While waking up at the crack of dawn on a weekend isn’t exactly anyone’s favorite pastime, our dedicated intern team showed up in full-force Sunday morning, excited and ready to cheer on the 15,900 participants (including ONE staffers and interns) in the DC Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.
This week was supposed to be all about vaccines. But campaign work is often unpredictable, and unexpected news means you’ve gotta change course in an instant.
The House recently made BIG cuts to a bunch of programs that we fight for each and every day (we’re talking 40% cuts for some key programs that fight AIDS, malaria and hunger). Now the Senate has to vote on those budget cuts—and we’ve got to let them know that they can’t cut this life-saving funding.
For Challenge #3, which will run from February 28th to March 11th, we want our Campus Chapters to get even more signatures on our petition and then deliver them in-person to the nearest district offices of your Senators. Your work this week will make a huge impact—here’s some info to get started. This challenge is so important to us, we’re upping the stakes as well. We’re giving out 10 points per petition signature, and you’ll get 200 points just for participating in the challenge – on top of all the other great points for actions you’d normally get.
And ready to find out who won challenge number two? A big congratulations to University of Florida, our winner for this latest leg of OCC. They’ll get 500 well-deserved points for launching a very creative “Every Shot Counts” campaign, with University of Michigan Ann Arbor clinching 250 points with their second place win. 100 points also go to Louisiana State University, Webster University and the University of West Georgia, who tied for third. Click the links to see some of their incredible work!
We know this is short notice for a big change—but we know you can pull it off. ONE is counting on our college voices to deliver this message to the Senate! Get started!
ONE Campus is back and better than ever! An effort that has traditionally rallied students around the ONE Campus Challenge, this year’s ONE Campus program will focus on integrating our campus outreach into ONE’s national advocacy and campaign goals. This means more collaboration across universities and more opportunities for students to acquire the hands-on advocacy experience that they crave!
The program kicked off a few weeks ago with a live video-conference and call to action with Barbara Bush. With less than a month under our belts, we already have 100 student leaders across the country bringing the fight against poverty onto their campuses. This month, students are rallying around a number of advocacy actions, including ONE Vote 2010 platform drop-offs, “Lazarus Effect” screenings and an educational flier campaign around Halloween. The contest component of the effort will launch in early 2011.
Are you interested in leading the fight against poverty on your campus? Go to http://www.one.org/campus/ and become a campus leader or join an existing chapter. At this very moment, there are students on your college campus hungry to make a big difference for the world’s poorest people. We need your help to channel that energy and ensure legislative and policy victories for improved government, greater economic development and smarter aid in the developing world.
It has been a little over two weeks since our fab five college advocates arrived back from their life-changing trip to Rwanda with the ONE Campus Challenge and they’re already eagerly sharing their experiences with the nation.
Charlottesville, Virginia native, Sarah Hunter, was recently featured on CBS 19 News, in a segment called “Jennifer’s Heroes,” which spotlights hometown residents who have done some amazing things. Clearly Sarah fits this category and she shares some very interesting insights and experiences with reporter Jennifer Black – in a ONE shirt no less!
Check out the full interview below and read more about her experiences in the accompanying article:
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly a week since I was traveling through Rwanda with the five ONE Campus Challenge student leaders. After weeks of policy prep work ahead of the trip, it was great to see our site visits come together in a meaningful way to showcase so many of the critical priorities ONE supports across the continent: improved health, agriculture, education, and economic growth, among others—and how they all link together.
On our last night in Rwanda, we went around the dinner table and asked each of the students to say what was the most surprising thing they had seen or learned. For me, having been to Rwanda and a few other African countries before, it was really interesting to take in the trip and the country through their eyes as students and as first-time visitors to Africa, and the diversity of their answers was fascinating. Many were amazed by how much the university students in Rwanda were just like them, with the same hopes and dreams (and also the same desire to relax with their friends, watch World Cup matches, and listen to Lady Gaga) but also by how much harder many of them—particularly the girls and those orphaned by the genocide—had to work to make it to where they were. Others were surprised to learn just how much work went into their morning cups of coffee, how far the country had come since genocide only 16 years ago, and how important sustained investments into mechanisms like the Global Fund are for the lives of so many Rwandans.
