Last Thursday, I and along with a crew of other Chicago ONE volunteers attended luncheon featuring Raila Amolo Odinga, the Prime Minister of Kenya. He spoke about the future of Kenya and Africa as a whole. It was the Prime Minister’s first visit to the United States hearing him speak was a phenomenal opportunity for me to learn about development in Africa from a local perspective.

Prime Minister Odinga spoke about Africans needing to work together to create a better Africa, one in which trade is effective and international relations are peaceful. What I found most interesting was his response to one of the questions asked after his speech. He was asked about petty corruption, such as parents bribing school administrators. Odinga responded that in this case, what really needs to be changed is quality of life, saying that if families had the opportunity to send their children to better schools, this type of corruption would not take place.

His local take on this situation dug deep into the root of the issues as opposed to skim the surface and makes a good case for how many small, local efforts can have a large-scale, international impact. I truly benefited from this great opportunity and will use what I learned from Prime Minister Odinga in my advocacy against global poverty.

-Megha Shankar, IL ONE Member

The ONE Campus Challenge is fortunate to be taking five students, who embody the qualities of ONE and the OCC, on a trip to Kenya from July 25 to August 1, 2009. This trip is meant to demonstrate to the five dedicated students how their tireless mobilization and advocacy work in the United States translates to real, positive change on the ground in Africa. Those selected will take what they learn abroad and use it to motivate and mobilize their fellow students in the fight against global poverty and preventable diseases in next year’s ONE Campus Challenge.

We are ecstatic to announce the five students:

-Bryant Shannon, University of Florida

-Tomas Moreno, Wofford College, South Carolina

-Stephanie Parrish, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

-Steven Thai, Luther College, Iowa

-Melissa Boles, Washington State University – Vancouver

On top of their incredible work with the ONE Campus Challenge this year, these students also endured an arduous application process. An initial group of 20 students was announced at the end of March, determined by the number of actions they had taken as individuals (meaning, without the assistance of their campus group). (Actions considered “individual” were those such as making phone calls or writing letters to Congress, signing ONE’s online petitions, submitting letters to the editor of their local newspaper about poverty and global disease, or inviting new members to join ONE.)

These students were then invited to submit both an application and a project illustrating to the judges how they planned to utilize their experience in Kenya to further raise awareness about the issues of extreme poverty in their local communities once back in the US. These projects were then reviewed by two separate judging panels – one consisting of ONE staff and the second consisting of ONE board members, partner organizations, and experts in development and advocacy.

Huge congratulations to these exceptional wanafunzi (students) and we’ll see you in Kenya!

-Maisie Pigeon

The Washington Post today reports that a new version of an old fungus is ravaging Kenya’s wheat fields and threatens to spread beyond Africa. Stem rust was thought to have been defeated 50 years ago, but a virulent, more resistant version is now posing a major problem for Kenya’s most fertile wheat fields, and could soon become a widespread crisis.

As farmers watch their crops – and livelihoods – wither, this outbreak yet again underscores the immense importance in supporting agricultural initiatives and research innovation in the developing world.

Excerpts below, full piece here

Nobel Peace laureate Norman Borlaug, the world’s leading authority on the disease, said that once established, stem rust can explode to crisis proportions within a year under certain weather conditions.

“This is a dangerous problem because a good share of the world’s area sown to wheat is susceptible to it,” Borlaug said. “It has immense destructive potential.”

Coming on the heels of grain scarcity and food riots last year, the budding epidemic exposes the fragility of the food supply in poor countries. It is also a reminder of how vulnerable the ever-growing global population is to the pathogens that inevitably surface somewhere on the planet.

-Chris Scott

News of a great development in Kenya ran on the BBC.com and in other media outlets earlier this week. On Wednesday, anti-corruption czar John Githongo returned to Kenya after four years of self-exile. During his tenure as Kenya’s secretary for ethics and governance, Githongo earned the reputation for being tough on corruption— in 2005, one of his investigations forced the resignation of several ministers over a scandal that involved state contracts worth more than $1 billion being secretly awarded to non-existent firms. After exposing the scam, Githongo fled to the UK because of threats to his life.

