Another video and post from ONE’s Tom Gavin from last week’s trip to Rwanda.

Monday, July 21:

The U.S. launched PEPFAR – the American global AIDS strategy – at the Masaka Clinic in 2004, so it made for a good place for the ONE delegation to visit and assess how things are going. Our delegation met with doctors, nurses, local officials, and patients seeking treatment and counsel from the clinic’s staff. We heard, time and again, the difference that America’s partnership in health care was making in Rwanda and throughout Africa.

The DATA Report, which ONE released earlier this year, shows the progress being made. It points out that, across Africa, nearly 2.12 million people were on antiretroviral therapy by last December, a huge jump from the 50,000 people on treatment in 2002. That means 30 percent of Africans in need of treatment are receiving it. But there remains a major challenge ahead. An additional 1.7 million Africans became infected with the HIV virus in 2007.

After touring the Masaka Clinic, some of the ONE delegation discussed the site visit and the overall trip with reporters.

-Tom Gavin

Cindy McCain penned an op-ed for today’s Wall Street Journal about her recent trip to Africa and the “women are at the forefront of the physical, emotional and spiritual healing that is moving Rwandan society forward.”

Some excerpts:

“It is a humbling experience to be in the presence of those who have such a capacity for forgiveness and care. It is also instructive. If wealthy nations want their assistance programs to be effective, they should look to the women who form the backbone of every society. With some education, training, basic rights and empowerment, women will transform a society — and the world.”

“Women today make up a disproportionate percentage of the Rwandan population. In the aftermath of the genocide, they had to head households bereft of fathers. They had to take over farms, and take jobs previously done by men. But there were opportunities, too: Today, 41% of Rwandan businesses are owned by women…Rwanda today has the world’s highest percentage of female legislators.”

“Perhaps it is fitting that a nation so wracked by death could give birth to a vibrant new age. I know that one thing is clear: Through their bold and courageous actions, these women should inspire not only their fellow Africans, but all individuals — men and women — across the globe.”

Read Cindy’s full op-ed here.

Michael Gerson talks of ONE’s Rwanda trip in an Op-Ed in today’s Post. In the piece, he repeats a truth that we as ONE members have been trying to get out about the immense progress in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide – saying that the country is making some of the most rapid progress in the history of public health.

Cindy McCain’s first visit to this country, in 1994, was during the high season of roadblocks and machetes and shallow graves.

…[Last week, Cindy] McCain joined a bipartisan delegation — including former Senate majority leaders Bill Frist and Tom Daschle — organized by the ONE Campaign, a group that advocates for the fight against global poverty and disease. (I am also involved in the efforts of ONE.)

McCain came back to a very different Rwanda — peaceful, well governed, and making, with American help, some of the most rapid progress in the history of public health. What has struck me, says McCain, is that most people are reconciling. A woman I met was gang-raped [during the genocide], her throat was slit, she lost her whole family, but was willing to forgive. The reason this will be a successful country is the women — some of the strongest, most inspiring women I have ever met.

Just a couple hours ago on MSNBC:

A quick transcription:

“And could I also recognize another organization that is very, very popular and a very important one, not only here in New Hampshire but across the country, and that’s an organization called ONE.

This is an organization inspired by a lot of people including Bono and they have over 2 million volunteers in this nation, and they go all over the world, especially Africa, to help cure malaria, AIDS, cholera, and help people. This is one the great examples of what America is all about.

I’m proud that Cindy, and a group, a number of other people, are in Africa as we speak, with the organization called ONE trying to do what we can to help those people and that organization and publicize their great work.

Thank you to the group from ONE, will you guys stand? Thank you very much. Thank you.”

-Virginia Simmons

While on the bus traveling between locations in Rwanda, Cindy McCain reflects on the trip so far, noting the themes of forgiveness and the Rwandan women who are moving the country forward.

Last Thursday ONE Members in Portsmouth Ohio attended a Town Hall Meeting for John McCain. The Senator reiterated his commitment to the ONE Campaign and its issues – and our volunteers were all anxious to have an opportunity to show the Senator their support for fighting extreme poverty around the world.

ONE’s presence at presidential campaign events is nothing new to the campaign trail and we work to have our members and volunteers attend events for both Senator’s Obama and McCain. It wasn’t long after we arrived that we were given an incredibly warm welcome by the McCain staff, thanking us for our continued presence at events.

Shortly after McCain delivered his remarks, he singled out the ONE Vote ‘08 members, asking them to stand and briefly discuss the ONE Campaign and our mission. Before calling on ONE members, McCain stated that we were some of the best citizens of our generation, in that we are working for a cause bigger than ourselves. When asked what his administration would do to combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB, McCain responded by stating that he would increase funding for vaccines and to the World Health Organization.

After McCain’s remarks, ONE members greeted McCain and wife, Cindy, handing them both ONE wristbands. Cindy quickly put her wristband on, telling the ONE members how excited she was to travel to Rwanda with the bi-partisan ONE delegation later this week.

As we were leaving one of the town hall attendees shouted through the crowd, “thanks, and you guys are doing incredible, incredible work.”

-Blake Waggoner- ONE Ohio Field Staff