With exactly one week left in the March Scavenger Hunt, Kennesaw State University is leading the pack with 10 actions crossed off of their list already. Ten’s pretty good. But there’s no reason everyone else can’t have at least five. Try these for starters:
1. Call Congress. This won’t take more than five minutes, tops, and it’s an action you can complete even home, away from your group, if you happen to be on Spring Break this week. Find info for calling your senators here. And info for calling your rep here.
2. Write something for the blog, have it posted. Send to Maisie (at maisie.pigeon@one.org) or Emily (at emily.stivers@one.org). We’re looking for about 100 words about your water related-activities, a how-to on writing letters to Congress, how your group banded the basketball team, etc, etc.
3. Recruit women. You probably know a woman or two. Invite your mom, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, niece, etc. You can use the recruit box near the top left on the OCC homepage.
4. The GWC simulation literally takes five minutes and is crazy-informative. Complete yourself and then pass along to a friend.
5. Sign a petition. You’ve been doing this all year; why stop now??
There you have it. Five quick and easy actions and then you’re half of the way to catching KSU — not to mention racking up some heavy points in the process!
World Water Day on March 22 is just around the corner. To mark the date, the Pulitzer Center is teaming up with the writers’ site Helium and some of the world’s most influential water advocates and NGOs to present a World Water Day writing contest.. We want to hear your voices on the world’s greatest public health crisis: Inaccessibility to safe water.
Some 1.1 billion people lack reliable access to safe water that is free from disease and industrial waste. And 2.6 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. Approximately 4,500 people die everyday from waterborne diseases – more than from HIV-AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
These are among the issues addressed in Downstream, the Pulitzer Center’s interactive web portal dedicated to global water issues. Now we’re seeking to spur public debate, in partnership with Helium and water NGOs, by asking this question:
“Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation claims 4,500 lives a day. What should we do about it?”
This is an opportunity to have your ideas – and solutions! – showcased to thousands of readers. Helium is highlighting this contest on its home page, making this a wonderful opportunity to reach many individuals not now engaged in this issue that affects us all.
To submit your essay visit the Pulitzer Center site . All the entries will be shown, on the Helium and Pulitzer Center sites. The winner, selected from the 10 entries judged best by the Helium community, will receive a Pulitzer Center Citizen Journalist Award.
The deadline for the World Water Day Writing Contest is Wednesday March 31. The Pulitzer Center Citizen Journalist Award in this contest will be announced on Friday April 9. If you would like information on how to post an ad featuring the contest please contact info@pulitzercenter.org.
-Mark Stanley, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
We all know water is fundamental to human life, but more than that, water is a fundamental part of the solution to ending extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.
There are the obvious uses of water: for drinking cooking many basic foods, for example. A regular water supply is necessary for bathing and washing clothes to maintain personal hygiene and health. Water is necessary for agriculture, to irrigate crops. Water crosses all sectors, touching upon many of the issues that the Millennium Development Goals lay out, and it is at the core of MDG 7, to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Experts estimate that every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates returns of $8 in saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs. Investment in water and sanitation infrastructure, where the money stretches so far, leverages foreign assistance by getting the most bang for every buck invested.
Water supply itself is challenging enough in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa that suffer extended dry spells, but even once a water supply is ensured, the next step is improving its quality. Sanitation infrastructure is really limited in large parts of the developing world; only one quarter of the rural population in sub-Saharan Africa has access to improved sanitation, for example. This means that even though 46% of the rural population has access to a water supply, the lack of sanitation infrastructure makes it hard to keep that water clean. UNICEF estimates that 4,100 children die daily from diseases that result from lack of clean water and poor sanitation.
World Water Day is coming up on March 22, and in light of the staggering statistics about disease and death from unclean water, this year’s World Water Day theme is Clean Water for a Healthy World. Take some time to learn about the issue, using tools like our issue brief and the World Water Day website. And celebrate World Water Day early by taking action in the March challenge.
Pop quiz: what is the source of 80% of all diseases and deaths in the developing world?
Dirty water. It’s not always the first global issue that comes to mind, but if you got it right, you’re part of a growing movement of concerned individuals. This month, we invite you to take action and raise awareness on your campus about this critical issue.
Simple and cost-effective solutions exist right now to improve water quality and delivery. Global Water Challenge is a coalition of 24 leading organizations in the water and sanitation sector, working together to bring these solutions to those in need around the world. GWC is comprised of major corporations, NGOs, foundations and research institutes, all with one goal: universal access to clean drinking water.
To give you a sense of the exciting work being done in the sector, I want to highlight GWC’s partner, Manna Energy in Rwanda. Manna installs gravity-fed filtration and UV-disinfection systems in schools to clean their drinking water. Since people no longer have to burn wood to make their water safe to drink, Manna generates carbon credits, which they can sell to fund the program’s expansion. Manna hopes to serve all 500 secondary schools in Rwanda, about 236,000 children, at no cost to the schools.
Watch the video about the students of L’Esperance Orphanage, the first school where Manna worked:
Manna is just one of the many examples of the amazing work being done in the field.
Visit Global Water Challenge to learn more.
One of my most profound experiences during the ONE trip this summer was my time in the Kibera slums. During this time, we helped a group of young men to rake through raw sewage in order to collect the recyclable products thrown in along with the human and food waste. I have wondered to this day what I can do to change this to little affect.
Yesterday though, I was able to have a discussion with Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund who told a similar story of her time in Kibera. Here though, she was more worried about the flying toilets; flying toilets are bags of waste that are thrown out of people’s homes that then promote airborne illness and the sewage we saw.
Again, my mind was drawn to wondering what I could do to help.