Githongo’s return is an important step forward for Kenya’s new coalition government, which was put in place after controversial elections set off two months of violence earlier this year. He is back for only two weeks, but his return (at the invitation of the new government) is hopefully a sign that Kenya’s new government is serious about tackling corruption and addressing some of the underlying issues that caused the election crisis. Speaking to the Kenya Human Rights Commission on Wednesday, Githongo submitted the controversial proposal of offering amnesty as a means of closing old corruption cases and moving Kenya forward.

Whistle-blowers like Githongo are vital to beating poverty in Africa and across the world. The fight against corruption and efforts to promote transparency and good governance help ensure that aid is spent well and channeled to the people who need it most. ONE is also proud to note that John Githongo currently sits on our Policy Advisory Board and serves as an important advisor on issues of accountability and governance.

Excerpt below, full piece here.

Addressing a public forum on fighting graft in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Mr Githongo said economic crimes must be resolved quickly and transparently. “The temptation to subject economic crimes to prolonged processes and the deliberation of committees not only delays justice but makes ultimate accountability less likely,” he said. Mr Githongo noted that there was a myth that corruption does not really matter as long as the economy is growing. “If you have high economic growth [and] a high level of corruption… then corruption causes political contradictions that leads to the kind of difficulties we had in Kenya at the end of last year,” he said.

-Chris Scott

A waitress in Kenya won a landmark case against her former employer and doctor last week on the grounds that she was wrongfully terminated and her medical records released without consent.

From the BBC:

“Mrs Ongur says she filed the case to focus attention on the rights of people living with HIV/Aids. She says she has endured hardship since she was sacked [fired] and has not been able to get another job. Her lawyer said the case had been very challenging as Kenya’s constitution does not expressly prohibit discrimination on grounds of HIV.”

As HIV/AIDS activist Inviolata Mbwavi puts it, “it’s a message to employers that people living with HIV and AIDS have got rights like any other person to work.”

The court’s decision is the first ruling of its kind in Kenya.

-Betsy Avila

New statistics from the GSM Association reveal that cell phone usage is taking off across Africa. The GSMA reported that African cell operators added 70-million users in the past year (a growth rate of 33%) and expanded cell phone coverage by an area the size of France. Around 66% of Africa’s population is now reached by a mobile phone signal, up from 62% in 2007. Some African countries, such as Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, already have coverage rates well above 90%.

Cell technology has enabled poor African countries to bypass the messy infrastructure and expensive start-up costs of setting up fixed-line systems. As a result, wireless technology is reaching isolated rural areas where fixed lines were never able to penetrate: while the number of African cell phone users reached 282 million in 2008, there are still only 35 million fixed lines on the continent.

For Africa, these new connections have the potential to reap widespread development benefits. Where roads are bad, fixed lines nonexistent and email rare, cell phones are forging communications links that are vital to economic and social progress. Everyone from farmers to health ministers to market vendors is coming up with innovative ways to harness cell technology. In Kenya, for example, the Kenyan Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE) linked up with Safaricom, the country’s largest cell phone company, to help farmers access market prices over their phones. For about 20 cents, farmers can use text messaging to get current prices for goods at markets throughout Kenya, allowing them to reduce transaction costs and bypass middlemen, who often charge below-market rates.

Donors are getting the hint that cell phones can help overcome deficits in Africa’s health infrastructure. PEPFAR, for example, is working with African health ministries and the private sector to set up the Phones for Health program, a $10 million initiative that will allow health workers to use cell phones from the field to input health information to a central database. The program is modeled after TRACnet (http://www.pepfar.gov/pepfar/press/84654.htm), an impressive web-based system in Rwanda that collects and disseminates antiretroviral treatment program reporting, drug shortages and CD-4 tests across the country.

In the long term, coverage and usage must expand significantly if African countries are to realize the full economic potential of cell technology. Evidence indicates that high levels of cell phone usage can fuel economic growth and even attract foreign investment. One widely-cited study found that a developing country with an average of 10 more cell phones per 100 people has 0.59% higher GDP growth than an otherwise identical country. Seizing upon this opportunity will require prioritization by both the international community and African governments, who must continue to combat regulatory bottlenecks that constrain the competitiveness of cell operators across the continent.

