Haiti currently ranks as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. With a population of 10 million, almost 60 percent of Haitians live under the national poverty line, which acts as a huge contributor to Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Conditions on Haiti
The country’s location on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean has also served as a large contributor to the nation’s extreme poverty. Hurricanes regularly blaze through this portion of the Atlantic Ocean, and the subsequent hurricanes that hit Haiti in August and September 2008, Gustav and Ike, killed nearly 800 Haitians and destroyed crops, making Haiti dependent on international relief efforts.
Only a year and a half later, another natural disaster struck the country. The January 2010 earthquake destroyed more infrastructure, ravaging the capital city, Port-au-Prince, and its surroundings, further harming Haiti’s functionality and increasing foreign aid dependence.
Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti in October 2016. This time the south was particularly ravaged, as the natural disaster damaged homes, infrastructure, more crops and livestock.
Orphans and Natural Disaster
The devastating consequences of natural disasters on the country’s resources and economy led to Haiti’s orphan crisis — currently, about 500,000 children are considered orphans. Interestingly, the Haitian government estimates that about 80 percent of these children have at least one living parent.
This confusing discrepancy seems directly linked to the series of natural disasters. For instance, the 2010 earthquake left more than two million Haitians — a fifth of the country’s population — homeless and caused many Haitian parents to believe their children would be better off in orphanages that would at least provide shelter.
Orphanages appear to have the resources to feed, educate and care for children whose parents struggle to combat the effects of natural disasters. This is an idealized view exacerbated by many orphanages who send employees into the community to encourage parents to send their children into the “shelters” for care.
Orphanages perform this reconnaissance as many shelters are not regulated and do not actually adopt children and instead exploit them as laborers. About 300,000 children work as servants in private residences in Haiti, and according to UNICEF, many children are also sold into the sex trade.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has become a major market for Haitian child trafficking, with an estimated 2,000 children sold there each year. This abusiveness and corruption by some orphanages have created Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Combatting Corruption
Trades of Hope, an ethical jewelry company, seeks to treat Haiti’s orphan crisis at its root of poverty, instead of treating the symptoms. Co-founder Gretchen Huijskens already had a nonprofit in Haiti, with an orphanage, school and medical clinic, but while providing safe places for the orphans generated by natural disasters was important to her, Huijskens saw a need to help children by keeping them with family members. Such a goal requires parents being able to afford their children.
At the same time, co-founder Holly Wehde realized the effectiveness of the home-party method for sales, and Trades of Hope was founded in June 2010. These two influential individuals believe sustainable business provides a long-term solution to poverty. Therefore, Trades of Hope provides a platform for local artisans to sell their products.
Trades of Hope finds these artisans through nonprofits and co-ops in Haiti, that they verify through English speaking Americans in Haiti and with a Fair Trade Principles Agreement. Through these means, Trades of Hope helps artisans earn $15 a day, when the minimum wage in Haiti is about $5 a day. By their estimates, this money can provide adequate resources for two and a half children, enabling families to keep their children instead of fueling Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Fostering Global Involvement
The founders invite American women to partner in creating this sustainable business, through selling products as Compassionate Entrepreneurs and buying their goods through home parties and their website. Trades of Hope also eases the way for American women to make a difference in Haiti.
While assisting in alleviating the orphan crisis by adopting a child costs around $25,000, buying jewelry and other products from Haiti provides a cheaper alternative. One of the more expensive products is still only $80, and consumers receive a chocolate goat leather and cream canvas crossbody bag, called the Chandler Bag.
Sustainable Solutions
Even less expensive and more sustainable options exist such as the Revive Necklace, a long silver pendant with pink tassels priced at $33. The steel for the pendant comes from recycled steel oil drums, a source that allows more money to go directly to the artisans instead of materials.
This model of selling beautiful products to American consumers who want to support local artisans and their children has proved extremely lucrative and effective. Trades of Hope claims that 1,183 Haitians have been positively impacted.
The company has expanded to 17 countries since 2010 and has 9,440 full-time employees. This substantial group fosters the environment and provides the solutions to combat Haitian poverty at the root, and thereby reduce corruption and struggle as in Haiti’s orphan crisis.
– Charlotte Preston
Photo: Flickr
Developing Nations Need Women’s Empowerment
A simple truth has been denied across the globe for centuries — the importance of equality and most specifically, women’s empowerment. Developing nations need women’s empowerment because half measures of equality can’t guarantee complete progress.
