Georgia
Over the weekend, ONE member Daniel Brookman from Georgia’s 12th district and I caught up with Congressman John Barrow at his “Congress on the Corner” stop in Glennville, GA.
On behalf of the 3,417 ONE members living in his district, we thanked Rep. Barrow for supporting the reauthorization of PEPFAR, through which America is saving more than 4 million lives. However, we also told him of our concern about the recent House budget cuts which will put millions of lives at risk, including more than 58,000 newborns whose HIV-positive mothers will not receive treatment to prevent the transmission of HIV to their baby.
The congressman was kind enough to talk to us and described the tough budget environment and pressure from various political groups to make deep cuts in the federal budget.
We asked Rep. Barrow to stand firm in opposition to these cuts and to lead his colleagues in the House Blue Dog Coalition in helping to push back against the targeting of these programs which save lives, win us friends overseas, save us billions of dollars in military spending in the long-term, and strengthen our national security.
Feb 25th, 2011 4:02 PM UTC
By Field
Yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia, in the middle of an normal workday, a group of regular people sat down with Senator Isakson’s staff to discuss something extraordinary: saving lives and preventing diseases around the world. Sen. Isakson is the ranking member on the Africa Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he will have strong influence over US involvement on the continent, so it was great to be able to meet with him.
Following the House’s choice to make cuts of 40 percent to programs that fight AIDS and malaria and 25 percent to programs that promote long-term economic development and better governance, ONE members came out in full force to discuss efficient, cost effective programs that are saving lives and building a stronger future for people who might not otherwise be alive.
Sitting together in Senator Isakson’s office were ONE members, campus leaders and congressional district leaders along with supporters and friends from RESULTS and Bread for the World. In a true community effort, we fostered a great conversation combining statistics and hard data with passionate, first hand accounts of how these programs are changing real lives and saving real people. These stories of success are what need to become a part of our everyday conversation.
Special thanks to Senator Isakson’s staff for meeting with ONE and allowing Georgians to give a voice to the voiceless, as ONE continues to urge leaders to take a stand for the world’s poorest people.
-Heather Momand, ONE Congressional District leader, Georgia
Sep 7th, 2010 4:45 PM UTC
By Field
Last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson, (R-Ga.), was on Georgia Tech’s campus for the Back-to-School Barbecue, an event hosted by the Georgia Tech Campus Republicans.
![isakson_1[1]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/4967471905_c28428fe5e.jpg)
Me talking to the senator before his speech.
As a member of the campus ONE chapter, I took the opportunity to talk to the senator about our commitment to the fight against extreme poverty and disease.
I started out by thanking him for signing onto last year’s letter to President Obama, which asked for a strong foreign affairs budget.
He mentioned that he was on the Africa subcommittee and the Foreign Relations committee and understood the need for a robust foreign affairs budget.
I also took the opportunity to discuss the Global Food Security Act, and told him about the Lugar/Casey letter, which urges senators to bring the Act to the floor before the Senate year.
I requested that he sign on to that letter, because the bill would go a long way in combating poverty in African nations. Overall, the senator was very receptive, especially when we started talking about the Global Fund and its benefits.
Before leaving, I thanked him again and let him know that our Atlanta Congressional District Leaders would follow up with more information with his staff this week.
– Sharad Gopal, ONE member, Georgia
May 7th, 2010 9:14 AM UTC
By Field
Things were really BUZZING around the Marietta Square on Sunday, April 25 as over 500 people joined Marietta First Baptist Church, Grammy award winning band Third Day, ONE, Malaria No More and Nothing But Nets at the first annual World Malaria Day event to raise awareness and money.
Mayor Steve Tumlin declares Marietta, Georgia a “City of ONE” on April 25, 2010, with ONE members Kristi Wooten and Nancy Bauer. Photo by Kaitlyn Pack ©2010 WidescreenVideoProductions.com
The day started early as over 60 volunteers began streaming in to set up for the day. The afternoon’s events started in the Family Life Center. Paul Howell, internationally recognized mosquito expert for the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) at the Centers for Disease Control, put together a fascinating look at mosquitoes and the use of bed nets in the developing world. Nets were hung over air mattresses as a “village at night” was created for people to experience. Kids were welcomed into the village and were encouraged to sleep under a bed net – well at least for a little while. The new Bobby Bailey video, “When the Night Comes,” played as a background loop for people to view as they experienced the night in our village. Paul also had several containers of mosquitoes he used to show people how the mosquitoes reacted to the chemicals on the bed nets.
The children’s area featured a rock climbing wall, hula hoops and the opportunity to learn more about malaria and its devastating effects through the use of word searches, maps and other fun games. Former Atlanta Hawks and Georgia Tech basketball standout, Ivano “Newby” Newbill, led everyone in a basketball contest and a free throw contest. We had some pretty good shooters on the court! Star, the mascot for the Atlanta Dream (Atlanta’s professional women’s basketball team) was on the court helping Newby with all those great shooters.
