Support global peace on September 21 and everyday with PeaceJam

What if we could end violence worldwide, even for one day? What if wars stopped in their tracks and all countries laid down weapons? Unrealistic as it sounds, it’s real. Since 2001, the 192 member states of the United Nations have been honoring September 21 as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence.

Now, the International Day of Peace is celebrated by more than 27 million people in 200 countries, but it didn’t start there. Before he approached the UN, Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley approached dozens of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to gain their support for UN legislation.

Those are the same laureates that pave the way for the youth of PeaceJam, one of the organizations that OneTribe.com is proud to support. Each year, PeaceJam recognizes the International Day of Peace with service projects and special speakers at sites across the country.

But to PeaceJam youth, the International Day of Peace happens every day of the year. Taking inspiration from Nobel laureates, youth across the nation create service projects centered around ten core issues, including “Breaking the Cycle of Violence” and “Controlling the Proliferation of Weapons.”

Help PeaceJam celebrate the progress they’ve made toward their dreams of a more peaceful world with a tee from OneTribe.com. As always, 50% of your purchase goes directly to help PeaceJam’s efforts.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Swimming 981 miles to educate 44,000 girls

What would motivate you to swim 20 miles? What about 20 miles, six days in a row? What would it take to make you do that for eight weeks?

If you’re tired just from thinking about it, go talk to Mimi Hughes, who wrapped up her 981-mile swim down the entirety of the Ohio River on July 17. What motivates Mimi? She wants to educate and empower women and girls, and she’s hoping to bring greater awareness to organizations like the Central Asia Institute (CAI), OneTribe.com’s newest humanitarian partner.

Mimi knows, as a mother of four and a teacher/tutor of students with dyslexia and developmental disabilities, “the transformation that can take place in women and girls when they are given the appropriate educational opportunities, mentoring, and open doors.”

Greg Mortenson saw the transformational power of education in Afghanistan and Pakistan when he began working there in 1993. Since then, he has founded CAI, written a #1 New York Times bestselling book, and opened 131 schools with the primary goal of educating women and girls as a path to peace. His community-centered philosophies are now helping to turn the tide of U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan.

You don’t have to be a swimmer to help Mimi, Greg, and hundreds of middle eastern communities make education accessible to all. Check out the tees at OneTribe.com, where 50% of your purchase goes directly to fund CAI’s schools.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Rebuilding Haiti by listening to children

When Child Helpline International (CHI) establishes new helplines, they target the most vulnerable countries in the world. In 2009, it was Albania, Maldives, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, and Togo. But their next endeavor may prove even more challenging: Haiti.

In June, CHI facilitated a meeting between Haitian police and a number of non-profits that aim to serve Haiti’s youth. Despite Haiti’s poor infrastructure and low governmental capacity in the midst of reconstruction from the January earthquake, CHI is operating on their most fundamental value: that everybody has a right to be heard.

Initially founded by a social worker in Bombay, Child Helpline International is an organization that fields 14.5 million calls annually from children in 134 countries. Helplines provide resources and support to children facing, most commonly, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and stigma, domestic violence, suicide, and bullying. Many in developing countries also face abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

To recognize the Indian roots of Helpline, the women’s tee depicts boys and girls faces (note the dot on the girls’ foreheads) arranged into a traditional Indian flower design. The faces are connected by the ears, and their hands join in the center to represent the supportive structure that’s created when understanding is coupled with community action. The men’s tee features a dial pad with a life-preserver on the bottom button.

Support the efforts of CHI in helping children help themselves by purchasing your own eco-friendly tee at OneTribe.com. As always, 50% of your purchase goes directly to support CHI’s programs.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Celebrating 20 years of clean water with Water.org

As you sip cold lemonade at a Fourth of July barbecue, raise your glass to the incredible benefits of clean, safe water. Here at OneTribe.com, we’re not just celebrating our country’s birthday, but the birthday of our humanitarian partner, Water.org.

Water.org recently celebrated the completion of an 11-month well project in Guatincara, Honduras, where 80 percent of families have to walk to collect their water from contaminated wells and creeks.

But this ribbon cutting also marks 20 years of clean water initiatives in Honduras. Since 1990, Water.org co-founder Gary White has now seen more than 40 communities and 11,000 people served in Honduras, where 63% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

White has been fighting for access to clean water for communities worldwide ever since. He co-founded WaterPartners International in 1993, which has since merged with H20 Africa, a similar organization co-founded by actor Matt Damon. This month marks the first official anniversary of Water.org, now a 3.5 million dollar operation.

