching photos below. They include photos of the supplies, assembly lines and packing up. Note the ones of people writing notes, every kit includes a handwritten note from the volunteer who assembled it – to the caregiver who will receive it.
I’m taking a bunch of video now too, but have to wait until I have silghtly better Internet to upload them.
I arrived at the location of our service project a few moments ago and immediately saw a giant display of pennies – formed in the shape of an AIDS ribbon. The pennies are a project by the non-profit Got Cents?
Todd, one of the group’s founders, told me that they started collecting the pennies after they heard a speech by the president of World Vision. Four years later they now have 6.1 million – the same as the number of people who have died of AIDS since the last presidential election.
To give a sense of the # of pennies 6.1 mllion is, Todd told me that if you stacked them on on top of each other, they’d stretch 6 miles.
He also told me that they usually use local banks to help supply the pennies when they go on location (out of the organization’s bank account) but that there aren’t 6.1 million pennies in the whole St. Paul/Minneapolis area – so they’ll have to drive these pennies to Minnesota for when they do this service project all over again at the RNCC next week
Megan Wilson of Population Services International had a chance to attend the World Water Week Conference in Stockholm last week and was kind enough to share her thoughts and reflections on the event.
Almost one billion people lack access to a safe source for drinking water. Repercussions from this are deadly. Each year, about two million children around the world die from diarrheal disease due to unsafe water and hygiene practices, constituting about 17% of child deaths worldwide.
The 2008 World Water Week Conference was held August 17-22, 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden and brought together key decision makers, implementers, and advocates to raise awareness of the global water crisis and identify partnerships and actions that can be taken to address this life threatening problem.
My name is Megan Wilson and I am thrilled to be working to raise awareness of the water and hygiene needs of the poorest of the poor on behalf of Population Services International (PSI) here at World Water Week 2008.
The conference kicked off on August 17 with dignitaries from around the world highlighting the water and sanitation issues that plague millions worldwide. The speakers included Anders Berntell, Executive Director of Stockholm International Water Initiative, Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar, Prince Willem Alexander, The Dutch Prince of Orange, and many others committed to this cause.
A lot of people have come by to learn about ONE and sign up for the cause. Here’s a sampling of the foot traffic.
Below, a couple of alternate delegates from New Mexico came by. They said they’d be on the convention floor tomorrow and will be wearing their new ONE shirts.
Here, a set of 3 delegates from Nevada came by to pick up some ONE materials.
A couple more pics of visitors coming by.
And this one is my favorite. ONE staff and volunteers were busy, so our new Alternate-Delegate-from-New Mexico friends introduced these three newbies to ONE.
The delegates, volunteers and brand new ONE members are pouring by our ONE Bus in Denver.
I managed to catch some of it on camera. First I’ll profile 3 of our volunteers: Erika, Monica and Allie.
Erika (below) and I chatted for a bit. She told me that she first heard about ONE 2 years ago from an email – and has been a big supporter ever since. This is the first time she’s been able to volunteer in-person – I’m excited to see more of her around the convention.
Monica is also a local volunteer. Here she is getting ready to head out to the 16th St. Mall in Denver to spread the word about ONE. Yesterday, she walked the “delegate-credentialing” line and signed up new ONE delegates for us. She was even able to get to hand some ONE lit and a ONE band to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
And local volunteer Allie also came by and was kind enough to pose for me by our bus.
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.