At 4:30, we moved the activities to the Sanctuary where music newcomer Scott England opened the musical portion of the event. Scott performed an awesome, inspiring set for us. By the way, not only is Scott a talented musician, he’s a really great guy! I always feel a little bad for the guy/band who has the challenge of opening an event. Especially when you’re opening for local heroes Third Day! Third Day took the stage to a standing ovation, and, honestly, people didn’t sit down for their entire set. I had not ever met the members of Third Day, but what great guys – knowledgeable, passionate and just nice men. Their music is inspirational and so is their attitude. They played a fantastic set of four songs for us. But, I think the crowd would have stayed for hours if Third Day could have stayed and played!
Third Day performs with singer Scott England for World Malaria Day in Marietta, Georgia on April 25. Photo by Kaitlyn Pack ©2010 WidescreenVideoProductions.com
After the music, Third Day members stayed, talked with fans and signed autographs. Mac Powell, the lead singer, took the opportunity to spend some time at our mosquito exhibit, learning and asking some really good questions about malaria.
The good news and bottom line: At last count, we successfully raised almost $9,000 including a matching gift from the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. (www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org). That’s at least 900 nets – nets that will save lives! More good news, donations are still coming in!
Special thanks to Marietta First Baptist Pastor Bill Ross, music minister Paul Hill, children’s minister Lauren Waggoner and all the church staff, as well as church members Christina and Paul Howell, Karla Jacobs, Debbie Schulte, and so many others who made this event such a success.
-Nancy Bauer, Georgia ONE Member
Apr 7th, 2010 11:57 AM UTC
By Field
Check out this blog post from Emily Bergquist, a middle school student from Johns Creek, Georgia. As part of a school project she organized a ONE display and recruited more than 150 students to sign the ONE declaration:
Every year at my middle school, the 8th graders participate in a humanitarian project through our Language Arts classes. The task was simple; pick an organization or charity and write an essay and speech to educate your classmates on the issue and what the organization is doing to help. The speeches will be presented at the end of the semester and are worth about 50% of our final grade. In the typical teenager fashion most just grumbled and complained at yet another assignment. However, my mind was buzzing. I immediately chose ONE, but was afraid that in just one five minute speech I wouldn’t be able to communicate the gravity of extreme poverty and the incredible steps ONE is taking to end it. Just a few weeks ago, I saw an opportunity to show the over 12,000 kids who go to my school why they should care.
Our teachers told us that this year we were trying something new. Market Day. A voluntary event where we could set up a booth/exhibit to “market” our organization. Finally, I thought, I can show them what they don’t understand. Just over 40 out of 400 students in our class decided to participate. A little disappointing, but we’re fourteen-year-olds. What would you expect? I went a little crazy with the art supplies, and frantically contacted my Field Organizer, Sara Paterni. After exchanging e-mails I got wristbands (never underestimate the power of a free wristband to a teenager) and fliers sent to me. I created a poster, and did everything I could possibly think of to get people to notice my booth.
After spending basically my entire life on the exhibit for about a week and a half, we finally had our event. I managed to snag some speakers from my teacher (coincidentally a devoted ONE member) that I could hook up to a computer, and had a constant play-list of U2 songs going for over three hours. Grade by grade the students poured in, and thankfully I have a very loud voice that got the kids out of the queue and over to me. I managed to get over 150 signatures on the ONE declaration, and handed out about as many fliers and ONE fact sheets. It makes me so relieved to know that even the teenagers can get involved. They now know that they can proudly declare they are ONE, and that they can make a difference in the fight against extreme poverty.
-Emily Bergquist
Last week, ONE’s Keren Dongo and I had the opportunity to speak at two engaging conferences.
The first conference was a gathering of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) presidents, administrators, and staff at the 36th National Dialogue on Blacks in Higher Education. This is an annual conference organized by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO). A big theme this year was the importance of educating students on issues of international affairs so they can compete in today’s global market. This message fit in perfectly with our presentation, as we told the crowd about ONE’s mission and how they could get their schools involved. The group was excited to hear what we had to say, and asked lots of thoughtful questions about both ONE Campus Challenge and ONE’s Haiti campaign.
The next day, we flew to Atlanta for the National African Student Association’s very first conference, called “Placing an African Face on African Development.” The National African Student Association works to bring together African student groups at universities across the US. We got to lead two workshops there, and we loved hearing the student’s feedback. They shared their stories and told us of their plans to get involved in Africa’s development—one student even said “a lot of us send home money, but this is something else we can do to help.”
It was a busy 48 hours, but we’re excited to work closely with members of both organizations in the months ahead.
On Thursday ONE members gathered at Georgia Tech to participate in an advocacy workshop, the first of a series of ONE workshops that will be taking place across the country over the next few months. The event featured an in-depth policy update on agriculture and global health issues. We learned that close to 1 billion people around the world are undernourished. That means one in nearly six people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Investing in agriculture will help the world’s poorest people earn their way out of poverty. This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is the backbone of most economies and employs nearly two-thirds of the population.
We spent the second half of the evening brainstorming ways we can use our voice to be effective advocates for the world’s most vulnerable people. Before leaving we wrote letters to Senators Isakson and Chambliss asking them to support the president’s FY 2011 request for the International Affairs Budget. There are few places in the U.S. federal budget where dollars translate so directly into lives saved.
Overall it was a great event and I am encouraged by the interest and enthusiasm displayed by all in attendance. I am looking forward to working with the ONE members in Georgia as they use their voice this year to put a stop to extreme poverty.