The merger has since led to the growth of a new enterprise. The WaterCredit program is an innovative way to help remote communities fund their own water projects without relying on limited grant money. It provides fair access to affordable loans (around $130), so that communities don’t have to wait to address their needs. To date, more than 16,000 microloans have been granted and repaid in full.

Help Water.org celebrate 20 years of innovative water solutions in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kenya, Uganda, and more. Visit OneTribe.com, where 50% of each purchase goes directly to support Water.org.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Excited for the World Cup? So is Grassroots Soccer.

Grassroots Soccer - Using the power of soccer in the fight against AIDS by providing African youth the knowledge, skills + support to live HIV free.

The founders of Grassroots Soccer were professional soccer players who knew that they could use soccer as a way to spread education about HIV to African youth. Now they're using the first World Cup ever held in Africa to reach their roots deeper and spread their branches wider than ever.

At OneTribe.com, we've created tees that support Grassroots soccer, and we've used the spirit of growth in the designs. By planting the seeds of peer education (program graduates educate their friends about HIV), Grassroots Soccer is cultivating a generation that's geared to overcome the AIDS crisis. Furthermore, the depiction of life and growth on these shirts is in direct opposition to the death and destruction caused by HIV/AIDS.

The women’s tee uses the seed metaphor literally, showing new growth and even a few soccer ball-seeds rolling away, ready to form new sprouts.

The men's tee features a soccer coach giving the red penalty card to AIDS. The soccer ball at his feet contains the continent of Africa, and behind him is a tribal African textile design.

Show your support and get your shirt in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa by visiting OneTribe.com. Remember: 50% of each purchase goes directly to support Grassroots Soccer.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

PeaceJam hosts Nobel Laureate José Ramos-Horta

At OneTribe.com, we like to spotlight some of the incredible ways that the organizations we support are making our world better. PeaceJam recently held a conference with José Ramos-Horta as its guest of honor – a Nobel Laureate whose young roots in peacemaking make him an ideal role model for the youth at PeaceJam.

At age 18, José Ramos-Horta was exiled from his home country of East Timor for questioning governmental policies around the poverty he saw. Repeatedly voicing opposition to Portugese militaristic rule, José was soon a young revolutionary. At 25 years old, he was the youngest person to address the United Nations, pleading for Timorese independence.

Now a Nobel Laureate and the President of his home country (no longer under Portuguese rule), José has been a champion for ending economic oppression worldwide. “Just remember that violence leads you nowhere. We have to learn not to be violent if we want to have power. Compassion, generosity, humility, tolerance are real power.”

At the PeaceJam conference on May 24-25, 2010, youth from all over Colorado participated in workshops, service projects, and even spoke out in poetry slams.

For one of their service projects, youth worked with Groundwork Denver, an organization that partners with local low-income neighborhoods to improve their physical environments. PeaceJam volunteers replaced hundreds of front porch lights with sustainable compact fluorescent light bulbs.

You can support PeaceJam’s local and international call to action by purchasing an eco-friendly t-shirt at OneTribe.com. As always, 50% of your purchase goes directly to PeaceJam’s efforts.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Our Designers' Inspiration for Global Village of Beijing Tees

Global Village of Beijing - Working together to provide environmental insights for the future of China.

With these particular shirts, the designers at One Tribe wanted to convey the environmental mission of Global Village of Beijing.

The women’s T-shirt uses a plum tree as a design inspiration. Making up the plum tree are various Chinese characters, each with a special meaning. Among them are the words: vegetation, animals, environment, pure, saving, nature, forever, respect, progress, protect, responsibility, community, sustainable, reproduction, thriving, and organic. The image of the tree and the meaning of the characters come together to promote sustainable living.

The overall message on the shirt is that we have an important relationship with nature, and it is up to us to coexist in balance and harmony.

To purchase your eco-friendly tee, visit OneTribe.com.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Peace and Hope Begin with Educating One Child at a Time

Founder of the Central Asia Institute, Greg Mortenson, had an inspirational encounter in the mountainous regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan after a failed attempt of summiting K2 that lead to his mission of providing education for the communities there. Mortenson created a network of local community members that are involved in the progression of the educational projects in these regions, and in doing so established a sustainable program that now has 130 schools and provides education to over 51,000 students.

OneTribe.com has added Central Asia Institute to the humanitarian network of non-profits and designed inspirational cotton T-shirts that will provide the funds needed to educate a young student for one year when purchased. The men and women’s line of organic apparel focuses on the mantra of the Central Asia Institute, “Peace and Hope Begin with Educating One Child at a Time.”

The women’s graphic is an open text book with its pages slowly turning into leaves that blossom into beautiful Jasmine flowers, the national Pakistani flower.

