I’ve never really considered myself a patriot. That’s not to say I don’t know how lucky I am to have grown up in the country I did. I value the freedom I have and greatly appreciate the sacrifices that have been made for it. That said, I am generally not one of those people chanting “USA, USA!” in a football stadium or covered in red, white and blue face paint on the 4th of July. On a recent trip to Zambia though, I felt a burst of pride in my country.

I first noticed it when my colleagues and I were touring the African Centre of Excellence in Women’s Health. As soon as we arrived we were ushered into a doctor’s office to discuss the programs. There on the wall hung a proudly framed picture of President George W. Bush, primarily known here at the founder of PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Throughout the day, little touches of my home country were visible throughout the compound. Old patient charts bursted from a recycled USAID box. Hospital equipment was bought with PEPFAR support. A medical fellow from Colorado manned a cancer screening station. New Jersey Merck sponsored HPV vaccines stood ready for distribution. A walk-in-closet-size pharmacy was filled to the brim with American-made ARVs. And finally, as we exited the pediatric center, a plaque declared Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had personally been there to help open the hospital doors.

The most touching example came from a woman at the Bush Center-sponsored Red Ribbon/Pink Ribbon partnership. The center includes an innovative system that screens high-risk women being treated for HIV/AIDS for cervical and breast cancer – the two leading causes of cancer death in women. Four women told us their stories of being nearly overcome by disease only to survive thanks to doctors in the program.

The last woman, a stay-at-home mom with impeccable style, turned directly to us and said, “I am alive. We know what you have done. I am thankful. Thank you for what you have done.”

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, ONE co-founder Bono said, “The United States, it’s a heroic story. You are way out in front in the fight against AIDS. Of the 8 million, over 8 million, people on anti-retroviral drugs most of them are alive because of America. Do Americans know that? Do people know that they are a part of this incredible story?”

Most Americans don’t know that story yet (although I know many ONE members working hard to change that!), but the Zambians we met absolutely do. Through a small investment – less than 1% of our budget – we have saved millions of lives. That is a legacy of which we should be proud. So perhaps I am a patriot after all..

USA, USA!

ONE Regional Field Director Abby Sasser traveled to Malawi and Zambia with ONE last month.

Recently, I had the pleasure of accompanying some friends of ONE on a trip to Malawi and Zambia. It was a great opportunity to see some of the programs I spend my days advocating for in action – including our Africa Team’s You Choose campaign. Here’s a little photo journal I put together to take you on our journey.

Within 10 minutes of getting off the plane and on the road in Malawi, I spotted a UNICEF box outside village house. Love seeing evidence of our partners in action!

We had one day to battle jetlag before going to work. Luckily that day was spent in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Lake Malawi. Here’s a kid playing a pretty great game of imagination as he tried to command the water to do his bidding.

Monday morning we headed out to Funwe Farms to meet Carrie Osborne. In 2001 she and her husband were given what she called “a handful of seeds” and now they produce enough seeds to feed 260,000 Malawian families a year!

They also provide long-term employment for hundreds of people in the area (the poorest district in Malawi) and income for small holder farmers.

And run a pre-school on the property so more women can work.

Feed the Future finds innovative ways to teach farmers about new programs designed to get them the best yield for their crops. Here program ambassadors perform a role play to demonstrate new storage options. This means farmers can sell their harvest for the maximum price during high season which results in a better education, nutrition and health care for their families.

At dinner that night we learned all about ONE’s You Choose campaign in Africa. This is an exciting new step in helping Africans find their voice and advocate for what they believe are the best ways to end extreme poverty.

One last view of Malawi over breakfast before heading to Zambia!

Our time in Zambia began by visiting the Bush Center’s Red Ribbon Pink Ribbon program where in addition to treating HIV patients, women are screened for breast & cervical cancer – the two biggest cancer killers of women. Here a nurse interviews a new patient before her cervical cancer screening. She told us, “I was scared to come because my friends said it was painful, but this is my health so I decided to do it.”

Next we heard from four women who survived both AIDS and cancer thanks to the center. Joyce was originally given 6 weeks to live, but thanked us because she knew she was alive today due to funding from the United States.