Global Gender Inequality
Women make up half of the entire world population yet they also, sadly, represent 70 percent of the world’s poor. The world we live in, a world where women living in poverty face inequalities and injustices from birth until they die, has been built on unequal principals — a slow killing sequence of discrimination that any woman might suffer during her lifetime.
Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income and half of what men regularly earn. This inequality is one of the main reasons women in developing nations live in poverty. In developing countries, women die each year as a result of gender-based violence. Gender discrimination creates blockades for women both physically and mentally, as they begin to believe they are worth less and thus cease believing they have a purpose in society other than to do what is told to them.
Women’s Empowerment in Developing Nations
Developing nations need women’s empowerment, especially for girls living in poverty, as it’s those closest to them who often work against their interests and create dysfunctional and harmful environments.
Can the world change? Yes, plain and simple. But only once women are no longer discriminated against for being the pillars of strength and growth that they are. The World Bank believes “putting resources into poor women’s hands while promoting gender equality in the household and in society results in large development payoffs.” It’s fundamental to nurture young girls and women in self-confidence; empower them — especially those living in poverty; to make informed choices about their lives; and to understand their importance in their communities.
The empowerment of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health statuses is a highly important endeavor. In fact, it’s essential for sustainable development. In reproductive standards, both men and women are responsible for half of the creation of life, so it stands to reason that equality among all is essential to the continued growth and cultivation of life as a whole.
In most of the world, women receive less formal education than men, and women’s knowledge and abilities often go unrecognized. Relations that impede women’s attainment of healthy, fulfilled lives operate in multiple levels of society, from personal to highly public. True change requires policy and program actions that improve women’s access to secure livelihoods. Developing nations need women’s empowerment in order to overcome any “legal” impediments to their public life and raise social awareness through effective education and mass communication programs.
Bringing Equality
Here are key ways that countries, developed or undeveloped, help bring women’s empowerment:
Partnerships for Change
Currently, the World Bank Group (WBG) aims to take action working alongside governments, companies and other partners to close remaining gaps in education and maternal health. Efforts are being put in place to enhance women’s economic opportunities by: helping to create better jobs, ensure ownership and control of assets like land and housing, gain access to finance, technology and insurance services, and increase all capacity and opportunity to act independently at home, in the community and in the various levels of governments.
The world needs women, and in more ways than numerous societies have allowed. Developing nations have always needed women’s empowerment for true growth and prosperity, but now it’s needed more than ever.
– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr
Diarrheal Disease Has More Power Than It Should
Clean drinking water, easy access to sanitization and access to decent healthcare are all things that most developed countries can rely on. In developing nations however, diarrheal disease has more power than it should.
Combatting Diarrhea
Globally, children under the age of five die every two minutes as a result of diarrhea, an occurrence that adds up to 500,000 child deaths a year. In Bangladesh however, a new hope has developed for any child struggling with diarrhea. Recently, the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) is the only diarrheal hospital in world, whose cure treats 220,000 patients a year.
The birthplace of cholera – one of the biggest and deadliest causes of diarrhea – Bangladesh sadly has too much experience and little success in dealing with diarrheal disease. The truth is diarrhea is the symptom of an infection not a disease itself. In fact, 20 percent of the patients who come in to the ICDDR,B clinic in Dhaka suffer from cholera.
Most deaths from diarrhea occur among children less than 2 years of age in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Thankfully, from 2000 to 2016, the total number of deaths from diarrhea of children under 5 decreased by 60 percent.
Making Treatment Accessible
Accessibility of treatments to all children, especially in poor, rural and marginalized populations, could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each year. The process has proved to be cost-effective, affordable and straightforward to implement.
Over 40 percent of children under the age of 5 with diarrhea receive the recommended treatment of oral rehydration therapy and continued feeding. However, coverage of this treatment package is lowest in the Middle East and North Africa (34 percent), South Asia (37 percent) and sub-Saharan Africa (39 percent). Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions with the most deaths from diarrheal disease.
Disease to Mortality
Diarrheal disease is a detrimental cause of child mortality in the world that stems from contaminated food and water sources. Globally, 780 million individuals don’t have access to improved drinking water and 2.5 billion people lack proper sanitation.
In the lowest income countries, children under three experience an average of three episodes of diarrhea every year. Each time deprives them of much of the nutrition necessary for growth. Diarrheal disease has more power than it should, especially with prevention and treatment so readily available.
