“It’s a beautiful day/ Don’t let it get away.”

U2′s “Beautiful Day” song must have been written on a day like this past Saturday in Seattle. As volunteers from around the Pacific Northwest gathered to hit the streets with the message of vaccines, there was not a cloud in the sky. And for that reason, those lyrics echoed in my head as I challenged myself to talk to as many people as I possibly could about the ONE Campaign. I figured talking to hundreds of strangers about global poverty would be draining, but at the end of the five-hour frenzy, I actually felt incredibly inspired. I never could have guessed how invigorating it would be to add member after member to ONE or to spark someone’s realization that their unique voice could be an incredibly powerful tool.

Sometimes the conversation started with difficulty because let’s face it, the facts are completely overwhelming. Once I began to talk about extreme poverty around the world, people’s eyes glazed over and they absentmindedly reached for their wallet as if on autopilot to fork over a few bucks and go on their way. “No, we don’t want your money,” I would say. That seemed to penetrate through people’s blank stare and grab attention. “We don’t want your money. We want your voice.” Now, let’s talk about the solution.

If the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) is given adequate funding at the June 13 conference, they can save the lives of 4 million children, nearly double the number of ONE members, in five years. Put into context, every single ONE member has the opportunity to speak out for two children somewhere in the world who don’t otherwise have a voice. Put all together, these voices have the potential to make a clamor that echoes around the world.

Just as the U2 concert is a catalyst to engage fans with ONE, parallel movements are building all over the country. In two weeks, 1,000 young people in their 20s and 30s will gather in Seattle to party… (wait for it…) They will Party With A Purpose! This year, they echo the sentiments of ONE to say that vaccines are the most cost-effective way to save lives and prevent disease for a lifetime. And I think people are going to listen because when 1,000 young people dressed in cocktail attire decide to make tuberculosis vaccines the topic of conversation on a Friday night, they make quite the statement.

As I heard the deafening cheers of U2 fans packed in Seattle on Saturday, I realized this is how loud unified voices can be. What would it be like if all 75,000 fans marched right out of the stadium all the way to our state’s capital? What if they could speak together to say that extreme poverty around the world is not acceptable? What if they stood firm together that something must be done to end extreme global poverty?

This is what ONE is doing, one city at a time, to create a global movement that says enough is enough. In Seattle, I am proud to say that in one afternoon, an incredible group of volunteers added 3,620 new ONE members to the movement!

That is the power of one voice multiplied around the world. We are ONE, are you?

-Stephanie Grow, ONE member

On Tuesday, July 6th, Global Washington unveiled its policy paper at an event hosted by Seattle University. Over 400 people attended to hear featured speaker Senator Maria Cantwell, USAID Chief Innovation Officer Maura O’Neill, and the Global Washington member panelists speak on aid, trade, public-private partnerships, and education. It was an exciting day for the global development sector in Washington State.

You can read more about this event in our recap here.

-Bookda Gheisar

Speakers included Dr. Gary Goldbaum, director of the Snohomish Health District, and Teresa Rugg, a Snohomish County resident who spoke of her insights into the connection between HIV and tuberculosis in Africa. As Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN recently stated, in this day and age, TB somewhere in the world could quickly become TB anywhere in the world. Education and awareness is a frontline defense in preventing an epidemic. And evenings like this bring us together so those afflicted, and those close to those afflicted, needn’t feel so alone.

As Dr. Goldbaum told the local newspaper, The Everett Herald, “Locally our concern is preventing tuberculosis and HIV coming together. We are always on guard and encourage screening for HIV but we are always sensitive about TB and HIV together.”

An airborne disease, tuberculosis is particularly dangerous for those infected with HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated one-third of those living with HIV are also infected with tuberculosis, and it’s responsible for nearly half of all AIDS deaths.

“People that are HIV positive can get started on medication and not develop AIDS for a long time,” Goldbaum said. “But we have new cases of HIV and AIDS — we are not doing enough. They are preventable.”

