St. John Neumann’s Catholic Church in Reston, VA took a stand against poverty this past Sunday – in two different languages!

Hundreds of parishioners read the Stand Up Pledge after the morning Mass in English and then en español after the Spanish Mass in the afternoon. This bilingual action reflects the diversity of people coming together as one in the fight against poverty in this country and around the world. Erin Tunney and Damian Gullo coordinated the events at St. John Neumann’s to stand with millions of people worldwide who are committed to realizing the Millennium Development Goals.

-Lauren Conn

As we move into October, the push we started in August for ONE members to meet with their Members of Congress is still going strong. ONE Members across the country had over 70 meetings with district staffers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate! These meetings provided an amazing opportunity to let our elected leaders know that Americans really do care about the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. However, these meetings were just the beginning when it comes to building relationships between ONE members and their Members of Congress. We hope these meetings mark the beginning of a long-term dialogue in our ongoing fight for the world’s poorest people.

Below are a few more of the meetings that recently happened, and continue to follow the ONE Blog to check out all the future meetings and activities of ONE members taking action in towns and cities across America.

Visit with Senator Chambliss’s office in Atlanta, GA

On September 15th Jessica Given had the pleasure of representing 40,000 ONE members in Atlanta when she met with staffer Steven Meeks in Senator Saxby Chambliss’ office. Specifically, the meeting was to discuss the urgency of the issue of Climate Change and to ask Senator Chambliss to support 5% of any revenue produced from future climate legislation to directly address this issue as the poorest people of the world would suffer the most while contributing the least to the problem of global warming. The meeting went well and Mr. Meeks assured Jessica that he would make sure to pass along the information and our request would be heard.

Visit with Senator Mikulski’s office in Fells Point, MD

On Thursday September 17, 2009 Deidree Bennet and six ONE members met with staff in Senator Mikulski’s Fells Point office where they asked that the Senator sign on to co-sponsor S.1524 Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009. They were also able to talk about all the great activities that over 36,000 MD ONE members have helped with this year and discuss the Senator’s constituents want to take action in the fight against extreme poverty. The staffer’s also let us know that there is new email option on the Senator’s website and encouraged ONE member to let the Senator know their views through the website, so if you’re from Maryland shot them an email. It only takes a few minutes but it is important to let our leaders know we care about these issues.

Visit with Senator Crapo’s office in Boise, ID

On September 29, Matt Miller led a group of Boise ONE members to meet with Senator Crapo’s regional director, Bryan Ricker. Through the meeting they were able to discuss ONE’s mission as well as the need to remember the world’s poorest people in any upcoming climate legislation, the Water for the World Act and the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009. The volunteers were also able to discuss PEPFAR and how such life saving bills have direct ties to our national security interests in addition to helping those in need.

Mr. Ricker was interested to hear that ONE is over 5,000 strong in Idaho and growing. The meeting went very well and he was kind enough to meet with us for 45 minutes and assured them that all of the issues that were discussed would be brought to the Senator.

Visit with Senators Webb and Warner’s offices in Roanoke, VA

Before Allison Martin headed back to school for the fall she spent her last few days of summer advocating on behalf of the world’s poor! She coordinated a great group of ONE members in Roanoke, VA to introduce ONE and discuss global poverty issues at Senator Warner and Senator Webb’s local district offices. The volunteers were excited to represent over 46,000 ONE members across the state who come from all walks of life, faith communities, and political backgrounds to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease as one.

Trinity Presbyterian Church and Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center co-hosted an Interfaith Hunger Banquet this past weekend in Arlington, VA to unite the community in the fight against hunger. The Oxfam Hunger Banquet simulates the number of people living in poverty worldwide. Guests sit according to a randomly assigned income level and eat a corresponding meal with the high group enjoying a nutritious feast and the low group, half of all attendees, eating just a small portion of rice.

