With the United Nations Special Summit on the Millennium Development Goals going on this week, it may not be a surprise to say a group of world leaders were gathered in New York City. Yet, they were miles from the UN headquarters. In fact, these heads of state gathered at The Earth Institute at Columbia University for a forum on The Children of Latin America: A Future Without Poverty.

Those in attendance from the Latin American nations were Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, President, United Mexican States, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President, Argentine Republic, Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez, President, Republic of Paraguay, Elias Antonio Saca González, President, Republic of El Salvador, and Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino, President, Republic of Panama.

At that, Bono isn’t the only rock-star philanthropist taking aim at eliminating poverty. Shakira and Alejandro Sanz graced the floor with their presence along with Jeffrey Sachs, bestselling author and director of the Earth Institute, and activists from the ALAS and Inter-American Development Bank.

So naturally, when student leaders at Sacred Heart University, Emerson College, and Seton Hall University found out about it, we knew we had to be there to represent ONE. After convincing our professors to let us skip class, we traveled from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey with ONE bracelets and shirts proudly displayed.

While we loved seeing Shakira and Jeff Sachs, the truly meaningful words spoken at the forum were those of the world leaders. From stating how they themselves focus on the MDG’s to more personal stories, such as the state of emergency in Paraguay to the sacrifice of “beautiful buildings to have happier citizens”, much was shared, and likewise much was learned. Truly, other world leaders aren’t turning a deaf ear to these problems.

Mr. Sachs joked between Shakira’s monologue that “Like Wyclef Jean said, she makes a man want to speak Spanish.” Well, even if you don’t speak Spanish, you can watch a bilingual archived webcast of the thrilling forum available online!

Yet we assured the Senator that as his constituents we were not satisfied with the fact that many essential commitments such as funding for maternal and child health programs attracted fewer resources than were justified. To our delight Senator Menendez not only matched our enthusiasm about these issues, but raised us to engage and education more citizens in the vast inequality that exists in our world. Only then, he stated, will all members of the New Jersey delegation to Congress be commanded by voters to take on the challenges of extreme poverty and disease.

Well Senator, we are much closer to that reality than you might think as New Jersey has 10 college campuses engaged in the Campus Challenge, several community based ONE groups, and an ever growing network of voters ready to call and write you to take action against AIDS, hunger, education, and all ONE issues.

Call or write your senator today to thank them for their support of the International Affairs Budget or stress why further funding is needed (report it here).

Unfortunately Lucie and I weren’t able to ask Obama, Hilary, Huckabee, or Ron Paul any questions or even wear our ONE shirt, but we did load our arms up with ONE wristband and made sure that a majority of the audience got a band. The highlight had to be hearing both Obama and Clinton mention that HIV/AIDS would be one the biggest challenges that the would take action on. ONE by ONE we are changing the debate in this country and we can ensure that whoever is going to the White House come November, that they are ready to tackle the issues of extreme poverty and disease.

Hola. My name is Ross Joy and I am the ROA for New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. I attend Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ which is three blocks outside of Newark. I am majoring in International Relations and Diplomacy, Spanish, and hopefully a minor in Urban Studies. I am 98% sure that I am going to the Peace Corp after school. Dream job is to work for the UN Development Programme or Population Fund dealing with slum development.

I am originally from a small farming town south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Coming from an extend farming family and an active 4-H member, I have always been interested in agriculture and social justice issues. Reading letters from my parents’ college friends that have become missionaries in Ethiopia and in high school reading Jeffrey Sachs’ “The End of Poverty” and Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” (must reads), I came to realize that ending poverty is a call for humanity and myself.

Otherwise I enjoy long walks on the beach, Merengue dancing, the movie Garden State, photography, Bollywood music, the Brooklyn Bridge, and running, one day the Boston Marathon. I am very excited for winter break because I am going to be visiting family that lives in Santo Domingo, DR. Good luck with exams and remember that we are the engines for social change.

However despite Fate’s best efforts our event turned out to be a great success. Word spread through classes (thank you facebook), and every hour there was a good size crowd signing our support banner, pinning each other with ribbons, and phoning into Obama and Thompson to ask them to take a stance on AIDS. Never mind the fire drill that lasted 45mins in the middle of our time slot (standing in 28 degree weather makes you stronger to fight poverty). I am letting out another ARRRGH cause we are the Seton Hall Pirates and we are ONE. Watch out top 10, we are gunning for you.