To commemorate World Refugee Day, ONE celebrates five powerful women who were once refugees but who over came various challenges and today stand as beacons of hope to many people all over the world.
ONE
“Do not complain, never whine, make every effort to change the things you do not like, and do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.” - Maya Angelou
My name is Arafa Salim Said, I am the fourth child in a family of seven. I was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the tender age of eight months and I have been an outright warrior ever since.
Sickle cell disease is a severe hereditary form of anaemia which mutates haemoglobin...
As we know from this weeks Big Brother task, food is a hugely important part of African life… From agriculture, to cooking, to big family meals, our crops and our culture are what binds us to our countries and to our economies. In order to celebrate the diversity of crops our continent can support we’ve decided to put together a list of our favourite foods. Are yours on our list?! 1. Ugali na nyama choma (East African): “nyama choma,”...
ONE’s Sydney congratulates Melvin during a visit to ONE’s Johannesburg office. Photo: ONE On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we are excited to announce that Melvin is the winner of our video message competition targeting the African Union. I was excited to meet Melvin again after we shared the same flight to his home country, Nigeria, after the end of this season’s Big Brother Africa. Melvin is obviously as talented as he is good-looking. Besides his...
Day 3 of ONE’s charity week in the Big Brother Africa house was focused on fighting the epidemic of HIV and AIDS through open health budgets.
The housemates woke up to the reality that 69% of people with HIV/AIDS in the world are living in Africa. Actually the number will be the same tomorrow and worse if there is no action.
The first task challenged housemates to create a mural mosaic in the shape of the AIDS ribbon using 500 unused condoms....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7a3LNZmgHM
This August ONE Africa will be back in the Big Brother Africa house with more challenges and surprises.
Big Brother Africa, popularly known as BBA is now in its 8th season and is the most popular reality show on the continent. The show reveals the daily lives of 28 housemates from 14 countries drawn from across the continent, living in an isolated house for 91 days. They are competing not to be evicted by pan African viewers and thereby win...
Our guest blogger today is Vincent Rapeta, a young farmer from South Africa. He is speaking at the African Union Youth Forum in Addis Ababa this week as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations.
I’m Vincent and I come from Limpopo Province in South Africa. I’m 28 and a farmer. I grow maize, butternut squash, watermelon, tomato, beetroot and cabbages. I am a farmer by accident but I’m loving it.
I was raised by a single parent and we were very...
The following is a guest blog from Noella Moshi, United Against Malaria
Malaria kills nearly 700,000 people every year and costs sub-Saharan Africa up to 12 billion dollars in economic productivity, foreign investment, tourism and trade each year. It’s a huge barrier to economic development in affected countries and has life-altering, long-term repercussions for sick children. The good news is that the whole malaria mess can be fixed in our lifetime. Cue United Against Malaria into the picture.
United Against Malaria...
I am reminded of a story told by Professor Wangari Maathai of a hummingbird trying to save a burning forest with drops of water carried on its beak, as larger animal forests watched. Bewildered at the hummingbird’s clearly futile efforts, the other animals ask the humming bird what she thought she was doing. Without stopping, the hummingbird says, “I am doing the best I can.”
And this is the way the Professor lived. She called herself a hummingbird, doing the...
In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 18th “Nelson Mandela International Day”, a day of activism. In response to being bestowed this honor, Mandela said:
“We are humbled by the decision of the United Nations to recognize 18 July as Nelson Mandela International Day. It is our wish that the day be used not to honor an individual, but rather to remember the millions who have contributed to the struggle for freedom throughout the world. The best...