We reached out to other interns in the city and introduced them to the ONE Campus Challenge (OCC), ONE’s college branch, which allows college students to connect with ONE by starting a ONE chapter at their school and using their voice on behalf of the world’s poorest people.

Interns from Congressional offices, USAID and organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations Foundation attended the event.

US Executive Director Sheila Nix and Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Davidoff spoke to the crowd about how and why ONE works, adding their inspirational energy into the event and adding to its success. They discussed ONE’s campaigns and the value of using your voice to advocate for effective aid programs. Our US field team intern Colton Davis also shared his experiences as an OCC leader at Drake University, where he has led students in advocating for effective international development. It was clear that many guests were excited about our work and interested in getting involved.

The event was a huge success, attracting more than 120 new members and 20 potential new OCC leaders! The interns had the opportunity to talk to like-minded students about what ONE does, the OCC and our fabulous experiences working here.

Welcome new ONE members! We look forward to seeing the new OCC chapters in action!

Interested in the ONE Campus Challenge? Check out our Campus page.

How to sum up the last three days in Europe?

Stamina.

Not mine, but Bill Gates’… It’s unreal. He flew in overnight on Sunday, and in just two and a half days travelled to three cities, delivered three powerful Living Proof presentations, lobbied Presidents, Chancellors, and Ministers, gave numerous media interviews and rallied activists. He is a testament to the ability of a committed person to change the world. Of course, he has a few more resources at his disposal than most – but all the more impressive to think he could just be sat on a yacht sipping down piña coladas.

As I expect he himself would say however, Bill Gates isn’t what the trip should be about. What’s important is the impact, did we make a difference? Well, there have already been impressive outcomes from this visit, including Germany and the European Commission pledging to increase their funding for vital vaccines. This extra support will save thousands of children’s lives and free up health systems in developing countries to build healthier, more productive communities.

However, the news yesterday on broken promises shows us how fragile our gains can be and reminds me why this is just the start of our Living Proof campaign…

So, if there is one thing you do today please pass on some Living Proof to a friend, colleague, politician, or loved one (you can find plenty of food for thought on our new website), or simply use the widget below, and encourage them to do the same.

As my grandmother always said you catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar…

ONE Youth Messengers

The Youth Messengers are a truly inspiring group – many have traveled to Africa and seen first-hand the impact smart aid is having on the ground – and Bill encouraged them to use their long-term vision, to be creative and to get the word out. I can’t wait to see how they get on in the days and weeks ahead.

I also want to continue on a theme I began last night, about the unexpected. This morning I was reminded that there are people who work in politics who care just as passionately as any of us about the injustices of extreme poverty. Take Georg Schmidt, the German President’s Head Africa Development Policy. Now, at this point I have to admit that my German is a little sketchy, but he really was extremely compelling – sharing his own experience of Africa, having lived in Mali for three years, and the positive progress he had seen on the ground. He wasn’t jaded and he still had the fire in his belly (in a buttoned up way), which we hope he will continue to use to fight on behalf of the world’s poorest people.

Bill Gates and ONE members in Berlin

After the meeting it was on to Berlin’s famous Brandenburg Gate for the unveiling of my favorite Living Proof artwork yet. It was great to see such an important message flanked by ONE members who will ensure other people get involved and that together we share the proof.

First stop was the European Parliament’s Development Committee, where Bill Gates answered questions from Members of the European Parliament on everything from investing in agriculture, why child vaccines are good for climate change (they will help reduce population numbers as better life expectancy leads families to have less children) to programmes for hand washing to improve sanitation.

Watch the video of Bill’s presentation and the questions and answers here [click on the 'Language' link on the video to select your chosen language]:

Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, and Bill Gates posted a joint tweet on Living Proof, and Bill’s meetings with European Commissioners covered how environmental policy can contribute to development through green growth, how research and development can invest in more health and agriculture, and how more trade and more aid are needed for development to work.

Development Commissioner Piebalgs and President Barroso endorsed the vital work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI), and Barroso stated that 33% of the 1 billion Euros he committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) last September will be dedicated to the health MDGs, and also committed to increasing the European Commission’s contribution to GAVI at the June pledging conference in London. Very positive!

We’ll be working with ONE Members to make sure those promises become reality , but we were assured that when the Commission commits, it delivers, and we’re very much looking forward to the next 7-year budget to make sure that development remains a priority.

Today the Living Proof campaign moves to Germany, so the baton passes from Strasbourg to Berlin. Onwards!

Last night ONE hosted a Living Proof event in Paris event aimed at convincing French politicians that development is worth their investment, and that they should stick to their promise of reaching 0.7% of Gross National Income on development assistance by 2015.

As I mentioned in my first blog in this series, if Living Proof is to succeed it needs to touch both the head and the heart. Bill Gates and prominent economist Esther Dufflo both made powerful arguments – one of the most interesting was about whether by saving lives we contribute to overpopulation. Bill himself had questioned this when he first got in to development work and after researching the issue came up with some surprising findings.

