On Tuesday, ONE volunteer Trevor Wiles and I headed to Kenosha, Wisconsin to attend one of Rep. Paul Ryan’s town hall meetings.
After the town hall event, Trevor and I were able to meet the Congressman. He immediately recognized our ONE gear and was happy to see us at yet another one of his events! Afterward, we spoke with two members of Rep. Ryan’s staff and asked them to carry on the great work for the world’s poorest people that was championed in the past by people like Sen. John Sununu and Gov. John Kasich. We also implored them to urge the congressman not to attempt to balance the budget on the backs of the world’s poorest people.
Finally, Trevor and I reminded Rep. Ryan’s staff of the fact that foreign aid accounts for less than one percent of the federal budget — something the congressman himself has said publicly time and again. We reiterated that with such a small fraction of our budget, we can do a world of good — including saving 4 million kids’ lives by 2015 with effective vaccines. Speak out now to let our leaders know that you support funding for two new vaccines that will prevent two of the deadliest killers of children, pneumonia and diarrhea.
On Monday, ONE volunteer Matthew Lowe and I headed to Mukwonago, Wisconsin to catch up with Rep. Paul Ryan at a town hall meeting. At the end of his presentation, Rep. Ryan fielded a question on foreign aid and its impact on the federal budget. The question was essentially, “Why bother?” and “Why should this country keep spending money on foreign aid?”
Hitting the campaign trail on behalf of ONE Vote 2010, longtime ONE supporter Bob Bowers, also known as “Da Pirate,” had the chance to meet with Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold on Thursday. Bob is a 26-year thriving survivor of HIV/AIDS and is a well-respected educator and advocate.
Sen. Feingold was at Madison College for a student meet and greet. Madison College students and a few of Bob’s friends were on hand to thank Sen. Feingold for his continued support of ONE and his help in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. Sen. Feingold enthusiastically put the ONE band on his wrist to show his support.
We had about 35 people show up for last night’s University of Wisconsin-Madison screening of “The Lazarus Effect,” which included students of a class working on an HIV/AIDS project.
ONE member Shawn Alexander and the UW-Madison film team helped me prep and run the event. It was wonderful to have an HIV/AIDS professor there to answer questions from an education point of view, and tell us a little about the current issues surrounding the Global Fund, PEPFAR and the impact of antiretroviral drugs.
On Monday, my husband Wes and I joined other members of ONE to meet with Brad Smith of Congressman Ron Kind’s staff. Of the nearly 28,000 ONE members in Wisconsin, over 3,000 are in the 3rd Congressional District – a number we are looking to grow!
We asked Brad to thank Congressman Kind for being a supporter of ONE, particularly as a cosponsor of the Berman-Kirk bill, also known as the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009. Mr. Kind also voted against cuts to this year’s Foreign Operations bill and voted for its passage, for which we are grateful.
We were pleased to be joined by Rosine Urujeni, an exchange student from Rwanda currently studying at Viterbo University. Hearing her unique perspective and how important United States aid is to her country simply underlined the importance of our meeting. Rev. Kent Johnson of the Lutheran Office for Justice and Peace in La Crosse brought Rosine, knowing her first-hand knowledge of the poverty, disease, and daily African struggle to survive.
We encouraged Congressman Kind to add his voice as a member of the Wisconsin delegation to urge Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Obey to fulfill the President’s request and fully fund the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Brad assured us that Congressman Kind has been and will continue to be a supporter of our efforts. He agreed to pass along our concerns and requests to continue in the fight against global poverty.
-Joyce Dunbar, Wisconsin ONE Member
Pictured: Kent Johnson, Amy Lunde, Brad Smith, Staff to Congressman Ron Kind, Joyce Dunbar, Wes Dunbar, Rosine Urujeni
On Wednesday, ONE members in the Fox Valley area met with Amanda Dietrich, who serves on the staff of Congressman Steve Kagen (D-WI). Chuck Steinbach, Tammy Jo Berg, Mike Randerson, Stacy Mallette, Jackie Thiry and Susan Halverson talked to Amanda about ONE’s overall goals to end extreme poverty and how we believe Congressman Kagen can help.
We thanked Representative Kagen for voting in favor of the House Foreign Operations Appropriations bill which contains the majority of funding for ONE’s priorities, and urged his continued support for funding.
As the only WI Member to sit on the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman Kagen can play a critical role in the fight against hunger. We asked him to cosponsor H.R. 3077, the ‘Global Food Security Act of 2009’ to develop a long-term approach to improving agricultural development and sustainability.
Amanda said she would follow up on the status of each bill we discussed and pass along our message to the Congressman. We look forward to Rep. Kagen’s support for those in need across the globe!
AIDS Walk Wisconsin 2009 was a great event for ONE. Walkers at this event are always very generous and warm to the ONE message. They come, listen and want to take action to be a part of the effort to fight extreme poverty and AIDS – not just in Milwaukee, but all around the world.
This year, ONE had a table at the AIDS Walk and saw over 120 new volunteers sign up to join ONE. Many people took information and will hopefully visit the website as we encouraged them to do.
I especially enjoyed engaging new sign-up members this year because my home country Liberia was highlighted in ONE’s “Past Campaigns” section, detailing ONE’s efforts to engage the IMF to eliminate the $800+ million debt which has been a huge obstacle in Liberia’s economic growth and stability.
I was able to explain to new members how ONE played a direct role and why it’s so important for more people to join the larger voice tackling important issues like these. I look forward to more of these success stories from all over the world to be able to encourage more to join the fight against global poverty.
We will continue to represent ONE in Milwaukee, WI!
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.
On Monday, my husband Wes and I joined other members of ONE to meet with Brad Smith of Congressman Ron Kind’s staff. Of the nearly 28,000 ONE members in Wisconsin, over 3,000 are in the 3rd Congressional District – a number we are looking to grow!
On Wednesday, ONE members in the Fox Valley area met with Amanda Dietrich, who serves on the staff of Congressman Steve Kagen (D-WI). Chuck Steinbach, Tammy Jo Berg, Mike Randerson, Stacy Mallette, Jackie Thiry and Susan Halverson talked to Amanda about ONE’s overall goals to end extreme poverty and how we believe Congressman Kagen can help.