Steps For Diarrhea Prevention
Diarrhea Treatments
No one should have to suffer from poverty, least of all children. Hunger, fear and disease are big parts of poverty that can fortunately change, especially when one knows tools and procedures are available to help.
– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr
Understanding the Critical Effects of Yellow Fever
Many diseases still roam the Earth carrying deadly potential. One such disease is yellow fever. Understanding the critical effects of yellow fever is the best way to make progress in working to eradicate the disease.
Yellow fever is beginning to make a comeback in Nigeria and Brazil as both countries are seeing threats of the disease in urban areas. There was a spike in the disease in the 2000s in Africa and the Americas, which put 40 countries on the high-risk list. In 2016, yellow fever outbreaks were only contained when a mass vaccination drive reached the 30 million people most greatly affected.
What is Yellow Fever?
Yellow fever is an African mosquito-borne infection of primates. In its natural habitat, it’s transmitted between monkeys via forest-dwelling Aedes mosquitoes. The virus was introduced to the Americas through the slave trade and it is now enzootic in forest habitats.
Humans can be infected with yellow fever after spending time in a forest and then infect others through human-to-human transmissions. Yellow fever can cause a spectrum of symptoms across the board ranging from mild to fatal. It’s especially important to begin understanding the critical effects of yellow fever.
In some clinical cases, a sudden onset of fever with a severe headache, arthralgia and muscle pains happen first, followed by jaundice, which may appear on the third day. Jaundice usually indicates a poor prognosis. Transaminase elevations are also prognostic, and in severe cases, there may be spontaneous hemorrhage, renal failure, delirium, coma and death. Mortality of clinical cases can be as high as 80 percent.
Disease Prevention & Treatment
For half a century, a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine known as YF 17D was used to beat yellow fever. Unfortunately, few countries implement routine vaccination and YF 17D requires more than one dose to have lasting effects.
Vaccination comes with a certificate but a routine of shots is required for the duration of one’s life. Although the vaccine doesn’t last the lifetime, the certificate of vaccination against yellow fever is valid for the life of the person vaccinated, beginning 10 days after the date of vaccination.
Many preventative measures exist but once contracted, there is no sure cure for yellow fever. Supportive therapy is the only option but the use of antivirals is an active field of research. Those who have contracted the disease must avoid aspirin and other anticoagulants as it increases the risk of bleeding. This is an example of why it’s important to understand the critical effects of yellow fever.
Understanding the Critical Effects of Yellow Fever
The current yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria began in Ifelodun, Kwara State in Western Nigeria in September 2017. By January 2018, a total of 358 suspected cases had been reported in 16 states, with 45 deaths. In late 2017, Nigeria aimed to quickly contain an emergency outbreak by vaccinating more than three million people.
The yellow fever virus continues to circulate where people remain largely unprotected. An immunization has been put in place as part of the continued efforts to eliminate yellow fever globally by 2026.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported that between July 1, 2017, and Jan. 23, 2018, 130 cases of yellow fever were confirmed in the country, of which 53 resulted in death. One-year earlier in the same time frame, there were 381 confirmed cases and 127 deaths were reported. Since 2017, Brazil’s Ministry of Health has provided some 57.4 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization have provided wide-ranging support to the Brazilian government in responding to yellow fever outbreaks by:
This year, helpers traveled to Minas Gerais to assist with the identification of yellow fever outbreaks in monkeys. These efforts of the national and state health authorities help them to better understand the circulation of the yellow fever virus while also serving as a reminder to further vaccination strategies.
Yellow fever has no limitations on the people it affects and is limitless in its reach. The first step in the fight against this disease is understanding the critical effects of yellow fever. Only then can it be abolished worldwide.
– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr
Upward and Onward: Main Reasons for Indonesia’s Resilience
Indonesia is a beautiful country home to over 18,000 islands, the komodo dragon, jungle elephants, beautiful beaches and incredible volcanoes. Its beauty brings tourism and natural resources, but there is still high poverty rates that the Indonesian government is determined to decrease. Despite challenges of poverty and natural disasters, here are the main reasons for Indonesia’s resilience.
Indonesia Learns from the Past
Indonesia is particularly exposed to natural disasters such as volcanoes, flooding earthquakes and tsunamis. Over the last ten years Indonesia has undergone multiple earthquakes with over a 6.0 magnitude. Of the more recent earthquakes, the most devastating was one that hit Sumatra at the end of September 2009 with a 7.6 magnitude that caused over a 1000 casualties.
