ONE Bands with Moran and AAH

Jun 10th, 2009 5:57 PM UTC
By Field

Yesterday I attended a meeting on the Hill with Congressman Moran’s staff as the Director of the Arlington Academy of Hope, a ONE member, and a longtime constituent. ONE and the AAH collaborated on this meeting to share our common efforts to grow grassroots support for improved primary education in Africa. We met with Congressman Moran’s Foreign Policy Advisor, David Young. Mr. Young happens to be a ONE member – he wore an original ONE band to the meeting! Both Mr. Young and the congressman are passionate about development and human rights issues in Africa and very supportive of our work.

ONE member and AAH volunteer Tim Laramy and I spoke of the success of our model primary school in rural Uganda which was previously featured on the ONE Blog. Tim teaches locally and spent time volunteering at the Academy. He said the students’ appreciation for their education is apparent in their enthusiasm every day. It amazed Tim that the students walk and even “run long distances to attend classes at the Arlington Academy of Hope.” They understand that so many of their peers throughout their country do not have the same opportunity; less than 14% go on to secondary school. All of our AAH graduates have qualified to move on to this level and change the course of their futures.

I told Mr. Young that over 60 percent of AAH supporters and the majority of the board live and vote in the 8th congressional district of Virginia. In Arlington and beyond we have built strong grassroots support for our school, clinic, and other programs in Uganda and recently celebrated our 5th year anniversary! We’re so glad to have support from ONE members in the area that number nearly 8,000 in Congressman Moran’s district!

Mr. Young said that he appreciated learning more about the Arlington Academy of Hope and local ONE activity and was enthusiastic about the work that we’re doing. He also stressed the importance of staying in touch with our representative and encouraged local ONE members to continue writing letters and contacting the office to support lifesaving efforts in the developing world. David Young emphasized that a focused effort really has an impact on the congressman’s decisions. Amazing things can be accomplished when like-minded people committed to ending extreme poverty, like AAH and ONE members, unite!

-Jennifer Paul – Arlington, VA

TAGS: From ONE Members, Virginia