Katie Meyler’s childhood wasn’t easy. She was poor growing up in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. She didn’t have the money to fit in and escape her sometimes traumatic home life. Then, she went to Central America and experienced real poverty. She met “kids with big smiles with no shoes” and was inspired to do something about it. When she was nervous about starting her own organization, More Than Me, her friends encouraged her to “get over herself” — because it isn’t about her, it’s about them. Watch Katie’s amazing story in her exclusive video for ONE:
In the small West African country of Liberia, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, there’s a slum called West Point. That’s where a girl from New Jersey -– Katie Meyler -– met Elizabeth, and founded an organization called More Than Me. Katie moved to Liberia after 14 years of civil war destroyed much of Liberia’s economy, and killed approximately 250,000 people. Many of the orphaned children Katie met had few options, and none of them was a quality education. Since then, More Than Me has grown to support scholarships for more than 100 children in Liberia.
Katie, a photographer, activist and ONE supporter, exemplifies everything that we love about our ONE members: she’s passionate, emotional, creative and persuasive — and a great advocate in the fight against poverty. So, over the next couple of weeks, Katie will be sharing a few of her inspiring stories through an exclusive series of video blog posts. In this first video, which she shares the story of Elizabeth. We hope you watch, are inspired, vote for More Than Me in the Chase Community Giving contest and come back eager for her next story.
So many of us in DC are beginning to get a little too used to the grinding partisanship and divides that we often miss good news when it comes through. Yesterday morning, Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and member of President Obama’s White House faith advisory committee, and Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention and former supporter of President George W. Bush, sat down on on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program to talk about the moral issues facing the 2012 election. Joe Scarborough opens up with a joke, expecting Rev. Wallis and Dr. Land to come into the studio wearing boxing gloves, since they disagree about a lot. But when it comes to fighting global poverty, both Wallis and Land agree: We must maintain our commitments to the world’s poorest people.
Africa suffers from an infrastructure deficit that greatly limits growth and poverty reduction on the continent. Seventy percent of the population do not have access to electricity, and many rural communities lack road to access to markets or health facilities. In some areas, a lack of infrastructure reduces economic output by as much as 40 percent.
For those of us that grew up in the 1980s, the word “famine” is almost synonymous with Ethiopia. In 1984 to 1985, images of crowded feeding centers and emaciated babies from Ethiopia’s Tigray province were burned into the public memory.
On the eve of the G20 summit, hundreds of ONE members, along with celebrities Yann Arthus Bertrand and Friedreric Diefenthal, gathered on the steps of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris to tell world leaders that though drought is an act of nature, famine is man-made.
ONE Global Creative Director Roxane Philson shares a behind-the-scenes look at our new video, “A Future Free from Famine.” Tell her what you think in the comments below.
Today we are releasing a new animated video, “A Future Free from Famine,” to show that with the right investments, it is possible to see a future without famine — and with G20 leaders set to meet in Paris next week the timing is not a moment too soon.
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.