The history of natural disasters coupled with a high risk of more to come has fortified the Indonesian government to be ready for any future events. In April of 2012, Indonesia’s National Tsunami Warning Center alerted the Banda Aceh community of a tsunami threat.
Luckily the earthquake did not create a tsunami, and the alarm went off as intended, but misunderstood and confused procedures lead to panic and disorder. However, events like these contribute towards finding the holes, implementing solutions and ultimately, fixing the problems. Many locations like Banda Aceh have now marked evacuation routes and built safety shelters.
Fighting Poverty
At 10.2 percent, Indonesia’s poverty rate is the lowest it’s ever been. With a population of about 261 million, the fourth largest in the world, Indonesia still hosts over 26 million people living below the poverty line. However, the nation’s standard of living and social assistance increased over the last twenty years.
In particular, the poverty rate dropped about 5 percent over the last ten years. The National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro acknowledged the need for further improvement and hoped to see the rate drop to under 10 percent in the near future.
Growing Tourism and Economic Strength
With so many beautiful attributes, it’s not hard to believe that Indonesia’s tourism rose from a little over 12 million tourists in 2015 to over 14 million in 2017. The growing tourism industry goes a long way towards helping Indonesia make comebacks.
Even when the worldwide slowdown hit after 2011, Indonesia still received an increasing number of foreign tourists — 7.65 million in 2011, 8.04 in 2012 and 8.8 million in 2013.
Indonesia has the tenth largest economy in the world for purchasing power. The nation’s gross domestic product grew from $861.3 billion in 2015 to $932.3 billion in 2016.
This bounce-back occurred after a dip in the GDP output but was still an overall increase. The government is still looking for ways to strengthen the economy, such as outing corruption by strengthening the legal framework or improving infrastructure by decreasing fuel and electricity subsidies.
Looking at the Long-Term Goal
Powerful changes, such as those listed for the building economic strength, will help to make Indonesia more attractive for foreign investment. However, some changes — such as cutting fuel subsidies — can result in a short-term struggle causing many citizens to become dissatisfied.
If the country can make it past the initial difficulty, the eventual removal of the subsidies will lead to long-term gain. Indonesia’s ability to recognize what sacrifices will lead to longevity is one of many reasons for Indonesia’s resilience, and a hopeful sign for the future.
– Natasha Komen
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Afghanistan
When it comes to education in Afghanistan, the structure has been destroyed by years of consistent conflict and political instability. Unfortunately, young girls seem to suffer a great deal as a result, receiving a lower quality of education, or being out of school all together. These top ten facts about girls’ education in Afghanistan give a brief rundown of the various obstacles girls face in receiving proper schooling.
Top 10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Afghanistan
Relief Efforts For the Future
These top ten facts about girls’ education in Afghanistan are just the tip of the iceberg; thankfully, there are many relief efforts to combat some of the aforementioned prevalent and widespread issues. Today, UNICEF continues to work with the Ministry of Education at the federal and local levels to work on the lack of female education causes such as poverty, gender bias and conflict.
The organization established CBEs and Accelerated Learning Centers in close proximity to communities, supports policies and programs that benefit the education of young girls on the national level and provides emergency education in times of natural disaster and conflict. With efforts such as these, the future of girls’ education in Afghanistan looks more than promising.
– Camille Wilson
Photo: Flickr
How is Congress Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases?
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases such as Dengue fever, rabies, hookworm and sleeping sickness that collectively affect more than one billion people around the globe. These diseases are crippling, but very often preventable and treatable. The world stands to gain a great deal from even moderate investment into fighting neglected tropical diseases.
Impact of NTDs
Neglected tropical diseases are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. They disproportionately affect the world’s poor and make it even harder for these people to climb out of poverty.
These diseases collectively kill hundreds of thousands of people each year and they significantly harm hundreds of millions more. NTDs can lead to sickness, deformities and even blindness. Infected children are also at risk of malnutrition and stunted growth.
These symptoms cause more than personal suffering; they also threaten the long-term development of entire communities. Adults afflicted by these diseases are often unable to work or care for their families and may become socially isolated. Affected children are often unable to regularly attend school to learn the skills they need to help themselves and their communities.
Taken together, the effects of neglected tropical diseases add up to billions of dollars in lost productivity. Those losses are hard to absorb for these already-impoverished areas.
Effectiveness of Treatments
The good news is that fighting neglected tropical diseases is easier, cheaper and more efficient than dealing with many other widespread health issues. These diseases are preventable and some, like river blindness, are treatable with currently available drugs.