Pastor Bernie Nord and ONE Sadaqa endorser Imam Johari Abdul-Malik opened the ceremony with prayers from their distinct traditions. Despite their differences, these two faith communities are working together in the fight against global hunger. They welcomed Congressman Jim Moran to the podium who shared a message of unity reflective of his career-long commitment to human rights issues in the developing world. He invoked a metaphor of the human organism to illustrate how our lives are interconnected. He said:

“We really are part of a human organism, of really one organism, hence the organization that is represented here, ONE…A majority of the humans on this earth really don’t have a whole lot of opportunity to realize their full potential, so we as a human species will never realize our full potential…when we ignore so much of that body of which we are a part.”

At the end of his speech, Rep. Moran pointed to my ONE shirt and reminded the audience, “That’s really what this night is all about. It’s recognizing that we’re all one.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5ReK927cjo&feature=player_embedded

Faith communities in Virginia and across the country are organizing to raise awareness and take action to end the suffering caused by global poverty. Learn more about ONE Sabbath here.

-Lauren Conn

Yesterday I attended a meeting on the Hill with Congressman Moran’s staff as the Director of the Arlington Academy of Hope, a ONE member, and a longtime constituent. ONE and the AAH collaborated on this meeting to share our common efforts to grow grassroots support for improved primary education in Africa. We met with Congressman Moran’s Foreign Policy Advisor, David Young. Mr. Young happens to be a ONE member – he wore an original ONE band to the meeting! Both Mr. Young and the congressman are passionate about development and human rights issues in Africa and very supportive of our work.

ONE member and AAH volunteer Tim Laramy and I spoke of the success of our model primary school in rural Uganda which was previously featured on the ONE Blog. Tim teaches locally and spent time volunteering at the Academy. He said the students’ appreciation for their education is apparent in their enthusiasm every day. It amazed Tim that the students walk and even “run long distances to attend classes at the Arlington Academy of Hope.” They understand that so many of their peers throughout their country do not have the same opportunity; less than 14% go on to secondary school. All of our AAH graduates have qualified to move on to this level and change the course of their futures.

I told Mr. Young that over 60 percent of AAH supporters and the majority of the board live and vote in the 8th congressional district of Virginia. In Arlington and beyond we have built strong grassroots support for our school, clinic, and other programs in Uganda and recently celebrated our 5th year anniversary! We’re so glad to have support from ONE members in the area that number nearly 8,000 in Congressman Moran’s district!

Mr. Young said that he appreciated learning more about the Arlington Academy of Hope and local ONE activity and was enthusiastic about the work that we’re doing. He also stressed the importance of staying in touch with our representative and encouraged local ONE members to continue writing letters and contacting the office to support lifesaving efforts in the developing world. David Young emphasized that a focused effort really has an impact on the congressman’s decisions. Amazing things can be accomplished when like-minded people committed to ending extreme poverty, like AAH and ONE members, unite!

-Jennifer Paul – Arlington, VA

A group of ONE volunteers from Charlottesville, Va., visited with our new congressman, Tom Perriello, while he was in district and had a great discussion on global poverty. We came out of the meeting with a commitment from Rep. Perriello to the goal of eliminating extreme poverty across the globe, as well as a video testimonial on the work of ONE to make that dream a reality.

We spoke of our passion to fight poverty and preventable disease, explaining the varying personal and faith perspectives that united us as advocates at the table. The Rev. David Poist noted that his congregation is a member of ONE, and offered biblical grounding for the work we were asking Rep. Perriello to support.

We also delivered a stack of letters from 5th District constituents to the congressman asking him to support the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act, H.R. 2139. As I gave him the letters, I expressed my opinion of the impact that one voice can have in a room and said that we are “hopeful that you can be one of those voices in Congress.”

Two others, David Dierolf and Steve Neumeister, urged Rep. Perriello to support the Obama Administration’s foreign aid recommendations in the International Affairs Budget.

Rep. Perriello assured us that he would continue to do all he could to advocate on behalf of the voiceless who live in the poorest countries in the world. He informed us that he has already spoken directly with Chairman Obey of the House Appropriations Committee, urging him to defend President Obama’s proposed increase to the International Affairs Budget.

Before he began representing the 5th district in January of this year, Rep. Perriello worked in Africa as a consultant and lawyer building for sustainable peace in places like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Darfur.

Local ONE members are thrilled to have such a strong advocate in their representative – a person who truly believes that extreme poverty can be eradicated during his lifetime and will fight to see it happen.

