This morning in Kigali, Rwanda, I attended two events: first, a roundtable discussion on education with First Lady Laura Bush, First Lady Jeannette Kagame and a group of Rwandan schoolgirls and second, a press conference with President Bush and President Kagame.
The schoolgirls at the roundtable were very nervous, but they each stood up and told Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Kagame their stories. Their ages ranged from 16 to 18 and they all came from families who could not afford to pay for their schooling. Each girl was a beneficiary of the African Education Initiative – in other words, your tax dollars and mine put these girls in school. And that was an amazing thing to see.
Education for girls in poor countries means that they are much more likely to earn decent wages as adults and much less likely to become infected with HIV. Mrs. Bush asked them if they all knew how to prevent AIDS: they all said they did.
One other thing that surprised me: more than half of the girls were heading to universities to study physics or chemisty.
The press conference with President Bush and President Kagame focused on Rwanda’s impressive economic growth since the terrible genocide here that ended in 1994. Rwanda is a country with little corruption and big plans to become a technology leader in Africa. Even though they grow amazing vegetables and fruits here, Rwandans know that their land-locked country must find an industry other than agriculture if their people are to work their way out of poverty.
Now I am back in the White House press corps filing center. It’s funny to listen to the TV and radio reporters filing their stories. Surely they have seen many interesting things on this trip so far – but all of them are talking about the bed net factory they visited yesterday. They are amazed that children die from malaria transmitted by mosquito bites, that something as simple as an insecticide treated bed net can save lives…and that the United States is not only saving lives by buying these bednets for families – we are also providing jobs to the workers in the factory and better lives for their families as well.
We’ve gotten word that President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will be traveling to Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia on a trip to Africa from February 15 – 21. As a ONE member, I’m always encouraged when those leading U.S. foreign policy are able to see how that policy is playing out on the ground.
When the trip starts, I’ll do my best to pass along whatever we hear is happening each day, and our policy folks will help fill in some background information on some of the programs and countries that the president and first lady will be visiting.
During an interview aired on Saturday night, FOX News’ Bret Baier asks the Bushes about the administration’s $30 Billion package for AIDS and malaria programs in Africa.
The short conversation that ensues is about halfway through the clip below. (You’ll need Windows Media Player to watch it and it may take a minute to load.)
I also transcribed some excerpts from both Laura and George Bush.
First Lady Laura Bush:
“Economies depend on a … workforce, people who are in good health. If your workforce [is] sick with malaria half the time it’s very difficult. Or sick with AIDS. So… making people healthy is really helpful also for those African economies that are trying to build a better life for the people in their countries.”
President George W. Bush:
“I think government has a responsibility to protect the American people. It’s just part of an overall strategy to protect us. And the United States has to make up its mind – if it’s going to confront the conditions that cause radicalism and protect ourselves, or retreat and withdrawl and say, ‘well you know it costs too much money, therefor we’re not going to try to help others.’”
First Lady Laura Bush talked about PEPFAR and the President’s Malaria Initiative on the Chris Wallace show on Sunday. Watch the clip here. (Note, it may take a few minutes for the full video to load.)
From the interview:
Laura Bush: But many of the policies that I’ve had the chance to visit, like the PEPFAR, the president’s emergency plan for AIDS relief, or the president’s malaria initiative in Africa, are policies that really came from him, I mean, that he felt like the United States could be effective by making sure a whole lot of people in Africa had the chance to get on antiretrovirals and literally save lives.
And my daughter Barbara was in Kenya and Rwanda this week. She went with the World Food Program. And I visited some World Food Program sites and PEPFAR sites.
And she said that when she was introduced, this made her weep. People would say your dad saved my life, because they’re very aware they’re getting antiretrovirals because of the president’s emergency plan which, of course, is funded by the American people, by the American taxpayer.
Chris Wallace: Nancy Reagan once told me that during her husband’s second term, she felt freer to go out to talk about public policy and her views on them, and you seem to be doing the same thing. Why is that?
Laura Bush: Well, I don’t know that it’s — I mean, I think I felt perfectly free during the first term as well to talk about whatever I was interested in. But I also think it took me a while to realize what a platform I had.
Yesterday, I was able to band the First Lady and ask her a question about her recent trip to Africa!
At a National Press Club luncheon, Mrs. Bush spoke about her tour through Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia and Mali and the importance of foreign aid initiatives.
The question I submitted, asking what most impressed the First Lady during her trip, was the first asked during the question and answer session. Her reply is below.
MRS. BUSH: Well, I think it was hearing the “Lazarus effect,” I mean, these stories of people who were literally dying and then once they were on antiretrovirals they came back to life. But certainly one of the most moving parts is the work that so many groups are doing on ground in Africa. Bruce’s group, the RAPIDS Consortium, have a donor who has given 23,000 bicycles to Zambia, so that the care-givers that we met can literally go door to door in their neighborhoods and find out who needs help.
One of the reasons PEPFAR and these other programs are effective is because we’re working with people who are already on the ground and who can go door to door. And to hear the stories of these care-givers was really very, very inspiring.
Read the full transcript from the First Lady’s remarks here.
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.
Yesterday, I was able to band the First Lady and ask her a question about her recent trip to Africa!