The men’s design symbolizes war changing to peace through the power of education by depicting a missile turning into a pencil.

For more information about the One Tribe exclusive shirts that provide funds directly to help people around the world, please visit: Onetribe.com.

Fighting HIV With The Power of Football

Recently, Nike has used Grassroot Soccer as an example of how sports can be used to help prevent HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Nike’s newest campaign: Nike (RED) Lace Up To Save Lives donates money from the sale of their red shoelaces to AIDS treatment and HIV-prevention organizations.

Grassroot Soccer is one of these organizations. Grassroot Soccer Skillz coaches share why they think the power of soccer (“football”) is so important in combating this deadly epidemic.

Not only does Nike donate money to the Grassroot Soccer program, but it also provides much needed exposure. Already GRS is making a difference throughout Africa by helping youth make smart decisions regarding HIV/AIDS.

South Africa is a football-mad country, and is hosting the next World Cup – the biggest sporting event in the world. This is the perfect time to focus on campaigns such as the Nike (RED) Lace Up program and the Grassroot Soccer curriculum.

To see the short clip featuring Grassroot Soccer coaches, click here: Lace Up

For more about the (NIKE) RED campaign, check out www.nikefootball.com/red.

To visit the GRS website, click here: Grassroot Soccer

OneTribe.com is proud to support environmentally and socially responsible organizations. Like Nike, we help support the mission of GRS through sales of our specially designed Grassroot Soccer shirts. Not only do you donate to a worthy charity – and help one child stay HIV free - but you also get a sweet shirt out of it.

Give as much as you gain – OneTribe.com.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

PeaceJam Can win $1 Million With Your Vote!

PeaceJam has a chance to win $1,000,000 through Chase Community Giving!!!

They can't do it without YOU. Please vote! It only takes a second.

Peace Jam is a Denver-based non-profit that seeks to engage youth in tackling the 10 biggest problems facing society today. The goal is to finish 1 BILLION projects that will help people around the world.

Vote here: http://bit.ly/peacejam-chase.

Voting begins on January 15th and will end on January 22nd.

Please tell all of your friends to this cause! They need as many votes as they can get. Let's all get excited about supporting PeaceJam!!!!!!

OneTribe.com voted for PeaceJam today, and hopes you will too. We are proud to support socially and environmentally responsible organizations.

Through sales of our PeaceJam organic t-shirts, we provide one youth the opportunity to receive training with a Nobel Laureate through the PeaceJam program.

Click here to purchase your shirt today!

Haiti's Next Relief Effort - Water.

Thanks to Water.org for providing the following information

In September 2009, Water.org announced its commitment to bring safe water and sanitation to 50,000 Haitians over the coming 36 months.

On 12 January, Haiti was rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

Water.org will be there to respond to this natural disaster, building on their existing efforts to provide safe drinking water to impoverished people in this region (Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere)

The focus of that effort will be providing sanitation facilities to the people of Haiti. Thousands have tragically died in this disaster already, and a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water could kill thousands more. This was a problem in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. If it could happen to some degree in the richest country on earth, what would be the effects on one of the poorest?

If you would like to donate to immediate relief efforts in Haiti, you’ll find a list of potential organizations to support at: CNN Impact Site.

If you are interested in supporting Water.org’s efforts to restore and expand water and sanitation services in Haiti, they would gladly accept your donation: http://donate.water.org/haiti.

OneTribe.com helps Water.org in all their sanitation efforts around the globe. We donate 50% of the price of our "Water.org" shirts directly to this worthy cause. By purchasing JUST ONE of our shirts, you will make sure that ONE person in a place like Haiti has access to clean water for life.

Click here to give as much as you gain: OneTribe.com/Water.


For more information, read this Q&A from Water.org

How is water affected during a disaster like this?
Underground water and sanitation pipelines and concrete water storage tanks are highly susceptible to damage from earthquakes and will likely need to be repaired or replaced.

What is the response plan to get people safe water?
The short term response typically includes bottled water and the use of high volume purification equipment. While this is expensive, it can be quickly deployed as a short-term solution. There are many relief agencies involved in these types of efforts. The response of organizations like Water.org involves the rehabilitation and expansion of sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure.

What is Water.org doing to help?
We will provide assistance to our local partners so that they can restore and expand water and sanitation infrastructure.

How is Water.org coordinating with other agencies?
Before the earthquake, Water.org was already coordinating with the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, and other agencies. On the ground, Water.org will work with local NGO partner organizations, consistent with our approach over the past two decades.

How has this affected Water.org’s work in Haiti?
It had made the need for safe water and sanitation even more urgent and will likely mean our focus will initially be rehabilitation, and then expansion of water services.

