DMB in Champaign, Ill

ONE Volunteers
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

I hung out working at Starbucks today – needed a change of scenery from Kinko’s. Working on the road can be challenging – the hotel kicks you out by noon, you still have work to do before the show, it never ends…

Driving into Champaign, I was listening to a faith based radio show – they were interviewing a doctor from Walter Reed Medical Center in DC who also has done a lot of work in Africa. He was really interesting – I wish I had gotten his name – talking about steps he felt the faith community could make to better approach the crisis of AIDS and poverty. He also made two points that really, really struck me – it’s funny, you do this work full time, all the time, talking to people every single day about these issues, but every now and then you’ll hear how someone else approaches it and you find yourself really moved and impacted all over again.

Michigan
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

Anyway, he pointed out that while the life expectancy for most of the world has lengthened over the last several decades, in Africa, its been nearly cut in half because of AIDS over the last 20 years, the only place where that has happened. He also said something that really crystallized what is at the heart of this movement for me: “20 years ago, if you were diagnosed at Walter Reed in DC where I am a doctor, you had a year to live. If you were diagnosed with AIDS in Africa 20 years ago you had a year to live. Now, if you are diagnosed with AIDS or HIV at Walter Reed, you can expect to live well for a very long time. If you are diagnosed in Africa, you can still only expect to live a year”. I was really struck by this analogy, as obvious as it may seem. It really drives home what is at the root of this campaign, at least for me: our common humanity, equality, what is right and wrong - this campaign, as Bob Geldolf has put it, is about justice. I think of the U2 line I was thinking about a lot when were planning our first tour for ONE this year – U2’s spring leg – “where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die’. Simple but also incredibly complex, for me it really hits on the concept of justice that is at the root of this all.

ONE supporters and DMB fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

Champaign is a small college town – lots of support for the campaign though, and fun to work in an area where the campaign is still pretty fresh and new, it reminded me of when we first brought ONE out with U2. Lots of sign ups and support, importantly, we are really building up our network of potential volunteers…