Here’s a great movie to add to your Netflix queue: “OKA!” It follows the story of Larry, a young American ethnomusicologist who spends much of his career documenting the music of the Bayaka pygmies of Yandombe, deep in the lush rainforests of the Central African Republic. On a fund raising trip to the States, Larry discovers that he is ill and cannot go back to Yandombe. Despite the doctor’s orders, he decides to go back — he has a feeling that the Bayaka people need him.
And they do. When Larry arrives, he finds out that a timber corporation is threatening to drive out the Bayaka people from their homes, changing their traditional way of life. Despite Larry’s illness, he helps the Bayaka figure out a way to keep their culture, music and dignity — and learns a lot about life along the way.
With its colorful visuals, powerful soundtrack and moving storyline, “OKA!” offers a rare glimpse into the daily life of one of the most remote peoples on the planet. Read more about the film here.
If you’ve been following the ONE blog these past few months, you certainly noted that the David Crowder*Band took ONE with them on their farewell 7 Tour. Over 34 sold out dates nationwide, the guys made it a priority to not only deliver an inspirational set of songs but mobilize their fans to take action and join up with ONE to fight the famine in the Horn of Africa.
In case you missed ONE and (RED)’s World AIDS Day event on Twitter earlier today, you can watch a recorded video of our event in the player below. President Obama made a bold commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS, former President George W. Bush and President Jakaya Kikwete joined us from Tanzania, and President Bill Clinton brainstormed real solutions to the AIDS epidemic.
Note that the event starts at 16:20:
In addition, here’s a recap of our World AIDS Day conversation on social media:
For World AIDS Day, the White House is hosting a live question-and-answer session with Gayle Smith, special assistant to the President, and Ambassador Eric Goosby, the US global AIDS coordinator and senior director for development and democracy at the White House today at 2:30 p.m. It’s the perfect event to attend if you have lingering questions on HIV/AIDS after our World AIDS Day event on YouTube.
Submit your questions on their Facebook page, Twitter using the hashtag #WHChat, or on their webform. You can watch it in the player below (the screen will go live near the event time) or on the White House’s live page.
Today at 10 a.m. ET, ONE and (RED) are hosting an incredible World AIDS Day to highlight the progress that has been made in the last 10 years in the fight against global AIDS. President Obama, ONE cofounder Bono, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Alicia Keys and others will be in attendance. The event will be moderated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. They’ll also be taking questions from ONE members, so be sure to stay tuned for the Q&A session at the end.
Watch the event in the player below, or go to our YouTube channel to watch it. We’ll be live-tweeting the event on our Twitter account, @ONECampaign, using the hashtag #endofAIDS.
Meet Makemende. He’s a fictional superhero character from Kenya afropop group Just A Band’s viral music video, “Ha-he.” In the video, the first to become “viral” in Kenya, he sends robbers fleeing, fights off masked kidnappers and rescues his heroine — all with a sense of cool and style that leaves audiences envious. The character Makemende has become an international icon since the video launched, earning him a huge national following and acclaim from the likes of MTV, Fast Company and CNN International. You could almost say he’s Kenya’s version of the “Old Spice man!”
Get ready to take part in one of the largest World AIDS Day online events ever. Next Thursday, December 1st, ONE, (RED) and an impressive list of partners and influencers are hosting a live broadcast event with an amazing group of people –- and we want you at the table, too.
The event, “The Beginning of the End of AIDS,” is a live discussion powered by YouTube, featuring former Presidents George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, Bono, Alicia Keys and more. The panel -– with help from partners at the Tema Clinic in Ghana, Keep a Child Alive, the Bush Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Saddleback Church and others — will tackle key questions on the fight against AIDS, including where we are today, where we’re falling short, and what it’s going to take to end this preventable disease for good.
This is where you come in: we need your questions for the panel. Take a minute to watch this video from ONE CEO Michael Elliott above and visit www.youtube.com/TheONECampaign to submit your question on our YouTube channel now. Once you’re done, spread the word and ask your friends and family to vote on your question so we can present it to our distinguished panel.
AIDS used to be a death sentence. Now, remarkably, we could be looking at the beginning of the end of AIDS if certain steps are taken. So, be sure to ask your question now and mark your calendar for Thursday, December 1st from 10 to 12 p.m. ET to join our online YouTube event.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
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.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