The Cost of Watering "Plants"

In fifteen years, it is expected that almost 3 billion people in 48 countries will suffer from a scarcity of water, according to waterfootprint.org.

The country with the biggest water foot print is, of course, the United States. The reasons are many, among them our “thirst” for water-intensive food and products like beef, rice, and cotton. Additionally, we have turned the world’s greatest (virtually) free product – tap water - and turned it into an elitist product – bottled water.

The Clean Air Council reports that Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic water bottles an hour. That is 60 million a day; 22 billion a year.

While more than 1 in 6 people worldwide have no access to clean water, Americans have access to clean, healthy, free water everywhere they go. Yet, we spend more money on bottled water each year than we do on iPods – an amount somewhere around $16 billion dollars a year.

Bottled water is indeed expensive. Whereas tap water costs about 1/10th of 1 cent per gallon, bottled water can be up to 10,000 times that cost. In cities, it isn’t unusual to pay $15 or more for a gallon of bottled water.

People claim that they drink bottled water because it is convenient, it is healthier, it tastes better, and it is often chilled.

Convenience: $15 for water is not convenient. For the majority of Americans it would take 1-2 hours of work to pay for that water (CEOs of bottled water firms not included).

Health: Bottled water is not healthier. In fact, at least 40% of the time, it is simply tap water with additives. One of the sources of Aquafina’s water is the Detroit River… which hardly calls to mind pure, glacial mountain springs. Ugggh! (Many bottled water plants are far removed from the picture they show on their label. Check out the image for Everrest Premium Water, which is bottled in the less-than-glacial area known as Corpus Christi, Texas.)

Bottled water may be less healthy, in fact. The FDA for bottled water regulations are far less strict than the EPA regulations for tap water. It is tested less frequently and for fewer contagions. And whereas tap water is always moving, bottled water is still… so minute traces of bacteria from the bottling plant can fester inside a water bottle.

Another recent trend that dentists are seeing (much to their delight) is a return of cavities in bottled-water sipping kids. Flouridation in tap water nearly eliminated cavities in Americans, and with the majority of bottled water companies not adding fluoride to their product, children who don’t drink tap water aren’t getting the protection they need.

Finally, a chemical compound in plastic called phthalates can easily leach into the water, and is known to cause liver problems, reproductive difficulties, and even cancer.

Bottled water is not healthier.

Taste: In blind taste tests, people who swear they only drink bottled water have often rated tap water as tasting better than the ultra-expensive Evian (here is a non-scientific example from ABC News)

All water tastes better cold – so keep a reusable container of water in your fridge.

The Environment

Another factor in all of this is the environment. According to FoodAndWaterWatch.org, it takes 47 million gallons of oil to produce water bottles for Americans each year. That doesn’t include the amount of oil needed to transport all these bottles across the country. This is no small amount, considering that 60 million bottles are thrown out every day. Of these, somewhere between 70-86% are simply thrown away instead of being recycled. Not only does this add to our growing problem with garbage disposal, but plastic doesn’t degrade very well. It can take hundreds of years to degrade, and as it does it leaches dozens of dangerous chemicals into the water supply (that is a vicious water cycle!).

The Economy
Privatized water claims that it helps communities. In reality, bottled water plants provide few jobs (usually from outside the community that they are taking water from), the jobs they provide are low-wage and dangerous, and the benefits go to the corporation – not the local community.

What you can do

1. Stop buying and drinking bottled water
2. Buy a stainless steel reusable container for convenience
3. Buy a water filter for taste
4. Buy a pitcher for storing water in the fridge if you like your water cold
5. Support water charities that fight to keep our water clean, fight the commodification of water, and work to provide safe water access to needy people around the world.

One of these companies is water.org. To learn more about what they do, check out their really cool website at www.water.org

OneTribe.com is proud to support socially responsible organizations such as Water.org. Through sales of our own “water” shirts, we provide a steady and lasting revenue stream for this worthy cause. Whenever a shirt is purchased ($39) through our website, we donate 50% of the price ($19.50) directly to this non-profit. That single donation is enough to provide one youth access to clean water for life.

To buy one of these organic shirts for you or a friend, click here: OneTribe.com/Water

A Nice "Pitch" -- Give HIV the RED CARD

During the December opening of the Khaylitsha Football for Hope Centre in South Africa, Grassroot Soccer debuted their new AIDS prevention program, The Red Card campaign.

A red penalty card signifies poor behavior during a game of soccer, and for Grassroot Soccer, can be used as a powerful symbol for risky behaviors off the field (“pitch”) as well. With the popularity of soccer in African countries, the Red Card is now used to demonstrate to young people which risky behaviors can lead to HIV/AIDS transmission.