-Sammi Fredenburg

This year, International UN Day fell on Friday, October 24, and Mark was our keynote speaker. We wanted to hear how to engage the next administration, the next congress, and each other in order to lift the profile of the Millennium Development Goals. These are increasingly trying economic times and we feel far behind the curve. Mark embarked on a theme of hope. His interaction with the audience pointed the way. Measurements of progress are encouraging, and they open the doors to greater involvement. US funding has had a massive impact across Africa including TB/Malaria funding, antiretroviral treatment for AIDS, bed nets, and putting children in school. Through the grassroots activism of organizations that have made this a priority, millions of lives are saved and federal aid dollars over the course of this administration have morphed from Millions of dollars to Billions of dollars.

Saturday’s meetings included a relation-building coffee with leaders in the Seattle Islamic community. Mark’s knowledge and experience with Islamic organizations were extremely helpful. A new Islamic Faith-In-Action forum here in Seattle this winter will likely include the ONE Islamic Faith/ONE Sadaqa materials, and we shared the ONE multi-faith videos with them to use as well.

That night, the folk group “Real Folk” put on a benefit concert for ONE and RESULTS. Mark’s message of hope again resounded loud-and-clear encouraging us in our efforts to keep up the good fight in the north county. It’s gratifying to know that we are being heard and making a difference.

These events were also opportunities for the communities to take a photo with the traveling Jubilee USA Drop the Debt banner and sign up to ask the next administration to cancel the odious debts of highly-indebted poor countries.

Up here in Seattle, the group “Puget Sound Millennium Goals Project” couldn’t appreciate Mark’s support and encouragement more. Thank you Mark for an amazing week here, for promoting the great work of ONE and ONE Faith in the pacific northwest, and for helping Washington DC and this “other” Washington, um, “stay close!”

-Sammi Fredenburg

TB is the leading cause of death worldwide among women. More than nine million people are infected and nearly two million lives are lost to TB globally . Over one-third of the population of the earth has been exposed to the bacterium and is according to the World Health Organization, a new case develops every second. Not everyone infected develops the full blown disease, but one in ten will, and without prompt and thorough care, will die from this disease.

Songs were shared and dedicated to loved ones lost. Stories were shared of grandparents, parents, and individuals themselves who were residents of sanatoriums in the past century, one who was an inpatient many years ago at the same Denver facility that treated Andrew Speaker last year, the lawyer who made news for the cross-atlantic flight with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

In America in the 30’s and 40’s this disease was referred to as “consumption” as it consumes the body from the inside, a dreadful airborne illness. Some of those who shared were mothers of young children, who saw their children once a month thru a window of the building, for months or even years at a time.

Our Snohomish group leader, Teresa Rugg, experienced deep personal loss when her close friend Dr. Claudia Lacson, a close friend from graduate school, lost her life to TB here in America just three and a half years ago. She was married to Romel, who, ironically was a behavioral scientist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at the time of Claudia’s death. They also lost their baby Emma, who was born prematurely due to this tragedy. Romel Lacson has started a project called the “TB PhotoVoice” in which cameras are given to people affected by TB and they share their reflections about this preventable and curable disease. The website is www.tbphotovoice.org.

We still have resolutions and bills that are active this year for funding of TB, both domestically and globally here.

Aaron Reardon, the County Executive here in Snohomish County, proclaimed March 24th as the first annual World TB Day.

Thank you, and great job Snohomish RESULTS!

Stay close,

sammi in seattle

The African Children’s Choir was there – and if you saw them on American Idol — I can tell you that they are even more energetic and inspiring in person. The crowd favorite was clearly “Oh Happy Day,” and at one point I almost jumped up in front of all 450 students to join the dancing.

FOX News anchor and ONE member Carl Cameron opened the conversation with a video message to encourage all participants to become educated about the issues of extreme poverty and global disease. Mike Allen of Politico.com moderated the conversations. State Senator Ed Murray and UW professor Patrick Murphy participated as well as ONE Vote ’08 superstar and Rwandan political refugee Natalie Sugira. Loyce Mbewa-On’gudi, founder and president of the Rabuor Village Project, also joined in the conversation.

ONE Student | ONE Vote has been an incredible effort to get students involved in the electoral process and each panelist has been a fantastic addition to the ONE community. I’m already looking forward to the lasting effects that students will have on the election and all they will accomplish between now and November 2008.

-Chandler Smith