Since several of these diseases are often concentrated in a single area, effective treatment of one often helps with others as well. Several of the most effective drugs are also available for free as donations from their developers. It is likely that half a billion people suffering from these diseases could be treated for less than $400 million.
With this in mind, there is a very real chance that the impact of neglected tropical diseases could be severely reduced within a generation. The World Health Organization even has a goal to completely eradicate two or more by 2020. To achieve this goal, though, it is likely that the international community will have to make a greater commitment to cooperate in fighting neglected tropical diseases.
U.S. Response to Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases
In recent years, U.S. efforts to support researching and treating neglected tropical diseases have amounted to little more than treading water. Congress has had to renew support for existing research centers on a yearly basis since long-term authorization ended in 2009. This may be changing soon, however.
In November, the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act was sent out of committee to be considered by the full House of Representatives. While it is still in a relatively early stage, the bill has already been cosponsored by representatives from both parties.
If implemented, the bill would protect current research funding and keep Congress more directly informed about neglected tropical diseases. It would also shift U.S. policy into directly supporting the international effort against them. Specifically, U.S. representatives at the U.N. and World Bank would be instructed to promote researching, monitoring and fighting neglected tropical diseases.
While the bill does not allocate a great deal of money for the problem (the CBO estimates that the bill will cost only $14 million over five years), the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act would be the first step in years toward more directly involving the U.S. in this crucial global health issue. With continued U.S. and international efforts, these diseases may no longer be so neglected.
– Josh Henreckson
Photo: Flickr
Five Cities Suffering From Poverty and Overcrowding
The world is experiencing rapid population growth and urbanization. Advances in medicine have allowed for increased life expectancy as well as decreased infant mortality, while birth rates have largely remained unchanged. This combination of circumstances has lead to great growth; between 1999 and 2011, the population increased by nearly one billion people.
The population increase has led to rapid urbanization. People migrate to cities with the promise of economic or educational opportunity, technological advancement and access to health care. It is estimated that by 2050, 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas.
This urbanization of cities that are neither prepared nor equipped to deal with overcrowding places strain on both natural and manmade resources alike. The following is a list of five cities suffering from both poverty and overcrowding.
Five Major Cities Dealing With Poverty and Overcrowding
Poverty and overcrowding are endlessly entwined. Rather than placing a halt on migration and urbanization as many cities have attempted, lack of affordable housing, quality water and sanitation facilities, education opportunity and food shortages ought to be addressed. Cities must respond to the growing demands that come with overcrowding in order to help alleviate poverty and decrease hardship.
– Jessie Serody
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ education in Sierra Leone: A New Era in Female Empowerment
As is true in many countries around the globe, female education in Sierra Leone has lacked greatly throughout the nation’s history. Remnants of severe educational inequality still persist with males leading their female counterparts in literacy rates at all levels of education. While the country as a whole faces extreme poverty, it is females who suffer the most. In times of desperation, many young women are forced to leave school in order to work at home or find a husband. As a result, the current state of girls’ education in Sierra Leone is underemphasized and unjust, however, we may be embarking on a new era in female empowerment.
A Turning Point for Sierra Leone
The last decade has proved to be a turning point for the nation and its female population. Beginning in 2007, Sierra Leone became a member of the Global Partnership for Education. Through its commitment to the organization and the reciprocal aid received in the process, Sierra Leone was able to redesign its Education Sector Plan and offer new resources to females across the country.
This new plan not only focused on increased access to free pre-primary education (ages three to five) but also enhanced its commitment on the backend, strengthening equitable access to senior education by providing more scholarships to female students. As the country enters into more formal relationships with international groups, such as the U.K. Department for International Development, girls’ education in Sierra Leone is undergoing a remarkable transition.
Improving Girls’ education in Sierra Leone
In addition to government-sponsored relief, other organizations have also implemented innovative programs that increase the focus on girls’ education in Sierra Leone and create an atmosphere where such a focus is of utmost concern. UNICEF now annually supports a Girls’ Education Week which is formally run by the Education Ministry. The fact that such a program is now receiving national attention demonstrates the changing public attitude in regard to girls’ education in Sierra Leone.
Girl Child Network, a nonprofit organization that works around the globe, is currently implementing crucial outlets for girls to be protected, be treated as individuals and be able to receive quality educational materials throughout Sierra Leone. The organization offers leadership training programs, which aim to build confidence in young women and girls.
