International UN Day in Seattle

After a week of meetings in Rome last week, Mark Brinkmoeller could have packed up and headed back home to DC. Instead, ONE’s Senior Director of US NGO Partnerships and Faith Relations spent a 24-hour travel day crossing the heartland to Seattle. We set a full schedule of events for him here, including meetings with faith groups, partner organizations, and even a concert. Still he never complained and the jetlag never showed. That is grace!

This year, International UN Day fell on Friday, October 24, and Mark was our keynote speaker. We wanted to hear how to engage the next administration, the next congress, and each other in order to lift the profile of the Millennium Development Goals. These are increasingly trying economic times and we feel far behind the curve. Mark embarked on a theme of hope. His interaction with the audience pointed the way. Measurements of progress are encouraging, and they open the doors to greater involvement. US funding has had a massive impact across Africa including TB/Malaria funding, antiretroviral treatment for AIDS, bed nets, and putting children in school. Through the grassroots activism of organizations that have made this a priority, millions of lives are saved and federal aid dollars over the course of this administration have morphed from Millions of dollars to Billions of dollars.

Saturday’s meetings included a relation-building coffee with leaders in the Seattle Islamic community. Mark’s knowledge and experience with Islamic organizations were extremely helpful. A new Islamic Faith-In-Action forum here in Seattle this winter will likely include the ONE Islamic Faith/ONE Sadaqa materials, and we shared the ONE multi-faith videos with them to use as well.

That night, the folk group “Real Folk” put on a benefit concert for ONE and RESULTS. Mark’s message of hope again resounded loud-and-clear encouraging us in our efforts to keep up the good fight in the north county. It’s gratifying to know that we are being heard and making a difference.

These events were also opportunities for the communities to take a photo with the traveling Jubilee USA Drop the Debt banner and sign up to ask the next administration to cancel the odious debts of highly-indebted poor countries.

Up here in Seattle, the group “Puget Sound Millennium Goals Project” couldn’t appreciate Mark’s support and encouragement more. Thank you Mark for an amazing week here, for promoting the great work of ONE and ONE Faith in the pacific northwest, and for helping Washington DC and this “other” Washington, um, “stay close!”

-Sammi Fredenburg

There’s no home-ish like Snohomish

Snohomish RESULTS and The Snohomish County Health District (a community north of Seattle) held very inspiring event to honor World Tuberculosis Day (TB) at at the Wired & Unplugged Internet Coffeehouse and the region’s ONE members came out to support.

TB is the leading cause of death worldwide among women. More than nine million people are infected and nearly two million lives are lost to TB globally . Over one-third of the population of the earth has been exposed to the bacterium and is according to the World Health Organization, a new case develops every second. Not everyone infected develops the full blown disease, but one in ten will, and without prompt and thorough care, will die from this disease.

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Students Sleepless, But Not Voteless, in Seattle

The ONE Student | ONE Vote series came to a close Thursday evening at the University of Seattle. The event was amazing — students, politicians and ONE partners all coming together to lead the charge for the next generation of student voters.

The African Children’s Choir was there - and if you saw them on American Idol — I can tell you that they are even more energetic and inspiring in person. The crowd favorite was clearly “Oh Happy Day,” and at one point I almost jumped up in front of all 450 students to join the dancing.

FOX News anchor and ONE member Carl Cameron opened the conversation with a video message to encourage all participants to become educated about the issues of extreme poverty and global disease. Mike Allen of Politico.com moderated the conversations. State Senator Ed Murray and UW professor Patrick Murphy participated as well as ONE Vote ‘08 superstar and Rwandan political refugee Natalie Sugira. Loyce Mbewa-On’gudi, founder and president of the Rabuor Village Project, also joined in the conversation.

ONE Student | ONE Vote has been an incredible effort to get students involved in the electoral process and each panelist has been a fantastic addition to the ONE community. I’m already looking forward to the lasting effects that students will have on the election and all they will accomplish between now and November 2008.

-Chandler Smith