By Winston Mbanda, communications officer, KEMRI-CDC, Kisumu, Kenya. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog this week for more stories like these for World Malaria Day. On December 1, 2010, my wife Isabel, a high school teacher in Bungoma District, western Kenya, and our two daughters, Hope and Joy, were traveling to join me in Nairobi for December holidays. At the time, I was working in Nairobi, which is about 240 miles from Bungoma. It had been a while since...
ONE member and Peace Corps volunteer Brandon Green will be sharing his experiences in Burkina Faso with ONE Blog readers in the series, “Back to Africa” over the next few months. We look forward to hearing all his adventures! Nadine is 14 years old and in the 7th grade. She wakes up at 4 a.m. every day to sweep the courtyard and house before her father wakes. Then she walks to the pump to fetch water for the entire...
Last week we marked World AIDS Day, our annual time for reflection and a recognition that the beginning of the end of AIDS is upon us. As we commemorate the strides that have been made in the battle against the disease since its discovery 30 years ago, it seems the perfect opportunity to present our next ONE award finalist, Prévention Information Lutte contre le Sida (PILS) in Mauritius and honor the progress that they have achieved in the battle...
Meredith Lepore of TheGrindstone, a blog about women and the workplace, questions whether companies and employees are prepared to deal with the stigma of AIDS at the office. It has been 18 years since Tom Hanks won an Oscar for portraying a gay man who was fired after he contracted AIDS in the film Philadelphia. But as we approach AIDS Day 2011 this Thursday, the negative stigma surrounding AIDS in the workplace has not come as far as we...
Adria Saracino of Distilled, a creative digital agency, shares an interactive infographic on global food consumption and income using data from a surprising source: Food Service Warehouse. Developing countries consume much less than Western nations, particularly in times of crisis, like with what we’re seeing in Somalia. However, despite a lower caloric intake, these poorer countries’ citizens spend more than 50 percent of their income on food. Food Service Warehouse (FSW) created the interactive infographic to the left (click to launch)...
Eric Farr, a Faiths Act Fellow of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, reflects on the teachings of the Baha’i faith, Thanksgiving and the famine in Africa. “My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee?” So begins a prayer of Bahá’u’lláh that I regularly turn to in moments of gratitude. It expresses what I think is a fairly common feeling among spiritually-minded folk: the feeling of overwhelming gratitude at the bounties and...
As a fellow ONE member and a firm believer in the interconnectedness of our world, I am always looking for new ways to help bridge the gaps within my community and within society as a whole. Recently, my friend recommended I watch the documentary “I Am.” She claimed that as a result of watching this film, she felt more connected and obligated than ever before to the world she was a part of. Being a philosophical and existential junkie,...
US search and rescue teams assist in aid efforts to Japan. On Friday, Japan experienced the most devastating earthquake to ever hit the country, topping the Richter scale at 8.9. Soon after, a massive tsunami struck as a result of the quake, ravaging cities and farmland in northern Japan and even setting off warnings on the west coasts of the US and South America. According to the New York Times, officials have stated that the death toll for one Japanese...
We’re here to present this week’s A-List with not one, but eight African artists: ONE8. Pegged as a must-watch act by Billboard magazine, this group of gifted singers has come together in hopes of sharing Africa’s music with the world. ONE8 recently came out with their first single, “Hands Across the World,” which was produced by US hip hop artist R. Kelly. As ONE8 member Navio tells CNN, “We’re not pushing a brand, we’re pushing a movement, which is African...
Erin and Chris hold up ONE posters at the “Today Show” in New York City. This morning, we asked some of our friends on Twitter and Facebook this question: “What are the qualities that make a good activist?” Almost 70 of you commented on Facebook and nearly 50 tweeted us your answers on Twitter. Here’s a sample of our favorite responses: Tamtam Finn: a good activist should be able to inspire other people, should believe in every word he says and...