Through this partnership, she was able to grow her farm from 20 hens to 175, enabling her to pay for her four children to go to school, buy more food for her family and reinvest in the farm. Read the rest of her story here.

This is just one example of the inspiring work happening on the ground in Africa. To read and watch many more stories from the field, particularly about agriculture and food security, please visit Africare’s story page.

-Nicole Eley, multimedia communications and marketing, Africare

Each day, more children are orphaned and left to assume the roles of adulthood as parents are killed by AIDS; currently over two million children in Sub-Sahara Africa are alone in the world. With a growing number of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), the disease has become more than just a heath crisis. However, there is hope as work is being done, through Africare and other organizations, to increase community-based outreach to empower youth impacted by AIDS. Learn more about COPE, The Community-based Orphan Care Protection and Empowerment Project, and more about what is being done to help those who have been affected by HIV/AIDS on Africare’s website.

How will you help today? Just pass the knowledge on.

This month, meet Alassane and see the wonderful work he is doing in Mali. You can find more info and the inspiring clips here.

First ladies from across Africa will meet with a range of top experts in a first-ever U.S. summit to develop and improve locally-run programs that benefit mothers and children throughout the African continent. The Leadership for Health Summit, to take place April 20 and 21 in Los Angeles is a joint effort of U.S. Doctors for Africa and African Synergy, a group formed by 22 first ladies from Africa.

Political leaders and policy experts, as well as representatives from aid organizations, charitable foundations and key businesses, will join the first ladies for the summit. The goal is to forge new partnerships to expand and enhance locally-run programs started by African first ladies. By linking the first ladies with the expertise and resources, organizers hope to improve the health of millions of mothers and children across Africa, saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

“Empowering Africa’s first ladies is an innovative approach to bettering the lives of millions of Africans. These are some of Africa’s most important leaders and aiding their efforts is critical,” said Ted Alemayhu, founder of U.S. Doctors for Africa.

During the invitation-only summit, the first ladies of Africa will introduce their domestic and region-wide efforts across Africa, engage in dialogues with other leaders from the field of global health, and set actionable goals for the coming year.

As an organizing partner for the summit, ONE is working to promote the first ladies’ work and leadership and to help develop sustainable partnerships towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The other organizing partners are allAfrica.com, Africare, Global Health Council, the David & Lucille Packard Foundation, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, Until There’s A Cure Foundation, Vital Voices Global Partnership, White Ribbon Alliance, Women Deliver and the World Health Organization as well as corporate sponsors, Chevron, General Electric, ExxonMobil and the RAND Corporation.

This group of partners looks forward to building greater partnerships around the first ladies’ objectives, as laid out in African Synergy’s founding Statute: “strengthening the spirit of co-operation, partnership and collaboration among stakeholders at national, regional and international levels through a new approach and more active solidarity”; and of “pooling our efforts for more concerted and concrete action in order to alleviate suffering and effectively combat HIV/AIDS (and other scourges)”.

African Synergy’s collaborations include the opening of maternal health clinics, HIV treatment centers, orphan care programs and vocational training schools in Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali and Cameroon; as well as numerous other initiatives and advocacy efforts throughout all 22 member countries.

Immediately following the summit, the first ladies of Africa will be honored for their leadership at a gala benefit the evening of April 21, hosted by a committee of Hollywood activists and featuring musical performances by Natalie Cole and South African legendary musician Vusi Mahlasela.

ONE is honored to work in partnership with African SynergyUS Doctors for Africa, a humanitarian organization committed to increasing access to medical care for diseases and conditions affecting the people of Africa. Most of us can echo USDFA’s vision statement — We envision a future for Africa, free from the burden of preventable and treatable diseases and conditions, in which its people can prosper.

To learn more about the Leadership for Health Summit, go to: http://leadershipforhealth.org/. To purchase a ticket for the Gala, go to: http://www.usdfa.org/gala2009/.

-Margaret McDonnell, NGO Partnerships and Faith Relations Team

(All but one of the amendments we worried about failed. More on all in just a bit.)

On March 28th, we attended a presentation at Saint Luke’s Parish where we learned about the ONE campaign. The stories and faces in the photographs touched our hearts like never before. That very night, we persuaded our parents for a sleepover and started brainstorming on how we might develop a plan for a fundraiser at our school. It was important for us to raise awareness as well as money. We believed in the vision that ONE person can make a difference, and we were determined to make that vision a reality.

Our ideas started with selling cupcakes and before we knew it, we were designing t-shirts and wrist bands to sell at our school. With assistance from Abby Warren and Caroline Eckersdorff, Student Council Advisors, announcements were made everyday and a power point was played in every homeroom. We were up and running in less than a month and the ONE vision was contagious! Students, faculty, and staff all contributed to make our fundraiser a tremendous success. To culminate the week, we sponsored a walk- a– thon at school in which many students participated. . With everyone’s support we were able to raise $3,400 dollars in four days!

Our vision and dream came true. We were able to raise awareness and money at Middlesex and we hope to make a difference in people’s lives in Africa, one by one. We plan to hold our next fundraiser in the fall. Stay tuned!

-Mara Donoghue, Catherine Wilcock and Kate Ferguson

(The money Mara, Catherine and Kate raised for ONE will be donated to the group Africare.)