-Nora Coghlan, ONE.org

Britain and France will today announce a joint initiative to help send 16 million African children to school in the next two years, in partnership with international football authorities.

The Guardian: Plan to put 16m African children into school

At the East African Health and Scientific Conference in Kenya on Wednesday, experts testified that constraints in the health sector are exacerbating health problems in rural communities. Some blamed conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund in the early 1990s.

Daily Nation: Shortage of health staff hits East African states

An editorial by Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of Maryland, appeared in today’s Washington Times. The piece praises President Bush’s work in Africa, noting that this story hasn’t made headlines in the United States but is making headlines around the world.

Washington Times: Bush’s Africa legacy

-Chandler Smith

‘Sons of Lwala’ will debut in Nashville on March 27.

The film follows the life of two brothers from a Kenyan village, Milton and Fred, who were sent to American to become doctors. When they finally return, their parents have died of AIDS and they must find the resources to finish the health clinic that their father had begun to build before he fell ill.

Watch a clip below and learn more on the official site.

I don’t live near Nashville, but I’m looking forward to seeing the movie when I can…

Our own former Online Organizer Alan Boswell is now studying in Kenya and published an article in his local Illinois newspaper.

Best yet, he sent us the link to the piece via Facebook:

“here it is up finally. although it was actually published jan. 23, not the 30, which is important considering things keep on changing. they want me to do this every two weeks, so i guess i will have my own little column.”

Alan’s piece in the Aledo Times Record :

Not Just another “African” Storyline; By Alan Boswell/Foreign Correspondent

A few years ago growing up in Aledo, Kenya was nowhere on my radar. That this equatorial East African nation would soon become my home for a year’s time would have come as a definite surprise. That this place I have come to love suddenly became much less hospitable has come as even more of one.

Unfortunately, friends and family, who knew as much about Kenya as I did just a short time ago (very little) have watched as a flawed democratic election launched the country into the front of the world news’ headlines these last few weeks amid rioting, violence and political instability.

To many, another headline of death and instability stemming from “Africa” probably does not even justify a raise of an eyebrow. However, to international observers and Kenyans, myself included, the rigging and post-election turmoil came as a complete shock….

Read Alan’s full piece here.

-Virginia Simmons

A guest post from Rye Barcott and Emily Reynolds Pierce of the ONE Partner organization Carolina for Kibera.

The recent post-election violence in Kenya has stunned nonprofit organizations fighting to end poverty in the country, including Carolina for Kibera (CFK), an international NGO with institutional roots at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a partner organization of the ONE Campaign. Our work with youth at CFK centers on promoting ethnic reconciliation through sports, fighting gender-based discrimination, and providing primary health care in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. The past month in Kibera has been frightening, and we are heartbroken to see the hard work of our young CFK staff and volunteers, as well as that of many other community-based organizations in Kibera, unravel so quickly at the hands of feuding politicians.

People of Kenya’s six major ethnic groups live together in Kibera – east Africa’s largest slum with nearly 1 million residents. Although ethnic divisiveness is no stranger to Kenyan politics, no one anticipated the level of violence that has engulfed Kibera and much of Kenya. Swaths of Kibera have been burned to the ground. Many of our staff and volunteers have had their homes looted and burned. Our office and community medical clinic are located in the thick of the ethnic fighting in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, and are two of the few structures left standing. CFK member Fatuma Roba, 23, is a Digital Diarist for UNICEF Radio and Voices of Youth. Ms. Roba reported on the situation from Kibera for on Jan. 2 and Jan. 11.

We at CFK sensed in mid-January that the situation was likely to get worse before it got better. Security felt tenuous at best. Then yesterday, on Jan. 29, Kenyan parliamentary member Mugabe Were, 39, was gunned down and killed in Kibera. Mr. Were was a member of the opposition party and vocal supporter of CFK. When word of Mr. Were’s death spread throughout the slum, violence erupted yet again.

The violence reminds us that development depends on good governance, local leadership, and effective security. Our own effectiveness, as CFK, also depends on our ability to read and respond to events, and that is why we are currently concentrating on a short-term feeding program and emergency medical assistance to meet the immediate needs of our friends and neighbors in Kibera. Additionally, (more…)