Our friends at the ONE Germany office just returned from a very successful trip to Tanzania to study the progress being made in the fight against poverty. Carola Bieniek chronicles the trip in vivid detail (and great photos):

Last week ONE Germany organized our first ever Africa trip. We took actress Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, actress and singer Jana Pallaske and musician Rea Garvey to Tanzania. Despite all the differences between the 48 countries South of the Sahara we think that Tanzania can be considered as a good example for much of Africa: the economy has shown steady growth, which is in part due to good governance; child and maternal mortality have dropped; Tanzania has made enormous progress in primary school enrollment. Only a few days after the German general elections and before the new government has been formed we wanted to show our guests how important targeted and effective development assistance is.

We started out on Tuesday morning in Arusha at two local health centers. In Tanzania medical treatment for pregnant women and children under five is free. So we wanted to find out what this meant for the women. At the first clinic we were astonished by the sheer lack of things: there were almost no supplies and even the lab’s only equipment was an old German microscope. But we also met Agnes, a mother of two, who benefitted from the government’s efforts to eradicate deaths through malaria. The clinic informed her of the disease and handed her a voucher to replace the family’s old net. At the second clinic we saw hundreds of women waiting for pre-natal examinations, birth, vaccinations for their newborns, contraceptives or HIV meds. We came to chat with a couple of the women and Dr. Solomon Ole, the district’s Health Coordinator.

Asked what they’d need most we received different answers – a building to protect the women from the weather, an ambulance, an incinerator. And I somehow understood why it’s called development corporation: it takes a good government to set plans to defeat disease and unnecessary deaths but it also takes donors to fulfill their promises to realize these.

In the afternoon we took a tour of Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industries. The company ventures to break Tanzania’s dependence on foreign pharmaceutics. Together with the NGO action medeor they’re building a new plant to produce ARVs.

Day 2 was rather hectic: (more…)

Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is on the ground in Tanzania with Dr. Margaret Chan, Mr. Ray Chambers, and Dr. Tachi Yamada. She reports back on their second day:

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan greets a mother and her child in the pediatric ward of the Bagamoyo District Clinic, where the Ifakara Health Institute is testing a promising new malaria vaccine.

A one-hour drive from Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, is home to stunning crystal-clear water and white sand beaches, and also much history. It was an ancient slave-trading center and the port of disembarkation for American journalist Henry Stanley as he set off to search for British explorer David Livingstone.

Today, Bagamayo is home to a cutting-edge facility, the Bagamoyo Research and Training Center of the Ifakara Health Institute. Salim Abdulla, the impressive doctor who founded the center, gave the delegation a tour of the campus, and described how their medical research is fully integrated in to the district health system – meaning local residents can participate in tests of new medications at their village hospital.
We visited the 16-bed pediatric ward, where we were surprised to see three empty beds. Dr. Abdulla told us that 57% of the homes in the area own nets, and they have seen a decrease in the numbers of children coming to the hospital with malaria.

One of the most exciting activities currently underway at Bagamoyo is a trial of a new malaria vaccine for young children through a partnership of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, GlaxoSmithKline and the Ifakara Health Institute. Bagamoyo is one of 11 sites across Africa where the vaccine is being tested. The first child was immunized in May, and the trial will eventually enroll 800 children to test this promising new vaccine. Early data shows that it will protect at least 60% of the vaccinated children from malaria.

Learn more about the RTS,S vaccine here.

Learn more about malaria in Tanzania here.

-Gabrielle Fitzgerald

Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is on the ground in Tanzania with Dr. Margaret Chan, Mr. Ray Chambers, and Dr. Tachi Yamada. She reports back on their first day:

Our first site visit this trip is to the Amana District Hospital, which provides care to the one million residents of the Ilala municipality. The hospital complex was large and well-maintained, and was filled with orderly rows of mothers and their children waiting to be seen.

