ONE Regional Faith Organizer Joe Mason‘s question on faith, advocacy and development got answered during a recent White House Q&A. Here’s his report:
Recently, the White House hosted an online Q&A session on innovation for global development. Since the subject is a passion of mine, I was immediately prompted to submit a question to USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah.
Last Saturday, the town of Dexter, Mich., came together to celebrate Airplane Day, a unique advocacy event that commemorates the life and legacy of Laurence Carolin, a Dexter teen who passed away due to brain cancer two years ago.
Laurence was a truly incredible and selfless individual who was passionately involved with ONE and committed to raising awareness about the fight against poverty and disease. He even dedicated the last year of his life to this cause and donated all of his Make-A-Wish Foundation money to the United Nations Foundation, one of ONE’s partners. Laurence’s compassion was so inspiring that he was not only invited to meet Bono (a co-founder of ONE), but even inspired his family and friends to commit to carrying on his legacy of activism. Airplane Day is the culmination of this promise on the date that marks Laurence’s arrival in the US after he was adopted from his birth country of South Korea.
ONE member Heather James reports on a faith event in Washington state.
Saturday morning was incredible. Braving construction chaos and downtown parking, a group of 25 interested (and interesting) everyday citizens of Washington State converged in Tacoma to attend a ONE Faith workshop with Jonathan Young, our regional field director and Adam Phillips, manager of faith advocacy at ONE.
We learned about initiatives for global health and poverty relief, and how these things relate to our faith communities. Our goal for the morning? To come away with at least one practical thing a faith community could do to make a difference in the life of one of the 1.5 billion people living in extreme poverty.
Regional Field Organizer Tzviatko Chiderov reports on a letter-writing event in Chicago yesterday. This piece is part of a larger blog series on transparency in the extractives industry. Stay tuned for more updates on this topic.
We had a great event for ONE members in Chicago yesterday. A group of all ages and backgrounds gathered at Robert Morris University downtown to hear what ONE is all about, learn of our objectives for the new year, see living proof of smart, effective foreign aid, and find ways to get more involved in their communities.
In fact, almost all of our attendees took several important actions during the hour-long meeting. They wrote letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in support of greater transparency, and encouraged the Commission to pass a strong rule requiring companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments for access to their natural resources.
ONE members enjoyed support from elected leaders, presidential candidates and voters from both political parties and all walks of life in the days leading up to today’s Florida primary. ONE Vote Organizer Thomas Leary reports.
Last week, only days to go before Florida voters cast their ballots, fellow ONE member Zach Lamb and I attended a State of the Union watch party hosted by the Jacksonville Young Democrats, a group eager to help build support for the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Since ONE is a nonpartisan organization, I suggested that promoting ONE within the community might be a great opportunity to reach out and partner with the Young Republicans. And so began a fun few days delivering on ONE Vote 2012.
ONE Vote Organizer Charlie Harris reports from the Florida primary.
In my last post, I showed you some of the really cool things that can happen in a day in the life of a ONE Vote organizer. But sometimes, things don’t always go as planned. Such has been the case for my recent exploits down here in the Sunshine State in the build up to the primary. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to complain about being near the beach, but patience is definitely a virtue on the campaign trail.
Thursday, I made the two-hour trek down to Pensacola, Fla., from where I am staying with family in Panama City Beach. As soon as I arrived at what was to be an event with presidential candidate Sen. Rick Santorum, a torrential downpour made the event soggy and unpleasant for someone who forgot their umbrella. But luckily, I had a cool ONE hoodie nearby (shameless ONE Store plug, check them out). To my dismay, the crowd gathered was told that Senator Santorum couldn’t land due to the severe weather threat, and thus I trudged back to my car for what was not looking like a fun ride back. But when life gives you severe weather that makes road conditions hazardous, get FroYo until the storm passes!
Rana Abuhilal is a 17-year-old ONE member from Dublin, Ohio. She wanted to share an interview she did with a teenager in her community from Sierra Leone, who is doing amazing things for her country halfway across the world.
Tabetha John left her home in Sierra Leone to live in the United States at age six. Ten years later, she continues to stay connected to her home country donating clothes, books and more to Africa.
Born in Freetown, Tabetha grew up around tropical beaches and had a great family. But on a recent trip to Sierra Leone, Tabetha said she witnessed poverty at a whole other level. After Sierra Leone’s civil war, many people lost their homes, and even more than that.
“A lot of people on the streets are missing limbs. I’ve seen homeless people missing their arms, or missing part of their leg,” she says. “A lot of [people] have scars on their faces too.”
Seeing these extreme cases of poverty motivated her. On the other side of the world, Tabetha gives back to Sierra Leone by donating clothes, shoes and books to the homeless.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