Connecting with young people in order to prevent HIV/AIDS transmissions is the goal of Grassroot Soccer (GRS). An example of how this works is an activity called “Risk Field.” In this game, players dribble soccer balls through cones. Whenever the players dribble the ball into a cone that represents a risky behavior – such as multiple partners or cross-generational sex – the Red Card is shown and players do a push-up as a penalty.

These activities, while not only fun for participants, are proven to work. Young people are moving, engaged, learning, having a good time, and working with leaders they respect. All these tools work together to reinforce messages of how to prevent this devastating illness.

Avert.org says that over 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV, with at least 15-20% of all adults infected in places like South Africa, where this campaign is launching to coincide with the 2010 World Cup being hosted there. The timing and impact of this campaign could be huge, considering that more people watch the World Cup than the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, and World Series combined.

According to Grassroot Soccer’s website, the Red Card campaign’s goal is to educate 1 million youth through its programming by 2014. Already, over 300,000 youth in 13 African countries have been served through previous campaigns such as this.

OneTribe.com is proud to support socially responsible organizations such as Grassroot Soccer. Through sales of our own “Red Card” shirts (right), we provide a steady and lasting revenue stream for this worthy cause. Whenever a shirt is purchased ($39) through our website, we donate 50% of the price ($19.50) directly to this non-profit. That single donation is enough to provide one youth access to GRS lessons -- such as the Red Card campaign -- which will help keep him or her HIV free for life.

To buy a shirt and support GRS, click here: OneTribe/GrassrootSoccer

You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

New Year's Resolution... or New Year's Revolution?

Did you make a resolution to improve yourself this year? What about a resolution to improve the lives of others? Are you committed to helping worthy causes but don’t know where to start?

Here is an idea that might work for you.

1. Pick a favorite charity.
2. On a monthly basis, donate a set amount of money.
3. This amount can be a small amount. In fact, regular donations in small amounts can be easier to budget for and are more likely to be made than single donations in a larger amount. As President Obama has said, change starts from the ground up and in small amounts.
4. Keep track of this donation and remember to have those records handy at tax time.

One of the hardest parts of this is choosing a worthy cause (and then deciding on your monthly budget), so here is an even better idea:

1. Go to OneTribe.com.
2. Once a month, purchase a different shirt.
3. We have different colors, sizes, and styles for men and women that support five different non-profits.
   
4. Your monthly budget will be $39.
5. Half this amount, exactly 50%, will be donated directly to the charity associated with that particular shirt.
6. In every case, the purchase of only ONE shirt will make a significant difference in the life of at least one person (you can read about those benefits here).
7. Feel good. Because not only are you donating $234 ($19.50 x 12 months) to charity this year (which you can deduct from your taxes), but you are also...

• multiplying your wardrobe…
• or getting your 2010 holiday shopping done early…
• or staying ahead of all those pesky birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and other holidays that you can never find time (or inspiration) to shop for…
• or further enhancing your cosmic graces by simply giving someone this shirt for no reason (which also helps promote these noteworthy causes)…
• and best of all, staying “green” the whole time. Click here to read how our shirts are good for you and the environment.

This year, give as much as you gain.

OneTribe.com is part of One Tribe Creative, LLC., and is proud to help support five socially and environmentally responsible organizations around the globe. The purchase of our t-shirts helps support and promote this effort. We thank you for your continued interest.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Water.org Serves 400,000 People

Since 1990, Water.org has directly served more than 400,000 people with safe water and toilets in Africa, South Asia, and Central America.

In the last year alone, Water.org . . .
• Served 136,000 people with clean water and 67,000 people with sanitation.
• Completed 135 community-based water improvements such as hand-dug wells, bore hole wells, spring catchment systems, and roof water harvesting systems.
• Established more than 6,000 individual household water connections and constructed more than 2,500 toilets.
• Incorporated health and hygiene education into each project.
• Made 1,820 WaterCredit loans, empowering people to immediately obtain their own water and toilet connections. Repayment rates: nearly 100%.
• Launched programs in Ghana and began expansion into Uganda and Haiti.

You can see video of Water.org co-founders Gary White (pictured above) and Matt Damon in India discussing past success and future growth here: YouTube.

OneTribe is proud to have helped contribute by providing a lasting revenue stream for this worthy cause with sales of our Water.org T-shirts. 50% of every sale of these fashionably designed, organic shirts goes directly to Water.org and helps provide one person access clean water for life.

Help support this effort with your tax-deductible purchase today: OneTribe.com/Water

Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to Water.org for the information used in this post!