Where in the World is Adrienne?

Friday, July 22, 2005

At the moment, I'm in the Philadelphia area. But not for too much longer. Upcoming trips include the Ukraine and Czech Republic in September, Cancun in October, and a tour of several Cental Asian "stan" countries in November.

There is much more to come to the blog, but here are a few photos from my recent trip to Scotland with the ONE Campaign for the G8 Summit.

Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Altantic and "eccentric billionaire", chartered us this 747 for the journey. He also was on board for the flight from New York to Edinburgh, so the airline treated us very well!! I don't think I can ever go back to US Air - at least until they start serving Champagne and fresh pastries for breakfast.


Me and 5 other ONE volunteers crashed a reception hosted by the Mayor of Edinburgh where we met Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland) and several other people much more important than we'll ever be. Sir Bob Geldof - the man behind the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts - was also in attendance and spent about 15 minutes talking candidly (ie, many expletives) with me and Ashley (ONE volunteer from LA) about the importance of engaging the American audience in the effort to "make poverty f*****' history." He also told me why they picked Philly as the US host city for both Live Aid and Live 8. It's an interesting reason that you'll have to call me to get.


There were riots every day leading up to the Summit, but nothing too violent - or effective, for that matter. Most of those protesters did not have a firm grasp of the issues, but rather were anarchists who were taking this opportunity to shake their fists at the "world powers." They actually hindered our cause by confusing the issue, sucking up media exposure and making transportation around the city difficult.

Djimon Hounsou (left), an actor from the movies Amistad, Gladiator, and The Island, is a ONE volunteers who travelled with us. George Clooney also made the trip and took an hour or so to answer some questions for us.


This is me with Kumi Naidoo - a great guy who was very active in the Anti-Arpartheid movement a decade ago and is now heading up the Global Call to Action Against Poverty campaign for many of the countries in Africa and Asia.