ONE member Jeni Barrientos recently attended a conference last Friday on eradicating poverty sponsored by the UN. She passed along this account:

I was invited to attend a conference sponsored by the United Nations and ATD 4th World for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and it was an amazing experience. The topic was “Human rights and dignity of people living in extreme poverty.” We heard heart-breaking stories from people that are living under these extreme conditions. There were stories from Peru, Haiti, Tonga, United Kingdom, and even from the USA. The one story that got me thinking was from a woman whose family was to poor to buy a whole onion, so she bought only a piece of an onion when she could afford to. This is a luxury for her to do. Can you imagine buying a part of an onion being considered a luxury? Basic food is a right, not a luxury.

The most interesting person that I met was a man named Michael Nyangi. He is a community leader in the slums around the Nairobi, Kenya area. He has started a micro-finance community based company called Lomoro Microfinance in 2003. He now has over 85 members and over 45 loans that have helped local entrepreneurs. His goal is to start a bank to help the poorest people in and around Nairobi, Kenya. He would eventually like to expand throughout Africa. He told me that about 100 people from his village accompanied him to the airport because he was “going to America.”

In the end the main point that came out of this discussion was that it is important, necessary, and vital to include those living in extreme poverty in every and all levels of policy making. Their input and ideas about what impacts their lives is important.

The day ended around 6:15 PM. I met many people from many countries and got to talk to them about the ONE Campaign. Many people knew about ONE. Those that did not, including Mr. Nyangi, now know about ONE. As I was leaving at the end of the day I was thinking about all these important people I just met. They are all leaders in what they do. And here I am, a mother of five, a grandmother of one, a widow and recent college grad from Pennsylvania, here at the United Nations with all these leaders. It just shows you that everyONE and anyONE can make a difference in this world, if we all work together as ONE.

-Jeni Barrientos. PA ONE Member