Across the road is the Pediatric Center for Excellence where children are treated for malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and other childhood disease. Also onsite is a counseling center for girls who have been sexually assaulted. This was a hard stop, but it gave me hope to hear that the center has been able to prosecute 56 men in the last 2 years – something that was previously unheard of. While pictures understandably weren’t allowed here, I did sneak this one of a plaque declaring Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was present for the grand opening.

Our group split up for the afternoon and our troop headed off to a local market where I fell in love with this little girl. The photo bomber on in the corner kills me too! (Photo by Iris Bourne)

The next morning we headed to “Needs to Care.” What started with a group of five women’s desire to build a small pre-K in their compound has become a school for over 1,200 orphaned and vulnerable children – not to mention a pediatric clinic, community health workers and youth outreach program!

A cook readies lunch for the children of “Needs to Care” school

Village children outside the school being silly

Esther shows off her shy streak

Future ONE band model?

Last stop, Kasisi’s Children’s Home – home to 250 orphaned children including this little girl who had arrived the day before. Needless to say, my heart was melted.

Kasisi is wrapped in brightly colored flowers and every surface is covered with murals painted by the children with help from visiting artists. The grounds even include their own orchard and vegetable garden tended with help from the older children.

Most of the big kids were at school when we visited, although we did get to meet some of the older boys who were home for lunch.

The toddlers and pre-K kids were thrilled to see us. Each one of them wanted a big hug.

Except this little guy, he just wanted to hang out!

About one-third of the children at Kasisi are living with HIV. The sisters seemed most proud of this room because “it’s where God save lives.”

Shoes!

Finally we took off to Livingstone for a debriefing day before heading back to the States.

On a groggy walk to my hotel room I ran into this fellow.

One last adventure! A walk to Zimbabwe over this bridge…

…Which took us by one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

And I made a friend, too!

Last night, sunset over the Zambezi River as it heads to Victoria Falls

What would have been your favorite part of the trip? Let us know in the comments!

So far, American leadership has ensured that 8 million people worldwide are on life-saving AIDS medicine. For the first time in history, we are at a point where we could see the end of AIDS in our lifetime. Not only that, but in the last 10 years we have seen malaria deaths cut in half in eight African countries, and tuberculosis deaths are on the decline as well.

In order to bring an end to these preventable diseases once and for all, the United States must finish what we started. Sadly though, the White House has considered making cuts to these vital programs. That puts all of this progress in serious jeopardy. We know an AIDS free generation is possible, but it will take YOU to make it happen. You can still go to our “Take Action” page and add your voice to the millions asking the United States to prioritize these programs and quit risking the lives of the world’s poorest people.

Let’s end this!

Bill Frist at the gala

ONE was especially pleased to honor ONE supporter and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for his instrumental role in passing PEPFAR, an initiative of President George W. Bush to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. 

Dr. Bill Frist and Dr. Richard Wamai

Over the last decade, Dr. Frist has traveled with his organization Hope Through Healing Hands to more than a dozen African countries to study HIV/AIDS and perform surgery in Sudanese, Kenyan, Ugandan and Mozambican hospitals, and respond to disasters in Sri Lanka, Sudan, New Orleans, Haiti and the Horn of Africa. 

A member of the ONE Vote advisory board, the Tennessee senator has always been a tremendous supporter of ONE, and it was our pleasure to join in paying tribute to him in his home town. 

The Red Tie Gala also honored Dr. Richard Wamai with the Unsung Hero award for his ongoing research in the areas of HIV/AIDS, primarily the effects of male circumcision in the transmission of the disease. Dr. Wamai, a Kenya native who went to medical school in hopes of finding a breakthrough in the spread of AIDS, is an incredible reminder of the difference one individual can make.  

ONE even got in on the fun of honoring these two incredible advocates by  presenting them with (RED) Converse high-tops – to aid them in their fight against AIDS ”one step at a time.”

