Last Thursday night the University of Colorado Student Union passed a proclamation declaring the University of Colorado - Boulder to be a Campus of ONE, supporting the goals and efforts of The ONE Campaign.
ONE is a bipartisan advocacy group raising awareness about extreme poverty and preventable disease.1 billion people live off less than one dollar a day and every day 28,000 children die from preventable causes. ONE works to give these people a voice inthe way we craft of foreign development policy, which is in major need ofreform.
As a student on Campus I felt it was important that CU's rich humanitarian reputation endorse this campaign that I believe so much in. As the moderator of the ONE student group on campus I helped organize our efforts to making CU one of the largest campuses to endorse ONE.
But what does this really mean? How does it help those 28,000 children I just mentioned? During my speech to the council I talked about one boy specifically who seemed doomed to become one of those 28,000, a boy named Bongani from South Africa. In 2002 he lost both parents and his aunt to HIV/AIDS and moved in with his grandmother.In less than a year his was severely sick in the hospital and pulled out of school. Today he is alive because of anti-retroviral AIDS drugs provided by our government under a bill called PEPFAR. The drugs cost $3 per day and allow Bongani to lead a healthy life.
In one week the members of the ONE group at CU are going to Senator Wayne Allard's office to drop off 900 pages worth of letters from ONE members across the state of Colorado. The reason is that PEPFAR, the bill that's allowing Bongani to stay alive, is currently being blocked by 7 senators in the U.S. Senate. Wayne Allard is not one of them, but we're trying to get him to sign a letter to the senate askingthe block be removed so that this bill can continue saving the lives of 2 million people.
When I told this story to the members of UCSU it was to say this. A proclamation declaring CU to be a Campus of ONE does not save a child's life directly. The proclamation the Student Union passed last week did not affect the lives of 2 million people.What it did do what reflect the compassion of 28,000 students. It sent a clear message to Colorado's elected leaders that these are issues we care about. And it showed the CU is still a leader on social justice issues.
I'm very proud of my University for the stance it has taken against poverty and disease. As one great Irish rock star once said, "Where you live should not determine whether you live."
To learn more about the ONE Campaign visit www.one.org
To get involved in Colorado visit http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/DenverONE
Matthew McAllister-
CU Sophomore