Conversations, Take Two!

Last night was the second Converse Conversations event—a fantastic mix of music and art showcasing some of the 100 sneakers created for the 1HUND(RED) campaign.




2008 marks the 100th year anniversary of Converse, and to celebrate that milestone and our collaboration they commissioned various graffiti, street and musical artists to produce a shoe inspired by the global fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Converse contributes
5-15% of the net profit directly to The Global Fund. The Fund then distributes the (RED) money to various areas in Africa affected by the disease.

The Open House gallery in SoHo was the venue where the over-capacity crowd mingled with other sneakerheads and viewed the first 50 shoe designs. 1HUND(RED) campaign contributors Mike Schall, Rinzen and Rostarr produced additional installation pieces for the audience to enjoy.





Thurston Moore (yeah, the Sonic Youth legend!) started the night off right with some great old-school Hardcore (Soft Boys, Buzzcocks, etc…). Simian Mobile Disco then came in for an hour-plus DJ set. Those expecting to hear tracks off Attack Decay Sustain Release were treated instead to some great old-school shoegazer stuff and other rare nuggets.




And there was a “removable wall” where guests could show off their own skills and leave a personal signature at the event.






All-in-all, another great evening for Converse and (RED). Keep checking back on this blog for news – lots more to come.

And, I’ve said it before but it bears repeating…get creative and design your own Converse!

-Brad

Many Mountains

I’m just back from a trip to the tiny nation of Lesotho or the “Mountain Kingdom,” as it is known. This beautiful country of 1.8 million people faces many challenges, including unemployment, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Lesotho has the world’s third highest adult prevalence rate of HIV. That is one reason why it now has the world’s largest proportion of orphans per capita.

I met with Cathy and Kim from Gap in the capital city, Maseru. Kim helps Gap source products from suppliers around Africa and Cathy is part of Gap’s global compliance team. Together, we visited Lesotho’s Precious Garments clothing factory where GAP sources (PRODUCT) RED items. Also joining us were Bart the CEO of ALAFA (an industry alliance created to introduce and run HIV prevention and treatment programs in the apparel industry in Lesotho) and Krishna from the Global Fund.

The apparel industry is the largest employer in Lesotho with more than 45,000 employees, most of whom are women. Whilst Lesotho has an HIV adult prevalence rate of 23 percent, a recent study at 8 factories by ALAFA suggests that as many as 43% of the industry’s mostly female employees may be HIV positive. This statistic -- higher than the national average -- is partly due to the fact that so many of this industry’s employees are in the highest risk group for HIV here: women 35-39 years of age.

The apparel factory owners at Precious are aware that helping their employees know their status AND access treatment is good for business; improving workforce stability, productivity and morale. Since ALAFA’s pilot program began here at Precious Garments in May 2006, 50 percent of Lesotho’s factories are now ALAFA members and 25 percent of all factories have now opened and funded health clinics on their premises.

‘Precious’ was a pioneer in this regard and its clinic is open every day with a full time nurse and a number of staff counselors including “AIDS Champion” Mariane Mafike whom we met on a (RED) visit in 2006.

Mariane had encouraging news to report, regarding the program’s progress. Back in 2006, Mariane told us that they needed more peer counselors as there were just two then including herself. Now there are 10 counselors and this has really helped ensure many more of the factory’s 4,000 employees understand the benefits of testing and treatment. Indeed, Mariane told us that the clinic now tests about 20 women a day on site.

As a result of Mariane and her colleagues’ efforts, many women’s lives have clearly been changed for the better. And there’s a follow on effect to this, as the women who work here are more often than not the principal breadwinners for their families and so their ongoing health and income impacts not just them, but their families and communities as well.

Mariane, her peers, the factory management, ALAFA and Gap are all working together as a powerful team. As a result the fear of HIV has reduced, many more are being tested, and in doing so lives are being saved.

Greta

PHOTO CAPTION “Mariane along with team members from Precious Garments, GAP and ALAFA at the factory clinic.” [FYI the people in the photo sent in email are left to right: Nkopane Monyane, Precious Garments Group Regional Manager; Mariane Mafike, Cathy Dix (GAP), Kim Lim (GAP), Bart Vander Plaetse (ALAFA).]

The stories behind Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED

A New Partnership

Since last fall, we’ve been happily shouting about our partnership with Hallmark. Find out how we got together and learn more about our combined mission to help fight AIDS in Africa--straight from (RED) co-founder Bobby Shriver.




The BELIEVE Card

One card inspired the whole Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED collection. Hear the story behind the "Believe" card from Sarah Mueller, editorial director for Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED.




Hand Crafted Bags From Mali

This little bag is making a big impact on the Malaian economy. Two craftswomen share stories of how creating and exporting Mali Mud Cloth Bags has helped their business and families.

Peek at a UK (RED) Event

The children from Agape Choir and second from the left is Slindile (the main character)









We Are Together

I’ve just got back from the Apple store in London, where Mike Figgis (director of Leaving Las Vegas) was interviewing the makers of We Are Together, a feature length documentary that follows the choir of the Agape AIDS orphanage in South Africa over three years. (RED) is supporting the UK release of the film, together with EMI and Channel 4.

The film tells the story of 12-year old Slindile and her siblings. Over the three years of the film, they lose their brother and, at one point, the orphanage, but their music keeps them going through all of it. In the end, they fly to New York to sing with Alicia Keys and Paul Simon.

Paul Taylor and Teddy Leifer, the director and producer of We Are Together, were students when they started the film. That hasn’t stopped them winning a dozen festival awards though.

Tonight’s talk followed yesterday’s Premiere, which we also organised, together with EMI. Mike Figgis was there and other guests included Thandie Newton and her husband Ol Parker.