After the meeting, Congressman Perriello recorded a special message to ONE members – check it out!

-Kristin Szakos, Charlottesville, VA

ONE staff recently had the pleasure of meeting some incredible humanitarians from Arlington, VA who shared their amazing success stories working to promote basic education and healthcare in rural Uganda. In 2004, John and Joyce Wanda, immigrants from Uganda, founded the Arlington Academy of Hope (AAH), a primary school in Mr. Wanda’s home village. Since its foundation, AAH has become a model school for villages in eastern Uganda with a high attendance rate and top exam scores. All AAH graduates have qualified to move on to secondary school, an astonishing achievement in a region where less than 14% of children ever reach this level. In addition to the success of the Academy, AAH has built a clinic on campus and also offers scholarships to graduates to continue their education.

AAH has partnered with Arlington Public Schools on a Global Reading Challenge, African curriculum, teacher exchanges, and fundraising projects. The Arlington Traditional Elementary School in particular has adopted AAH as its sister school and they collaborate throughout the school year.

Here’s one example of how AAH is transforming lives through education in rural Uganda:

Rachel is one of seven children raised by a single mother in Uganda. Her family was living in extreme poverty and marriage seemed to be Rachel’s greatest hope for survival until she was offered a full scholarship by the Arlington Academy of Hope. Rachel became one of the Academy’s top academic performers earning top scores on her primary level exams and receiving an AAH scholarship to continue her education. She now has become a student leader at her secondary boarding school in Kampala. Her mother still volunteers at AAH to this day even though her children have since graduated.

AAH is another great example of the impact that local grassroots efforts can have on developing communities in Africa and around the world.

-Lauren Conn

I just got back from Fairfax High School, the Home of the Rebels, where I spoke with the Leadership Class. In addition to planning the traditional standbys like homecoming and prom, these outstanding students are involved in several service projects throughout the year. Now they’re looking to raise awareness as ONE!

The student leaders quickly came up with a range of ideas to get the community involved in the fight against poverty from a visit with their congressman to a ONE shout-out on the stadium scoreboard! Expect great things from the leadership at FHS! More to come!

-Lauren Conn

I was lucky enough to catch an incredible performance by some genuine ONE rock stars on Friday night – and no, they’re not on tour this summer. It was a one night only performance in Chester, VA where students at Thomas Dale High School raised awareness by raising their voices at the annual Rock4Life concert. A 60-piece student orchestra performed on stage accompanied by the high school chorus and the local Offering Band led by vocalist and ONE member Jeanine Guidry. They raised thousands of dollars and all proceeds benefited UNICEF, a ONE partner, and the local Central Virginia Food Bank.

Students arranged and performed popular songs from bands like U2 and Switchfoot. In between each song, they educated the audience about global and local poverty by reading hunger statistics and facts, sharing testimonials, and showing student-made films. The auditorium was packed with over 600 parents, teachers, and community members who all jumped to their feet at the end of the performance!

These young advocates truly inspired me and their community by using their talent and passion for music to fight poverty. They even have plans to visit their congressman to share their efforts with him and learn about what he’s doing in Congress to save lives and prevent suffering. All ONE members can make a difference in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease by sharing their unique gifts and perspectives – join the students of Thomas Dale HS and get involved today! http://www.one.org/us/actnow/

-Lauren Conn

Students from the College of William and Mary in partnership with ONE hosted their congressman, Rob Wittman at a ONE Town Hall in Williamsburg, VA yesterday to discuss global poverty and American foreign policy. The event drew many interested community members as well as students, faculty and staff from the College who were as anxious to show their first district representative their knowledge and involvment in the issues as they were excited to learn about his plans in the 111th Congress.

Rotaract, a university-level Rotary club, first partnered with ONE on this event after a great in district meeting with the Congressman in Yorktown. The panel discussion was also cosponsored by AIDSTanzania, Students Helping Honduras, and William and Mary Medical Relief, all of which are international service trips led by William and Mary students to provide housing, education, and medical resources to developing communities abroad. Professor Michael Tierney, who leads Project-Level Aid (PLAID) at the College, an interdisciplinary program dedicated to offering detailed, accessible information on the flow of international aid, moderated the panel discussion.