Fundraising from the event benefitted New Life Medical Center, a partnership Blood:Water Mission began with Food for the Hungry Uganda in 2011. New Life Medical Center works to provide high quality comprehensive care and treatment as well as prevention support to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Kitgum, Uganda, while building the capacity of local community based organization to effectively run the clinic.

It was an amazing night for AIDS advocacy and truly inspiring to hear stories of all the work being done to end this epidemic. The night concluded with music from Charlie Peacock who told the audience he had just come from the airport after meeting his granddaughter, newly arrived from Uganda. One of his children had adopted her after she was orphaned due to AIDS – a reminder that, while a considerable amount of great  work has been done, there is still much to do before AIDS is ended once and for all.

We teamed up with HaVen Gastro Lounge, located on Lincoln Road in South Beach, and obtained sponsorship from Belvedere with their (RED) product. The terrific HaVen team took our ONE images and videos and displayed them on their 3 incredible and seamless LCD walls creating a total ONE immersion effect throughout the night.

All kinds of social media brought in a really big crowd eager to learn more about the issue and take action with ONE. We brought the news that right now, especially during the fiscal cliff negotiations, is a crucial moment to protect funding for proven, effective programs like PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

The tipping point is within our sight as we aim for the Beginning of the End of AIDS and the first AIDS-free generation. Guests were inspired to produce handwritten letters to Senator Marco Rubio letting him know that his constituents fully supported his efforts to preserve the International Affairs account to protect our investment in life saving development programs such as those that fight HIV/AIDS, childhood diseases and hunger. Everyone was delighted to have a fun and inspirational evening where they could take action and really make a difference.

Michael started with our man on the street video and explained that a large part of our job as advocates for the world’s poor is to teach the public about the enormous amount of good that can be done with such a small amount of money.

For instance, 6.6 million people are now on life-saving AIDS therapy up from 100,000 ten years ago. He described how our foreign assistance dollars are an investment, not only on a humanitarian level, but also in terms of national security and economic development. Generally, when the public learns these things, they no longer object which is why ONE is constantly working on new and exciting ways to spread the message.

He went on to tell the students how ONE tries to get those messages across through innovative creative campaigns including our Street Tweeter last year for the G8, and help from celebrity supporters. All of these pieces add up to recruiting our 2.5 million members. In turn, those ONE members lobby their local governments for the continued support of smart aid dollars that have saved millions of lives through programs like PEPFAR and The Global Fund.

Many of The Clinton School students will be able to visit some of these projects first hand. They are each working to earn a master’s degree in public service – the first degree of its kind in the country – and will be required to complete an international project, where they spend 10 weeks of their summer break abroad in service.

After his speech, Michael answered questions from the students. One student from Kenya asked how we dealt with corruption and Michael was able to share ONE’s work to make sure investments are transparent so that ordinary citizens can hold their governments accountable on how their money is spent.

Nashville, Tenn.
Nashville Congressional District Leaders George Houk and Elaine VanCleave were busy with two events on World Food Day. George led a group gathered at The Well Coffeehouse in the nationwide “heat tweet” at exactly 11:00 a.m. Later, a group gathered at The Holland House Bar and Refuge to “tweet and eat.” Chef Kristin Beringson prepared an open-faced fall root vegetable salad featuring the sweet potato, and Christian artist Ben McDonald of Sidewalk Prophets led everyone in a tweet to Secretary Clinton.

Sidewalk Prophets

Holland House sweet potato appetizer

Little Rock, Ark.
Heifer International teamed up with our Little Rock Congressional District leader Autumn Jacobs to host a lunch in their Global Village Café. Employees tweeted and Instagrammed their sweet potato lunches. Then they lead a discussion about how programs like their International Cooperatives and crops like the sweet potato are changing lives around the world.

Tampa, Fla.
Down in Tampa, our newest volunteer Sandra Herrera gave out sweet potato recipes, sweet potato fries and a book list all with the purpose of telling people just what’s so special about the humble sweet potato. At the end of the night there was a pop quiz, but not like the kind you get in algebra. This one ended with prizes including gift cards donated by the evening’s host Frankie’s, Doggie Sweet potato treats courtesy of Wag and even two sets of tickets to the Museum of Science!