Mike Henry

It’s only been a week since my first trip to Africa, and my visit to Rwanda was a real eye-opener. One thing is for sure: I’m fired up about the work we do and I’m ready to make a big request of our president. But I need your help.

Let’s ask President Obama to deliver a plan that spells out how we can achieve the poverty-fighting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Hey, I’m like many of you. Before coming to ONE a few months ago, I didn’t know what the MDGs were. I thought the letters stood for Miller Genuine Draft, a kind of beer.

Of course, now I know that the MDGs are eight important goals that, if achieved, will help lift millions of people out of poverty.

Rwandans provide a great example. What I saw on the ground was powerful, promising, even jaw-dropping. At a rural school, I talked to 20 incredible young female students who had big goals for themselves and their country. I saw a room full of newly trained health care workers break into song and dance, ready to go door-to-door and start saving the lives of thousands of little kids. I listened to an inspiring story from a 20-year-old college student named Ngabonrra. He’s using medicine from the Global Fund to help treat his HIV. As you can see, the future of Rwanda looks pretty bright.

But I also realized that we have a lot more work to do if we want to reach the MDGs. I saw Rwandan women spending unbelievable amounts of time carrying water home for their families to drink. I drove by acres of fields plowed by not a tractor, but a single farmer and her hoe—expensive farming equipment just isn’t an option for her. And I spent an intense morning with babies who didn’t choose to be born with HIV.

The fact is, talent and hard work is universal, but opportunity is not.

Will you add your name to our petition and ask President Obama to help give everyone an equal shot at life by making sure we achieve the MDGs?

This is the petition text:

Dear President Obama,

Please lead a global effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals by their 2015 deadline. This effort must fight corruption, create new jobs, empower women and increase smart investments to beat poverty and disease. When you meet with world leaders in New York this September, please agree to a clear plan and commit our government to do its part to make this plan a reality.

The Rwandans I shook hands with, the students I hugged and the families who let me into their homes are all doing their part. Now let’s make sure we do ours.