Hawaii
Mar 31st, 2010 5:55 PM UTC
By Field
Monday was the first time I ever took the time to visit my Senator’s office. A small group of ONE members in Hawai’i felt it was important to personally deliver two dozen hand-written letters to Senator Inouye asking him to do his part in supporting the President’s International Affairs budget. These funds provide life-saving programs with resources they need to help others. We must continue to help those with preventable, treatable, and/or completely curable diseases as part of the overall strategy to eradicate poverty and make a more peaceful world.
I was once part of what we consider working homeless. Employed but not making enough to get a place to live. I know what it’s like to lose my car and then my job because of lack of transportation; and then worry about how I will take care of my wife and 3 kids. Yet my personal stories pale in comparison to what people living on less than $1.25 a day are going through. Young children caring for their families rather than going to school. Millions of parents needlessly suffering and dying from AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis rather than caring for their children. Today, I am only alive because of where I was born. Eventually I was able to get a job on the island of Oahu that helped secure my financial situation, and it is because of the caring hand of others and support from my elected officials during my lowest times. Because I am so blessed, I feel it is time I pay it forward. I believe the giving hand of our nation should go beyond just our borders, something Americans have always believed as a blessed nation.
That’s why I a member of ONE. That’s why I wrote a letter to Senator Inouye. That is why I took the time to hand-deliver my letter and 23 others from ONE who care deeply to see the end of needless poverty. I will continue to write letters, make phone calls, blog, tweet, and educate my community. Because as hard as it was for me in America, it is devastating for those living in extreme poverty. I want to do the right thing. I believe in my heart Senator Inouye does too, and I will continue to use my voice with ONE to inform others and reach out to my representatives to make sure they keep their promises to the world’s poorest people. This letter delivery was a small continuation of what ONE members have been doing for years. I am honored to do my part and serve with them all.
-Eric Butler, Honolulu ONE Member
For those of you who have yet to experience the spirit of Hawai’i, all I have to say is the weather is beautiful, the people are welcoming and the ONE members are DYNAMITE! During their ONE Workshop Saturday I observed an engaged group of ONE members and their friends come together to discuss the devastation of communities due to preventable diseases, reduction in crop yields due to drought, record amount of children’s deaths to common illnesses, and a lack of access to clean water. All while the world possesses the resources and the technology to do something about it. Then, I watched the members as their individual actions they’d been taking for years came together as ONE. Older ideas were shared and newer ones created, but together they were finding ways to grow their voice in their community.
Before we departed, letters were written to Senator Inouye and Senator Akaka requesting help in supporting life-saving solutions for those needlessly dying from preventable and curable diseases. This experience in Hawai’i, I’m proud to say, wasn’t a huge surprise though. ONE members across the US have some of the highest levels of enthusiasm I’ve ever seen! I welcome it and welcome you to join us at a workshop near you. Click here to register for a workshop coming to your area in the next few weeks.
As a Hawaii ONE member, I talk a lot about the Aloha Spirit— the Hawaiian tradition of affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. One of the interpretations of the word aloha is the recognition of the spirit of others, and the notion that we all share the responsibility to care for that spirit.
In a world where millions of people are without the basics— clean water, shelter, medicine and education, it is no wonder that hundreds of Hawaiians have called, written and visited our Senator, Daniel Inouye, asking him to leverage his power as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and exercise his aloha spirit to help fully fund US programs that help lift millions out of extreme poverty.
After multiple office visits in by fellow ONE members in Hawaii and a successful petition drive with more than 600 signatures, I decided it was time to take our message to Washington D.C.!
Yesterday afternoon, I visited Capitol Hill to meet with Sen. Inouye’s Foreign Policy aide, Mary Yoshioka. “Sen. Inouye must take the lead to make sure America keeps its promise in the spirit of Aloha to work with the world’s most vulnerable people to end extreme poverty and disease,” I appealed to Mary.
I explained why Hawaiians feel it is so crucial that Sen. Inouye uphold the President’s budget request by allocating $51.85 billion for the Foreign Operations Bill, which funds critical life-saving and development programs like PEPFAR, MCC and Child Survival.
As a Hawaii resident with family members in the Armed Services, I understand that it is not only in our country’s moral interest to help the world’s poorest people, but that it is also in our national security interest that the United States strengthen our efforts to fight global poverty, a belief publically shared by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mary Yoshioka said the Senator is a strong supporter of ONE’s issues and will “do his best” when it comes to the allocating President Obama’s full request for the International Affairs Budget and encouraged ONE members to reach out to other Senators and bring them together to support our agenda. She also mentioned the past visits from ONE members at Sen. Inouye’s Honolulu office and that she was impressed by the number of Hawaiians who signed the ONE petition.
Let’s export the Aloha spirit by helping the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty!
-Hawaii ONE member, Mary-Louise Dunigan
PS- Ask Senator Inouye to fully fund the President’s State and Foriegn Operations Budget here.
Last week, nearly 600 Hawaii ONE members signed our petition to Senator Daniel Inouye asking him to use his power as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the struggle to end global poverty.
The petition drive followed an April meeting between ONE Members Heidi Lum, Linda Birn and Kimmie Palpallatoc, and Sen. Inouye’s District Legislative Assistant, Barbara Sakamoto. At the meeting they discussed the important role that Sen. Inouye plays in appropriating the funds for all of ONE’s priorities including global health, child survival, basic education, agriculture, etc.
Check out the blog post from their meeting.
But they wanted to make sure that more Hawaii ONE members had a chance to weigh in on the discussion!
Last week, Heidi Lum met once again with Barbara Sakamoto at Sen. Inouye’s Honolulu office. This time she brought 600 additional voices with her in the form of signed ONE petitions.
Barbara was very impressed with the number of Hawaii ONE members that responded to the call to help the world’s poorest in such a short period of time. And once again, she confirmed how important it is for Senator Inouye to hear the voices of his constituents on these important issues.
Another big MAHALO to ONE Hawaii!
-Christopher Berg, ONE Field Coordinator