Ultimately, we learned that we have so much more to learn; after all, a week is certainly not enough time to understand an entire sector or an entire country. But we hope the time in Rwanda was more than just a fun trip for the OCCers. As they travel back to their campuses this fall, I hope they will carry forward what they saw, and become even more passionate advocates for ONE’s work and for Africa. I’m excited to see what creative things they come up with in the months and years to come!
As you know, 5 ONE Campus Challenge students are currently in Rwanda on a listening and learning tour. One of the students– Meredith Horowski– recounts meeting Rwandan President Paul Kagame. You can read more about the students’ trip here.
The OCC trip to Rwanda thus far has been chocked full of once in a lifetime experiences, but I have to say that the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the National Youth Council tops the list. The celebration was the culmination of Youth Week in Rwanda, which was a tribute to the Council’s progress in youth programs and empowerment over the last decade. The event, held in Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali, featured performances by some of Rwanda’s most talented youths, and the key note address was delivered by the President of Rwanda himself.
We walked into the stadium on this beautiful Sunday morning to an almost palpable sense of excitement. Students from across the country filled the bleachers, and together they spelled “Amizero Y’ U Rwanda” (Hope for Rwanda) in the colors of the Rwandan flag. Seated just behind the President’s box, the ONE crew had a great view of incredible youth acrobats, futbol (read soccer) players on rollerblades, a cultural dance group, and traditional African drummers. There were even famous pop artists, who had everyone on their feet, dancing, singing, and clapping for most of the morning. The energy in the stadium was contagious.
This celebration of youth empowerment also showcased testimonies from young achievers and entrepreneurs. Geoffrey, a young Rwandan fruit farmer, refused to give up on his dream of making 1,000,000 Rwf (approx. $2,000) when he was told he didn’t have the resources. Because of his determination, he now makes three times his goal and his fruit is sold to the government and distributed free to the public. Lydia, the oldest of ten orphans, put herself and all of her siblings through school, and is now a physical therapist. While the stories are different, the message is one we’ve heard throughout our trip; Rwandans are exceptional in their dedication to their schooling and their communities.
After the artistic performances and inspiring speeches, the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, entered the stadium and walked around its track to tumultuous applause. In his address to the youth of Rwanda, he explained that continued development and opportunity, in a country that once had neither, is possible because of them, the future of the nation. President Kagame also spoke of one of the National Youth Council’s missions- to promote cooperation between the youth of Rwanda and the youth of other countries. To our surprise, the President directly addressed all of the ONE members, seated behind him. As all of our faces appeared on the jumbotron, the President voiced his hope for continued collaboration.
After the celebration, we had the incredible fortune to meet the President. We took some excellent pictures, banded him with a ONE bracelet, and were thrilled to see the President wearing a (RED) watch. It was amazing to finally meet the man we had heard so much about- the man who has brought Rwanda from tragedy and poverty, to peace and growing development. I don’t think any of us descended from cloud nine that afternoon. For me, the National Youth Empowerment Celebration represented the epitome of reconciliation: the youth and future of Rwanda, sitting together, not as distinct ethnic groups, but as Rwandans invested in the betterment of their country. Amizero Y’ U Rwanda.
As you’ll recall, 5 ONE Campus Challenge students recently earned the opportunity to join ONE on a listening and learning tour in Rwanda. Well, they’ve landed safely and are already well underway meeting with Rwandans of all walks of life and learning more about the country and the region.
The students and ONE staff will be checking in frequently with updates about what they’re seeing and hearing on the ground. You can follow along here: www.one.org/us/occafricatrip/.
ONE’s US Field Director is also “live Tweeting” the trip, posting pictures and fielding questions. You can follow along with him at twitter.com/mike_at_one.
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.