Amana sees approximately 1400 people a day, and delivers 100 babies. New mothers are given a bed in the maternity ward for six hours to recover from the delivery of their baby, before being discharged to go back home.

But what has traditionally driven the high volume of patients at the hospital has changed in recent years. In 2006, malaria was the leading cause of admissions for both adults and children. Since then, Amana’s malaria cases have dropped by more than 50%.

The drop in malaria cases is due to increased use of insecticide-treated nets, new anti-malarial medicines and better diagnostic tests.

Tanzanian health officials credit support from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative for this progress, and are confident that these numbers will continue to decrease as malaria programs reach a greater number of the Tanzanian population.

You can learn more about malaria, what it is, and how it’s prevented and treated, here.

You can learn more about bed nets and how they are distributed, here.

-Gabrielle Fitzgerald, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A couple weeks ago, the Tanzania Women’s Bank opened its doors for business in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam. According to the East African, the bank is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, where the World Bank estimates that women own 48 percent of enterprises but have the hardest time accessing finance.

Although anyone is welcome to open accounts at the new bank, it targets women who have inadequate capital to grow their businesses. While traditional banks require title deeds or other proof of wealth to open account, the Women’s Bank only asks for an ID and $2 in savings, making it much more accessible to women in a country where a third of the population earns less than $1.25 a day. There are also no monthly fees.
Bank officials say that the opening was the result of years of campaigning by women’s groups. From the East African:

“Women’s groups called for the establishment of this type of bank way back in 1999. They wanted a place where they would be listened to and where their needs would be taken into account,” said Ms Chacha [Margareth Mattabi Chacha, the bank’s executive director].

“It took them 10 years to collect the necessary funds. Their biggest challenge was to satisfy all the conditions needed to be recognised as a bank. So far, the initiative is a success,” she said.

Once the bank is firmly entrenched, the founders plan to expand regionally and, eventually, across the continent.

Although the bank is just a few days old, plans are at advanced stages to open branches in other Tanzanian towns.

“Many women live in the countryside,” said Ms Chacha. “Trips to ATM machines are long and costly. We will make banking available through mobile phones, a service provided by a number of banks in Africa,” she said.

Two weeks after it opened, the Women’s Bank now has over 500 customers, 70% of whom are women. In addition to helping women open accounts, bank staff also teach them basic business skills and money management. Officials hope that the availability of staff to walk women through the various steps and procedures will help make the process less intimidating for Tanzanian women, who like most African women are unlikely or unable to take advantage of formal banks. According to a 2006 World Bank survey, only 5% of Tanzanian women use banking services, compared to 11% of men.

Helping women overcome barriers to accessing credit and controlling their own finances is widely accepted as a key step in transforming communities in the world’s poorest countries. For years, microfinance institutions have targeted women as the recipients of small, low-interest loans on the premise that money invested in women is money invested in families and communities. A study in Brazil, for example, found that a child’s survival probability increases by about 20% when income is in the hands of the mother.

When matched with social and political opportunities, economic empowerment for women can have a multiplier effect on families and communities. So watch Tanzania over the next few years. It’s a country that has made significant progress in areas like health and education in the past decade, but this recent development might be the first step towards a new era.

-Nora Coghlan

Yesterday, within the robust walls of the US Capitol, four important players in the game of private-sector organizations met to discuss the importance of public-private partnerships, as well as US federal funding, to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Olutosin Akinyode and I attended the forum.

Lisa Bohmer (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation), Maurice Middleberg (Global Health Council), Jeff Richardson (Abbott Fund) and Jane Kambalame (Embassy of the Republic of Malawi) held a hearing illustrating the necessity of PEPFAR as vital to the effectiveness of each organization.

Many of these groups are funded and supported by PEPFAR and are examples of what the bill has done and can do in the future – increased support will allow them to reach more men, women and children with HIV/AIDS. The reauthorize PEPFAR bill will double the number of people on retroviral treatment to 3 million, including over 450,000 children.

