Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Made in Lesotho, Africa A Return to Africa - Lesotho. As many of you will remember, four years ago U2's Bono and DATA traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa with a gaggle of journalists and then-U.S Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil. The impetus for that trip was to draw the world's attention to the emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. Today we came back looking for answers and to see what progress has been made since that historic trip in 2002. After a short plane ride from Johannesburg, we landed on a small airstrip in Maseru, Lesotho around 1:00pm. Many of us were a little tired from our long flights to get here but full of energy for a full day touring this beautiful country. Leading the pack off the plane, DATA co-founders Bono and Bobby Shriver were followed by representatives from ONE.org, RED and EDUN, some journalists and a film crew. A small welcoming party greeted us and we were quickly ushered off to our first stop at the Lesotho Precious Garment Makers Factory. This clothing factory was most impressive. An assembly line of hard working African men and women sang for us at our arrival and we watched as they carefully and meticulously sewed and hemmed t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies for The Gap and Old Navy. We witnessed as some of the first RED products came off the line emblazoned with that proud stamp: (RED) Made in Lesotho, Africa. Everything was made from 100% African cotton and the t-shirts especially were soft like butter to the touch. The garment factory employs thousands of workers who are now able to use this money to feed their families, put their children through school and begin to lift themselves out of the trappings of extreme poverty. It was a beautiful thing to witness and we all left feeling encouraged by the incredible work being done here. As many have said before, TRADE is a viable and needed resource for improving the lives of the millions of Africans who live on less than a dollar a day. Tonight as I write this most of our party is downstairs celebrating with local business people the announcement of a new AIDS testing and treatment initiative for factory workers and enjoying the incredible sounds of the Lesotho choir comprised entirely of local garment workers. The local garment workers also put on an exciting and vibrant fashion show showing off the local clothing that they produce here in Lesotho. The beautiful Lesotho men and women on the catwalk could seriously rival Milan and Paris' finest! We've got a full day tomorrow starting in Lesotho at Butha Buthe Hospital and Paballong ART Clinic before flying up to Rwanda so I'm going to call it a night! Stay tuned to this blog for more updates. [] 7:34:23 PM

Austin City Limits Festival - donewaiting.com Austin City Limits Festival Reveals Line Up. Taking place September 15-17, here is the line-up so far: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, the Flaming Lips, Massive Attack, Ween, Gnarls Barkley, the Raconteurs, the Shins, John Mayer, Feist, Stars, Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band, Thievery Corporation, the New Pornographers, Sparklehorse, Son Volt, Aimee Mann, Nickel Creek, Nada Surf, Wolf Parade, Iron & Wine, Calexico, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, KT Tunstall, Secret Machines, the Rocket Summer, Okkervil River, José González, Matisyahu, Gomez, Galactic, G. Love and Special Sauce, Kings of Leon, Explosions in the Sky, Guster, Damien Rice, Damian Marley, Alexi Murdoch, Buckwheat Zydeco, Ben Kweller, Kathleen Edwards, String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Los Lonely Boys, Jack Ingram, Kasey Chambers, Centro-matic, Marah, the Black Angels, Sara Hickman, Trish Murphy, Asleep at the Wheel, South Austin Jug Band, Palm Elementary School Choir [credz] [donewaiting.com] 6:26:33 PM