He found evidence to support the view that when families know their children have a better chance of surviving they choose to have fewer children. This was illustrated on a visual by the graphical and global health guru Hans Rosling (see his TED Talks), which you can see here in an earlier presentation:

You’ll see that as life expectancy goes up, family size goes down…

And so to matters of the heart…If a good hour of facts and figures hadn’t won you over then cue Mamadou Touré a softly spoken man from Cameroon and head of the Africa 2.0 initiative (which mobilizes young African leaders to create change from within). Mamadou stood up to ask a question, and as he did explained that part of the reason he was there and creating his own change was thanks to the opportunities afforded to him thanks in part to aid – he said he himself was ‘Living Proof’.

Sometimes it’s the unexpected things that are the most powerful.

We’ve been working over the past few days to bring you the new version of the Living Proof website, to coincide with the exciting events happening in France and Germany this week.

The site combines inspiring films and beautiful photography that document the incredible progress made by people living in some of the world’s poorest countries.

To help spread the word we’re asking people to share stories and facts using twitter and facebook using the #livingproof hashtag. You can do this directly from the site, or by using our handy widget above.

As a ONE member, you can never be sure what you’ll be doing in the name of fighting extreme poverty — it can have some funny twists. One day you might be calling your government to stop proposed budget cuts and the next you might be working with Bill Gates in Paris to promote action on vaccines. Ok, it doesn’t happen THAT often, but for a few of our French members today, that was their experience…

We met up this very bracing Monday morning at the Trocadero in Paris. ONE members were there to support Bill Gates in the first of a series artwork unveilings taking place over the next few days in Europe, and to get the message out. They also attempted to hold back the photographers fighting for the best spot (note to self: brush up on karate skills and never wear ballet flats to such events…).

Bill Gates used the unveiling to stress the need to finally put an end to Polio. For many of us it might come as a surprise that this disease still exists -– in fact, since 1988, this vaccine, which only costs 13 cents, has been provided to billions of children and the number of cases is down more than 99%. But as with smallpox, they key is to eradicate this disease completely so that it can’t keep coming back. 13 cents to save a life… It gives me some perspective…I don’t think anyone can argue with that as a good investment.

Tonight is different again — an event with French politicians to persuade them their investments are worth it…

More to come.

Cheering from various mile markers (at the starting line, the 5-mile mark and nearing the finish line) we held up banners and shouted words of encouragement to the runners while sharing uplifting facts about progress in the developing world from our Living Proof campaign.

ONE interns Tamara Coger and Jack Breslauer ran in the race and commented on the encouragement they received from fellow ONE supporters. “Multiple people cheering on the sidelines or handing out water commented on my ONE shirt. It was so encouraging to know that so many people know who we are and are supportive of our cause. The rest of the interns made an amazing cheerleading squad,” said Tamara. “I know I wasn’t the only runner who was extra motivated by their support. They definitely stood out in the crowd and so did our message.”

“A bunch of runners would give me shouts of encouragement or a high-five when they saw my ONE shirt, and each one gave me a little morale boost that helped me get over the finish line alive!” said Jack.

The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive and was above-and-beyond anything we imagined. Both runners and spectators voiced their approval and support for our positive messages, and many gave ONE special shout outs as they ran by. The staffers and interns who participated in the race donned their ONE shirts and were approached by people who knew of ONE and only had positive things to say about our work.

Since the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is held annually in Washington, DC, we will certainly turn out to run again next year. Anyone want to join us?

Victoria and her mom Elizabeth are regular visitors to the Mbagathi District Hospital. At 18 months, Victoria is cheerful, plump and squirming in her mom’s lap. Her mom Elizabeth is HIV-positive, but thanks to treatment during her pregnancy, Victoria is not.

The good news is that American support of programs that treat HIV/AIDS and prevent transmission from mother to child is helping to make those dreams realistic for millions of moms. Elizabeth and Victoria are two of them.

Elizabeth will take HIV medication every day for the rest of her life and she is glad for it -– although she is thrilled that Victoria will not have to do the same. As for Victoria, she just wants to get out of the green-walled room and into the sunshine to play on the rusty jungle gym in the hospital courtyard. But Joyce, the clinical officer examining her, isn’t quite through. She wants to know what Vic eats on an average day.

“Beans. Weetabix. Eggs.”

Finally, Joyce is done. While Elizabeth waits at the hospital pharmacy to receive her new supply of medication, Victoria is entertained by some of the many women seated on an outside bench.

Watching her daughter laugh, Elizabeth says, “The Global Fund saved my life. Without it, too many of us would be gone. I would not be a mother, have this beautiful little girl. I would not be alive.”

Elizabeth and Victoria. Living Proof that smart aid works.

-Ginny Wolfe, ONE

A half hour later, Colbert interviewed Dr. Paul Offit, who some of you might remember from a great video from our Living Proof campaign. He’s the Philadelphia-based doctor and researcher who helped to develop a landmark new vaccine to fight rotavirus (diarrhea) — one of the top killers of kids around the developing world. He talks about why vaccinating kids in the US and around the world is so important, and reassures Steven (and viewers) that there is no link between vaccines and autism:

There’s nothing funny about millions of kids dying around the world each year from vaccine-preventable diseases, but we’re psyched to see the impact of vaccines get such mainstream coverage. Please share the links with your friends!