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ONE and (RED) launch the (2015)QUILT: A digital quilt to fight AIDS
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV/AIDS. But this World AIDS Day –- December 1st — we’re commemorating it as a call to action to help bring about the beginning of the end of AIDS… and it starts with you.
We’re proud to announce the launch of the (2015)QUILT, a groundbreaking digital tool that brings people from all over the world together to fight for a historic achievement –- the delivery of the first AIDS-free generation in more than 30 years.
Watch our latest video and get started now:
It’s quick, easy, and fun to add your name to the digital quilt. And, you’re making a pledge with your panel, joining thousand of people from around the world who will call attention to fight for a bold plan to create an AIDS Free generation by 2015. Think of it as “creative advocacy.”
Once you’ve created your panel, you can download our Social Media Toolkit (or read it in the viewer below) and learn how you can help spread the word about your quilt panel. The toolkit will also link you to other resources that you’ll need to help in our campaign in the fight against AIDS.
The (2015)QUILT draws its inspiration from the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt, which started in 1987 and contained more than 94,000 names and weighs 54 tons! The AIDS Memorial Quilt has been used to fight prejudice, to raise awareness and to transform apathy into advocacy and indifference into compassion. The (2015)QUILT will be a call to action to bring about the end of this deadly disease.
So get creative and get started now at 2015quilt.com and use your voice to pledge. Every generation is known for something. Let’s be the one to deliver an AIDS-Free Generation by 2015.
Submit your questions for the World AIDS Day event on YouTube
Get ready to take part in one of the largest World AIDS Day online events ever. Next Thursday, December 1st, ONE, (RED) and an impressive list of partners and influencers are hosting a live broadcast event with an amazing group of people –- and we want you at the table, too.
The event, “The Beginning of the End of AIDS,” is a live discussion powered by YouTube, featuring former US Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Bono, Alicia Keys and more. The panel – with help from partners at the Tema Clinic in Ghana, Keep a Child Alive, the Bush Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Saddleback Church and others – will tackle key questions on the fight against AIDS, including where we are today, where we’re falling short, and what it’s going to take to end this preventable disease for good.
This is where you come in: we need your questions for the panel. Take a minute to watch this video from ONE CEO Michael Elliott above and visit www.youtube.com/TheONECampaign to submit your question on our YouTube channel now. Once you’re done, spread the word and ask your friends and family to vote on your question so we can present it to our distinguished panel.
AIDS used to be a death sentence. Now, remarkably, we could be looking at the beginning of the end of AIDS if certain steps are taken. So, be sure to ask your question now and mark your calendar for Thursday, December 1st at 3pm GMT/UTC to join our online YouTube event.
Love, romance and the fight against extreme poverty
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and romantics around the globe are busy thinking about how to celebrate.
Many choose to express their love for each other by giving flowers, chocolates and gifts. But whatever we do on this day, just like the other 364 in the year, we can also have a real impact on the lives of millions of other people around the world.
So how can you celebrate love and romance on 14 February, and help fight extreme poverty at the same time?
Flowers
What can be more romantic than a bouquet of beautiful red roses for that special person in your life? Thankfully you can make sure that the flowers you buy also bring joy to more than just your loved one.
One of the best ways is to look for flowers with the Fairtrade Mark. Fairtrade offers you a powerful way to reduce poverty through your every day shopping. It provides a better deal and improved terms of trade for producers, which in turn allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future.
If you live in the UK you can also order flowers with ONE’s sister organisation (RED). (RED) has so far generated over $160 million for the Global Fund to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. All arrangements from Flowe(RED) are composed of ethically-sourced flowers and profits go to helping those living with HIV in Africa so that they can continue caring for their families and contribute socially and economically to their communities. The bouquets are stunning too!
Chocolates
The key ingredient in chocolate is cocoa, a product that an estimated 14 million people in the developing world depend on for their livelihoods. It’s an incredibly important natural resource, and in some countries, such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, 90% of farmers rely on it for their primary income.
As with flowers, Fairtrade makes a real difference. But don’t take my word for it, just listen to these farmers in Ghana:
And with a range of tasty Fairtrade chocolates available, you are spoilt for choice! Most supermarkets also stock fairly traded chocolate now. So just ask your local store or visit you’re the website of your local fairtrade organisation to see what’s available near you.
Other gifts
Organisations such as Oxfam provide a range of beautiful gifts for the special person in your life. Ethically-sourced, they benefit both the producer and the organisations’ work making them a perfect present for that special person in your life!
Whatever you are planning for Valentine’s Day, we hope you have a wonderful time. And do a little bit of good on the side with our easy suggestions. If you have other great ideas, post them below.
Landmarks around the globe turn (RED) for World AIDS Day
Tomorrow, ONE’s sister organization (RED) is illuminating some of the world’s most iconic landmarks to raise awareness for World AIDS Day. Last year, nearly half a million babies were born with HIV — but with access to medication, a pregnant mother can stop the transmission of HIV to her child.