Congressman Rob Wittman eloquently spoke about the need to prevent military intervention by promoting development and sustainable economies in poor countries. As a member of the Armed Services Comittee, he is especially invested in alternatives to the use of military force and employed the three Ds stool analogy emphasizing the need to increase funding for development in addition to diplomatic efforts.

Matthew Bartlett, ONE Senior Manager of Field Training and Development, enthusiastically relayed anecdotes to the crowd about ONE champions from both sides of the aisle, such as Senator John McCain and President Obama, emphazing the fact that the issues discussed are not partisan and can only be effectively addressed through bipartisan collaboration. It’s evident in the state of Virginia; this town hall with Williamsburg’s Republican congressman was the second of its kind in Virginia. Less than one week prior, Congressman Glenn Nye, a Democrat from just an hour further down the peninsula, participated in a similar panel discussion at Old Dominion University.

Christian Peratsakis, a senior at the College, represented the students on the panel and spoke to their involvement in international development issues through service, research, and advocacy. The Congressman congratulated the students on their activism and encouraged them to continue their efforts here and abroad as “ambassadors” of the United States.

We thank Congressman Wittman for his eloquence and his advocacy and 1st district ONE members look forward to a continued dialogue on these issues!

-Lauren Conn

The Old Dominion University community gathered on Global Health Day yesterday to host their congressman, Glenn Nye of Virginia’s 2nd district at a ONE Town Hall on global poverty and American foreign policy. There were no empty seats to be had in the Board of Visitors room as guests from outside the campus community also joined the students and faculty for this important panel discussion. It seems passion about fighting global poverty knows no limits of age or background in the 2nd district – a trend we see with ONE members all over the country who truly come from all walks of life. Graduate and undergraduate students, fraternity brothers and Model United Nations award-winners all came together to bring this event to campus!

ODU President John R. Broderick kicked off the event with a warm welcome to Congressman Nye, the panelists and guests. The Congressman began by saying that he owed his interest in international humanitarian issues to the organization represented by his fellow distinguished panelist, Brigadier General Ron Sconyers, President and CEO of Physicians for Peace (physiciansforpeace.org). Rep. Nye first traveled abroad with his father on Physicians for Peace missions and saw firsthand global health challenges in the developing world. General Sconyers, acknowledging the flaws in our own American system, emphasized the dramatic discrepancy between health care in United States and health care in poor countries. He also pointed out that medicine can heal across language, religious, and cultural barriers. Congressman Nye shared his experiences from his days with the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development. Both the General and the Congressman said that development aid is not only a moral imperative, but in the interest of national security for the United States. General Sconyers learned from diplomacy as a doctor that it is difficult to hate someone who saves your son or daughter’s life.

The students asked the panel how they could take action to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease. International Studies graduate student and ONE member John Applebaugh, who represented ODU students on the panel, eloquently encouraged his peers to stay informed and involved in these issues by becoming an advocate. He pointed to his advocacy work with ONE and cited one.org as an excellent resource to learn more about the issues and how to take action.

Matthew Bartlett, ONE Senior Manager for Field Development and Training, reminded the audience that we could only have success by reaching across the aisle to work together on issues that are not Republican or Democrat, but human. Congressman Nye applauded Matthew and ONE for finding common ground for bipartisan champions of increased and better aid to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB. He committed to continued efforts to collaborate with members of both parties on these issues.

Congressman Nye’s staff told us that he insisted on finding time in his schedule while in district to participate in this panel on the ODU campus after having interacted with ONE members in his district on several different occasions. This panel discussion was the first of its kind for ONE and a direct result of efforts by ONE volunteers to reach out to their congressman and engage him in these issues. A little advocacy goes a long way – keep up the good work and continue to keep fighting for the world’s poorest people at the forefront of the discussion! We thank Congressman Nye and his staff for making it a priority to have this important dialogue with his constituents during his very busy time in district – and we look forward to other congressmen following his example and hosting similar town halls in their home districts! GO ONE VA!

-Lauren Conn