We Are Together goes on public release in the UK on Friday, 7th March, see www.joinred.com/wat for details.

-Tom

In Geneva with (RED)

I may be working in the land of precision timepieces and fine chocolates today, but my meetings are all about the technicalities of delivering results to (RED) shareholders in Africa. Geneva is base for the Global Fund team managing HIV/AIDS grants to Swaziland, Ghana and Rwanda, made possible by (RED) consumer action around the world. It is also home to the experts who evaluate the impact of in-country systems for distributing resources, including anti-retroviral medicine, to the millions of men, women and children in Africa, who are alive thanks to the two pills a day that (RED) money buys.

The Global Fund, the world’s leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria, was the first international financing body to invest in a massive scale-up of anti-retroviral treatment in developing countries. It enables countries to design and execute their own programs, based on local needs, but is performance based, so it provides funds only on the basis of proven results. 100 percent of the money generated by (RED) shoppers is put to work on the ground in Africa with the help of some of the Global Fund individuals with whom I met today. They assist in ensuring that the money is spent with the highest degree of impact – that lives are saved and results measured –
all without taking any overhead expenses from (RED) contributions.

How do they accomplish this? As (RED) co-founder Bobby Shriver would say, by sweating the details.

Global Fund Portfolio Managers hold local recipients accountable by looking for specific evidence of capacity to perform against goals and by setting targets that are measurable right from the beginning of the process. In other words, they don’t just ask countries “what do you want,” they focus on what success should look like and how it can be tracked and tested over time.

The analytical team at the Fund explained that the number one thing they assess is evidence of people reached by services – i.e. lives saved through treatment and prevention. Decisions are grounded in impacts on actual individuals. They ask who benefited, how and when. Through a system of checks and balances, they monitor, evaluate and audit data to determine whether targets are hit before disbursing additional funds.

Unlike some donors, the Global Fund looks at outcomes not inputs. Another distinction is the role of civil society plays in both the governance of the Fund (they have a seat on the board) and program creation and implementation (they are a part of each country’s program coordination group). Grant progress reports are also publicly available on the Global Fund website. Here is one example: Rwanda Grant Performance

The Global Fund’s high degree of due diligence, ongoing engagement of key stakeholders, and public transparency is critical. It is what led (RED) to chose the Global Fund as the recipient of the money contributed by (RED) partners when consumers chose (RED) over non-(RED) products.

As I leave Geneva tomorrow, I’ll pass by the huge automobile show that the city is hosting this week. High performance takes many forms. The Global Fund shows us where the rubber hits the road on the path to eliminating HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Tamsin

On the airplane with (RED)

It will be a dark day for me when internet access pervades the friendly skies. I read poetry on airplanes. It's one of the few times when I can slip guiltlessly into a cocoon free of email, telephone, friend or foe, and commune with the muses.

I'm on my way to Geneva, Switzerland to meet with The Global Fund, (RED)'s partner in the quest of eliminating Aids in Africa. On my flight, Seamus Heaney is my travel companion. I'm waiting to board, and sneaking a peak at the last poem in The Spirit Level collection.

Heaney invokes a drive to the west country, an ocean "wild with foam and glitter" to one side and on the other, "the earthed lightening" of a flock of swan that churns up the still surface of a slate-grey lake. "Useless," he says, for the mere witness "to think you'll park or capture it more thoroughly." But the experience is enough that a soft buffeting by wind or wing "catch the heart off guard and blow it open.

Some experiences pale to their reality when captured by pictures or words. I'm thinking of this as I recall my last transatlantic journey, to Rwanda in December 2007. I wish that every student who has written about how they are turning their campus (RED), every mom who's sent a photo of her kids in (Gap) RED, everyone who's designed a shoe at the Converse "make mine (RED)" site, or every MySpace friend who's turned their profile (RED), could have seen first-hand where the money is going and the impact it's having.

Every (RED) cent generated by consumers who buy products from a (RED) partner company is spent on the ground in Africa. No overhead is taken. 100 percent goes to provide the pills that keep an HIV+ person alive and to stop others from becoming infected. It's one thing to write that and another to see it. Talk about having one's heart blown wide open. Seeing is believing.

(RED) just crossed the $100 million mark in money flowing to Africa. I'm headed to Geneva, where the Global Fund is based. (RED) grants represent the best performing and neediest programs within the Global Fund's extensive portfolio of AIDS grants in Africa, ensuring that every dollar raised is effectively and immediately translated into lives saved. I'll be meeting with the grant review and technical teams, as part of our ongoing work to ensure that we are doing all we can, as well as we can, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

There is no known cure for AIDS. For the time being, treatment and prevention are the best "vaccines," especially in resource-poor countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Swaziland, where (RED) money is flowing. It used to be that antiretroviral drugs cost as much as $6,000 per person per year. Now, with the price of an ARV regimen cut to less than $140 annually, it is possible to imagine eliminating the disease that kills 4,400 people in Africa every single day.

(RED) exists to save these lives and to prevent additional infections. We have more partners coming, more products, more campaigns but the same commitment: every (RED) cent generated by consumers who buy products from a (RED) partner company is spent on the ground in Africa. Thank you for your support and please stop by our site to learn more.

p.s. here is a little something for your next flight, Postscript by Seamus Heaney

Postscript

And some time make the time to drive out west Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore, In September or October, when the wind And the light are working off each other So that the ocean on one side is wild With foam and glitter, and inland among stones The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit By the earthed lightening of flock of swans, Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white, Their fully-grown headstrong-looking heads Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Useless to think you'll park or capture it More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there, A hurry through which known and strange things pass As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways And catch the heart off guard and blow it open