All the information you need to make your call is here. (more…)

Idol Gives Back just featured Bono during his trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In the piece Bono was next to a woman named Elisa. A photo is below.

[Elisa was banished by her family when they discovered she was HIV-positive. The rejection led Elisa to try to take her own life several years ago, but thankfully she then got help from a wonderful local health care facility called PASADA and today she is on AIDS medication and doing very well. She has become a volunteer in her community, working with TB patients, and is engaged to be married. PASADA's work is funded in part by America, via contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and PEPFAR.]

-Virginia Simmons

The next clip of Bono’s trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, aired. In it, Bono meets with Deloy, a 14-year-old boy who lost both of his parents to HIV/AIDS. Deloy shared his “memory box” with Bono, a small cardboard box decorated in wrapping paper in which he keeps mementos from his mother and father.

Deloy receives help from a wonderful health care facility in Dar es Salaam called PASADA, which is funded in part by America via contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,

Deloy wants to be a judge when he grows up.

Below and above, two photos from the trip.

-Virginia Simmons

The first clip from Bono’s recent trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, just aired.

In the clip, Bono visits Eusebia, a former nurse and grandmother, and Sophia, a 14-year-old who was born with HIV/AIDS and has no parents.

Eusebia now volunteers full-time providing home-based care to adults and orphans living with HIV/AIDS. Eusebia lost three of her own children to AIDS and now looks after 7 family members, in addition to her work in the community. The clinic with which Eusebia works, PASADA, is funded in part by America, via contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and PEPFAR.

Below, a photo from the trip.

-Virginia Simmons

Just wanted to highlight a comment that ONE member Valentina Benson just left on my post about Idol featuring ONE tomorrow night.

Below her comments, also find a new photo of Bono from his recent trip Tanzania. Footage from the trip will air on Idol Gives Back on Wednesday night.

Valentina Benson Says:

WOW, this is going to be amazing! SOOO excited that Bono is able to touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on this issue. Think of all the young people who will give to this cause throughout thier lifetimes because of this…I got to ask hime a personal question after his speech in Philly on 10/21/05 and I think of his response daily. I asked, “How can I teach my students (5th grade) about the issues in Africa,’ Bono replied, “Make it an adventure, NOT a burden.” Well AMERICAN IDOL GIVES BACK is definitely an adventure.

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[photo caption: Caption is: Bono, U2 lead singer and co-founder of The ONE Campaign and Product (RED), in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with Eusebia Chilipwele, a former nurse and grandmother who now volunteers full-time providing home-based care to adults and orphans living with HIV/AIDS. Eusebia lost three of her own children to AIDS and now looks after 7 family members, in addition to her work in the community. The health care facility with which Eusebia works, PASADA, is funded in part by America, via contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and PEPFAR.]

On Wednesday night, American Idol is going to feature ONE on their special “Idol Gives Back” episode.

Last year we gained 100,000 new members after Idol Gives Back aired, and this is going to be another incredibly important moment to place the fight against extreme poverty in the living rooms of more than 25 million Americans.

The episode will air at 7:30/6:30c and I’ll be watching and live blogging (in case you don’t have a TV, miss it or just like to read our blog;)

Stay tuned for more updates as the air date draws closer. Until then, an exclusive sneak peak for loyal ONE Blog fans of our co-founder Bono’s recent trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he met 14-year-old Deloy. Footage from the trip will air on Idol Gives Back on Wednesday.

[Photo caption: ONE co-founder Bono meets with Deloy, a 14-year-old boy living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania who lost both of his parents to HIV/AIDS. Deloy, shared with Bono his "memory box," a small cardboard box decorated in wrapping paper in which he keeps mementos from his mother and father. Deloy receives help from a wonderful health care facility in Dar es Salaam called PASADA, which is funded in part by America via contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and PEPFAR.]

-Virginia Simmons