With continued funding to organizations like the Global Fund, the number of babies born with HIV could be zero by 2015, creating the first AIDS-free generation in 30 years.
This World AIDS Day, cities around the world will cast red light on their most distinctive landmarks. From the Sydney Opera House to Paris’ City Hall and Fountains, from the London Eye to Cape Town’s Table Mountain, from Niagara Falls to the Seattle Space Needle, the world will turn (RED) to highlight one goal — we can have a world where virtually no child is born with HIV by 2015.
We’re asking people to meet up at their local landmark to watch and discuss how we can help create the first AIDS-free generation. Go to Meetup.com to find an event near you, and if you can’t find an existing meet-up to join, you can always create your own and help put your city on the map!
The Lazarus Effect
Our friends at (RED) are doing great work to get the word out about the fact that 2 pills a day, that cost around 40 cents, can help transform the lives of people living with AIDS. By taking the ARV medicine, in as little as 40 days the pills can help bring people back to life.
It’s something called “The Lazarus Effect”, and earlier this week (RED) launched a 30 minute documentary showing just how powerful the transition can be. You can watch the watch the whole thing here:
Find out more on the (RED) website.
Global Fund and (RED) Provide Hope at Tema General Hospital in Ghana
ONE is embarking on a listening and learning trip to Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya with members of our board and other supporters. Christy Turlington Burns checks in:
I met an inspiring woman a few days ago in Accra, Ghana. Her name was Elizabeth*. She is a mother, a widow and she is HIV positive. This may sound pretty grim, but what I learned from spending some time with her is that Elizabeth and her two-year-old daughter Abigail* are getting the care they need here at the Tema General Hospital.
Elizabeth learned about her HIV positive status when she came here to be tested after her husband died a few years ago. She was pregnant at the time, which was actually a blessing, because it enabled her to begin antiretroviral treatment at a critical time for Abigail. Abigail takes a prophylactic drug to prevent infection of the AIDS virus.
I also spent some time with the nurses here who counsel the families who come into the clinic from up to a 15 kilometer radius to be tested. They shared other stories like Elizabeth’s, where women sought them out to be tested and then treated if their results were positive. When mothers have access to ARVs, they use them. And when they use them the chances of vertical transmission (when the virus travels inadvertently from the pregnant mother to her child) are minimal. At Tema, a mere 4% of babies whose mothers have begun treatment test positive. I was told that just a few years ago things were not nearly as hopeful.
Before the Global Fund and (RED) started distributing money to treat and prevent AIDS, there was very little incentive for the poor in Ghana to test because having HIV was a virtual death sentence.
Dr. Patricia Nsamoah, a senior medical officer and HIV focal person at TEMA, told us about the state of the clinic before they received Global Fund (RED) money.
“We’ve been testing HIV for a very long time, but basically people just didn’t know what to do if they tested positive for HIV,” Dr. Nsamoah said. “So when ARVs came, the Global Fund made it possible for us to have access to ARVs. You can at least see a patient, treat opportunistic infections, test for CD4, and at the point when they need the ARVs it is available and you can have a success story. Previously if you were working in the fever unit as the doctor in charge, what you did at the beginning of every morning was to sign death certificates because overnight by the time you came people had just died. But now a lot has changed… I’m telling you the clinic just grows bigger because people do not die.”
Today, Tema serves more than 2,200 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. These families are thriving and they are hopeful despite all they have endured. Abigail is a beautiful, curious little girl. She is confident with wise eyes that have seen the future.
*Elizabeth and Abigail’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Nike joins (RED) to fight AIDS
Today, on the eve of World AIDS Day, ONE’s sister organization (RED) announced that Nike, Inc. will become its newest partner in the global fight against AIDS, joining existing partners such as Apple, Starbucks, GAP, Hallmark, Converse, Emporio Armani and Dell.
Nike and (RED) will team up to market (RED) shoelaces, inviting people to “Lace up. Save Lives.” All of the profits from the sale of these laces will be split between the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Nike initiatives that promote education and awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention at a community level. Nike and (RED) are hoping that their unique partnership will support programs for prevention, treatment and education of HIV/AIDS.
At the launch of the new partnership in London today, international football stars joined (RED) CEO Susan Smith Ellis, Nike President and CEO, Mark Parker, Executive Director of the Global Fund, Professor Michel D. Kazatchkine and ONE and (RED) co-founder Bono.”The fight against AIDS in Africa needs great brands to drive awareness and engagement,” said Susan Smith Ellis. “Nike is the right partner to connect education with sport, and in so doing help drive social change, prevention and understanding of HIV/AIDS. We are thrilled to have them with us.”
Check out the (RED) website for more info and be sure to look out for Nike’s (RED) shoelaces in stores around the world starting tomorrow!
(RED) on CNBC
Our sister organization (RED) was featured on CNBC recently. It’s a great clip, and a really good illustration of the work (RED) does with the Global Fund.
Definitely worth a watch:
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
TAGS: (RED), HIV/AIDS, ONE, World AIDS Day