For a continent that often seems so divided, last week offered a welcome glimpse into a possibility of an African unity sometime in the future. Last week, California's First Lady Maria Shriver welcomed 17 African first ladies to the Leadership for Health Summit. The Treat Every Child as Your Own" campaign presented the first ladies in a unified effort to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa as well as end the virus' continued stigma throughout the continent. An ambitious agenda, to be sure. Sponsorships and star-studded receptions offering face time with the first ladies helped raise millions for the cause.

Fifteen first ladies from African nations attended the summit, including Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon (pictured), Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Swaziland and Zambia attended the two-day meeting last Monday in Los Angeles. "We belong to a new and different generation," Jeanette Kagame, wife of the Rwandan president Paul Kagame, told The Washington Post. "We are all mothers at the end of the day. Most of our countries have embarked on expensive development projects and we would hate to see that progress stalled. The cost in lives has been too high."

[Image: Saharan Vibe]