At 7 a.m. every Friday and Saturday, members of the Cairo Runners Club wake up and prepare to hit the soon-to-be crowded streets of Egypt’s capital. Yet these intrepid urban runners are not trying to exercise before work—the weekend actually has already begun (an Egyptian weekend lasts from Friday to Saturday). Their early waking is […]
The island nation of Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with one in four inhabitants of this small Caribbean nation living in extreme poverty. Plagued by political instability, as well as the devastating aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the country of Haiti is still struggling for recovery. In the wake of the […]
Chocolate is produced from the cacao bean, often referred to as cocoa, which is primarily grown in Western Africa. More than 70 percent of the world’s cocoa comes from the countries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa, where children are often employed in harsh, unsafe conditions to meet the demands of the market. […]
Rwanda’s elementary school enrollment rate is the highest in Africa. It stands as an example for other countries in the continent as the female enrollment rate of 98 percent has surpassed that of the male enrollment rate of 95 percent in primary school. The Rwandan elementary educational system has brought the primary completion rate to […]
The World Energy Council (WEC) estimates that only a third of the world’s potential hydropower capacity has been developed. With this knowledge in mind, an endless expansion of possibilities awaits for future investments in this renewable energy. In fact, today hydropower is recognized as the cleanest renewable source in the world — the carbon emissions […]
What is breadfruit? Although it sounds fictitious, it is actually a real food with the potential to contribute to the eradication of world hunger. Breadfruit is shaped like a football and has a prickly texture. The fruit grows on trees and is highly nutritious. It is not well known because many people find it bland […]
In 2012, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot three times by the Taliban because she was fighting for her right to attend school. Three years later, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner is creating a social movement through her activism regarding global education. Now 18 years old, Yousafzai has called on the United States and other […]
President Barack Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia earlier this summer to draw global attention to challenges facing development organizations throughout Africa, including establishing more widespread access to electricity. While those large-scale initiatives are important in providing poor regions with economic opportunity, another initiative, equally important, went largely uncovered: community-based development. Community-based (or “community-driven”) development is […]
In rural parts of the developing world, health care is iffy at best. If there is a healthcare facility, it often lacks trained employees and equipment. The equipment may even be outdated due to the expense to update it. And, too often, people traveling to a healthcare facility die in their travels. This is the […]
The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is a government organization in charge of allocating funds and aid to global issues. Millions around the globe have felt such power and emotion in the form of kisses, hugs, listening ears, and countless late nights. However, maternal and child survival continues to be among the […]
