Fazzino, right, meets Rwandan President Paul Kagame during the National Youth Week Closing Ceremonies in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2010.

Sacred Heart University alumnus Michael Fazzino ’10 of Woodbury, CT, is confident that his successors in the campus’ ONE chapter will build upon the organization’s many achievements.

Fazzino, who graduated with a dual major of Political Science and Business Administration, founded SHU’s ONE chapter in 2007, turning it into one of the most successful in the nation. The ONE Campus Challenge (OCC) is an offshoot of ONE, a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization backed by more than 2 million people who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.  Co-founded by singer Bono of the band U2 and other campaigners, ONE is non-partisan and works closely with African policy makers and activists. Fazzino, who was the chapter’s president, has also interned with ONE’s companion organization, (RED).

ONE is a campaign that raises awareness about global poverty, hunger and disease, especially in developing countries. OCC is a friendly competition amongst hundreds of college campuses to determine which student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign, according to www.one.org. During the school year, students earn points and recognition for their schools by participating in different actions and monthly challenges. At the end of the effort, students are eligible for prizes and national recognition.

When asked what the SHU chapter did, Fazzino responds with, “What didn’t we do?” The chapter had about 1,000 people – students and faculty – involved in the campaign and about 50 people actively working on it. Among the chapter’s activities were speaking with U.S. legislators about poverty issues; having Mayor Bill Finch declare Bridgeport a “City of ONE”; working at a number of schools in Bridgeport, including renovating one of the playgrounds; and hosting a “fair trade fair.”

This year, the top campus organizers in the OCC were taken on a “listening and learning trip” to Rwanda, according to www.one.org. From June 22 to 29, Fazzino and four other students traveled to the eastern-central African country, where only 16 years earlier the genocide killed about 800,000. Fazzino, who was making his first trip to the African continent, was unsure exactly what the group would find when they arrived in Rwanda.

Fazzino, right, visits a clinic in Kigali

“We really wanted to go in and talk with individuals in the country,” Fazzino says about the objective of the trip, “who had something of value to add to our programs and our policy initiatives. And we absolutely succeeded in that our perception of the country was affirmed; it was changed in a lot of ways but for the better. And I think coming back home we have much more of a pressing desire to help not only those in Rwanda but in the continent of Africa as well and those who need help all over the world who are suffering from these debilitating issues of poverty and disease.”

“Incredible” is the word Fazzino uses repeatedly as he speaks about what he saw, who he met and what he learned about the African country that is becoming a role model for other developing nations. While there still is much to do, Rwanda has “pulled itself up by its bootstraps,” he says. “The Rwandans have been able to move on since the 1994 genocide.”

Their successes are due in large part to strong leadership by President Paul Kagame, the perseverance of the everyday citizens and international aid, says Fazzino. However, he warns that the global fund needs to be sustained for countries like Rwanda to prosper and grow.
 
“Pleasantly surprised” is how Fazzino describes the Rwandans’ progress. “But it was a little heartbreaking almost to see how much still needs to be done. I feel confident that as long as aid continues that they are going to continue moving forward. So that is our biggest hurdle right now – it is not getting the donations to begin but to get them to continue.”
 
Coffee is Rwanda’s largest export but the workers have no way of moving forward, even though they have a job and are making money – 85 cents a day. “It is barely a living wage. They can’t support their family, they can’t support their children, they can’t afford to give themselves nutritious foods or the medicines they may need. There is a hand-to-mouth existence on the coffee plantations,” says Fazzino, who is looking for a full-time job and would like to continue working with a humanitarian organization.
 

Fazzino with the gorillas in Volcanoes National Park

As an example of how the Rwandans are finding ways to help themselves, Fazzino turns to a discussion of tourism. Rwanda is making considerable revenue from the mountain gorillas – made famous by Dian Fossey in her study and research of the primates. The government now regulates the parks and protects the gorilla habitats, and even has trained former poachers to be guides. When tourists travel into the mountains to observe the gorillas, the Rwandan government grows its economy – it’s as simple as that, says Fazzino.
 
Fazzino becomes animated when he talks about the 1,500-foot-deep Lake Kivu, the sixth largest in Africa, and the promises it holds for Rwanda. The volcanic lake contains methane gas, which is renewable, that will be extracted by a group of investors as a potential power source for Rwanda as well as most of eastern-central Africa. “The great thing about is that the investors aren’t going to continue control,” he says. “The plan is to eventually hand it over to the Rwandans so that the power plants they are considering building are going to be completely Rwandan run, which is incredible going from a society that doesn’t really have any transferable skills – they are farmers and artisans – to being trained to operate power plants and build pipelines.”
 
But while international humanitarians continue to look for avenues to aid those living in abject poverty, the Rwandans have figured out how best to help themselves, says Fazzino. “There is no one avenue to solving all of the problems in Rwanda; we have to focus on a lot of fronts. And that is what the Rwandans are taking to heart. They are focusing not only on building schools and building clinics and building hospitals, but they are focusing on providing more resources for their small business owners, they are focusing on expanding their tourism outreach strategy, and focusing on building roads and pipelines.”

Fazzino talks with pride about the Rwandans’ successes, but adds, “It is very bittersweet. For every person doing very well in the country, there’s probably quite a few more that are still stuck in the perpetual trap of poverty.

“We have to tell their stories and figure out how to help them best.”