This bag is a biodegradable plastic bag that is a single use toilet in order to counteract flying toilets. It will be sold for about 2 or 3 cents and also has the added bonus of breaking down the waste into fertilizer.
Not only does this act as a means of cutting down on water contamination, it also cuts down on waste and airborne pathogens. Finally, something is being done and we can all get behind it.
- Tomas Moreno, Campus Outreach Ambassador for North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC
As you probably remember, in October we issued a big challenge as part of our World Food Day Action countdown—submit a 30-60 second video to the hunger bytes! contest, a video competition put on by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to help raise awareness about the world’s one billion hungry.
Yesterday the winners were announced—and we wanted to share their powerful entries.
In the over-18 category, two aspiring filmmakers from Mexico—Carlos Antonio Michel Sandoval and Miguel Angel Mier Delgado—produced the winning entry “Dreams.” And in the under-18 category, 14-year old John Beck took home the prize for his submission “Dinner is Served.”
To see all of the winning and finalist videos, click here.
March is water month for the ONE Campus Challenge, and we’re celebrating the 210 million people who have gained access to water and sanitation since 2000 with a scavenger hunt that will fire up your campus and help bring clean water and adequate sanitation to people in the developing world.
Check out the list of actions and complete as many as you can before March 16:
All the actions on the scavenger hunt list are worth extra points right now, and the school completing the most different actions in the next two weeks will get 50,000 OCC points — enough to take a top 30 school into the top 20, or maybe a top 20 school into the top 10. Or, along with a good phone bank or tabling event, catapult a school up the ranks from beyond the top 100!
It really is still anybody’s game, and you are going to want to win. Because on March 17, the top 10 schools will enter a run-off project competition to determine who wins the grand prize.
Look for the big grand prize announcement later this week. Meanwhile, for more info on the parameters for the Top 10 projects (they’re really different this year!), check here:
The Top 10 will run a little differently this year than in the past, so read carefully.
Deadlines:
The Top 10 will be determined on Wednesday, March 17 based on the points accumulated since August 1, 2009.
The Top 10 groups will have two and a half weeks, until 11:59pm PST on Friday, April 2 to turn in final projects.
The Top 10 Projects:
Pick one issue. Each team must select a particular ONE issue as a project focus. We realize that all issues affecting global poverty are closely linked so some overlap is understandable, but really honing in on one issue will give your project cohesion and strengthen your message. Hint: We will be considering the degree of difficulty of the issue you choose, so don’t shy away from things like “Trade and Investment” or “Governance and Security”. Just be sure to read all about your issue and REALLY know it so you can apply it to your activities.
Include an advocacy component. The primary focus of projects should be the advocacy work completed, such as letters to Congress, phone calls, and/or district Congressional office visits. ONE is, at its core, an advocacy organization, and your projects should be about ONE, ergo your projects should be about advocacy. Hint: make sure your advocacy campaign has potential to really make a difference in the world. If you’re at a small school, a petition requiring a big number of signers might not be the best way to make a difference.
Include awareness-raising and action-taking, too. Effective advocates are well-versed in the issues they are advocating for (where the awareness-raising comes in) and have the ability to get noticed (where the action-taking comes in). Make sure to include all 3 pieces. Judges will be counting! Hint: your project does not necessarily have to include an event. Think about your school’s strengths when planning your activities.
Projects should be presented, clearly, in a video no longer than 3 minutes. It’s a skill to be able to present in a concise manner, so show us your skills. Hint: Look at the top 3 from the January video challenge to get a better idea of how to make a concise, persuasive video.
You should also know:
Each team will have a staff advisor. We strongly advise you utilize your staff advisor! Don’t be afraid to run ideas by that person and ask for specific advice.
We’re not doing the $1000 stipends this year. Most of that money was returned to us last year anyway. (Focus on advocacy, focus on advocacy, focus on advocacy…) BUT…
We will send each Top 10 group a starter pack with t-shirts, bands, and a ONE banner.
Can’t wait to see your projects, Top 10! Best of luck!
Right now, Congress is considering the President’s budget request for 2011, and the pressure to cut costs is high. But our proven, cost-effective investments in international development, and particularly in mother and child health, must be protected. Congress needs to hear from you that you believe in these investments and want support for the President’s 2011 International Affairs Budget Request.
We have two actions going on: one directed at the House, and one at the Senate. You’ll find instructions, talking points and phone numbers on the pages linked below. Phone calls are worth 1,000 points each, but we’ll be awarding those points every few days, not immediately when you report your calls. We want time to go through your reports and verify that calls were made.
THESE PAGES ARE FOR LOGGING YOUR CALLS ONLY. If you want to run a call party or phone bank, keep track of your callers in a spreadsheet (name, email address, whom they called, what the result was) and email that to Maisie and Emily.
Some members of Congress are more critical right now than others. Please focus particularly on any senator or representative you or your teammates have who sits on these committees (click for a list of members):
These are the committees soon to be making important decisions on the budget, appropriations and authorizations, so we need to get calls in now to have an impact. Phone calls are the most immediate and direct way we can be heard on important, time-sensitive issues including the International Affairs Budget, and your effort means a lot. Our movement grows stronger with every phone call.
And as a side note, this is going to be ONE’s big action for the next couple weeks. We don’t have immediate plans for a new petition, and there’s a good chance we won’t have another petition until after the OCC season ends. So now is definitely the time to start planning a call party!
The OCC Blog is a daily log of the ONE Campus Challenge, a friendly competition to determine which university's student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign. The site is operated by ONE staff, Campus Outreach Ambassadors (COAs), and Campus Leaders.
The content of each post represents the views of that post's author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
World Water Day on March 22 is just around the corner. To mark the date, the Pulitzer Center is teaming up with the writers’ site 
The Top 10 will run a little differently this year than in the past, so read carefully.