It is also currently implementing Girls Empowerment Villages that offer a place of refuge where abused girls can stay. Now protected, these girls have the ability to pursue education and receive quality information that is disseminated within the villages.
Effects of Girls’ Access to Education
While relief and equal access programs are vital in transforming girls’ education in Sierra Leone, it is important to see the true effectiveness of this recent movement. According to the Global Partnership for Education, the gender gap between primary enrollment and primary completion rate has decreased since 2012. While the male enrollment rate has not changed dramatically, female enrollment has been on a steady increase and completion rates have skyrocketed.
As of now, improvements to girls’ education in Sierra Leone are still underway and the eventual outcome cannot yet be determined. However, the success of recent years and the amount of campaigns and groups that continue to operate on behalf of girls and their education nationwide is promising. National commitment to this movement, combined with international aid, is creating the foundation for a stable future in female education in Sierra Leone.
– Ryan Montbleau
Photo: Flickr
Trades of Hope Addresses Haiti’s Orphan Crisis Sustainably
Haiti currently ranks as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. With a population of 10 million, almost 60 percent of Haitians live under the national poverty line, which acts as a huge contributor to Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Conditions on Haiti
The country’s location on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean has also served as a large contributor to the nation’s extreme poverty. Hurricanes regularly blaze through this portion of the Atlantic Ocean, and the subsequent hurricanes that hit Haiti in August and September 2008, Gustav and Ike, killed nearly 800 Haitians and destroyed crops, making Haiti dependent on international relief efforts.
Only a year and a half later, another natural disaster struck the country. The January 2010 earthquake destroyed more infrastructure, ravaging the capital city, Port-au-Prince, and its surroundings, further harming Haiti’s functionality and increasing foreign aid dependence.
Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti in October 2016. This time the south was particularly ravaged, as the natural disaster damaged homes, infrastructure, more crops and livestock.
Orphans and Natural Disaster
The devastating consequences of natural disasters on the country’s resources and economy led to Haiti’s orphan crisis — currently, about 500,000 children are considered orphans. Interestingly, the Haitian government estimates that about 80 percent of these children have at least one living parent.
This confusing discrepancy seems directly linked to the series of natural disasters. For instance, the 2010 earthquake left more than two million Haitians — a fifth of the country’s population — homeless and caused many Haitian parents to believe their children would be better off in orphanages that would at least provide shelter.
Orphanages appear to have the resources to feed, educate and care for children whose parents struggle to combat the effects of natural disasters. This is an idealized view exacerbated by many orphanages who send employees into the community to encourage parents to send their children into the “shelters” for care.
Orphanages perform this reconnaissance as many shelters are not regulated and do not actually adopt children and instead exploit them as laborers. About 300,000 children work as servants in private residences in Haiti, and according to UNICEF, many children are also sold into the sex trade.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has become a major market for Haitian child trafficking, with an estimated 2,000 children sold there each year. This abusiveness and corruption by some orphanages have created Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Combatting Corruption
Trades of Hope, an ethical jewelry company, seeks to treat Haiti’s orphan crisis at its root of poverty, instead of treating the symptoms. Co-founder Gretchen Huijskens already had a nonprofit in Haiti, with an orphanage, school and medical clinic, but while providing safe places for the orphans generated by natural disasters was important to her, Huijskens saw a need to help children by keeping them with family members. Such a goal requires parents being able to afford their children.
At the same time, co-founder Holly Wehde realized the effectiveness of the home-party method for sales, and Trades of Hope was founded in June 2010. These two influential individuals believe sustainable business provides a long-term solution to poverty. Therefore, Trades of Hope provides a platform for local artisans to sell their products.
Trades of Hope finds these artisans through nonprofits and co-ops in Haiti, that they verify through English speaking Americans in Haiti and with a Fair Trade Principles Agreement. Through these means, Trades of Hope helps artisans earn $15 a day, when the minimum wage in Haiti is about $5 a day. By their estimates, this money can provide adequate resources for two and a half children, enabling families to keep their children instead of fueling Haiti’s orphan crisis.
Fostering Global Involvement
The founders invite American women to partner in creating this sustainable business, through selling products as Compassionate Entrepreneurs and buying their goods through home parties and their website. Trades of Hope also eases the way for American women to make a difference in Haiti.
While assisting in alleviating the orphan crisis by adopting a child costs around $25,000, buying jewelry and other products from Haiti provides a cheaper alternative. One of the more expensive products is still only $80, and consumers receive a chocolate goat leather and cream canvas crossbody bag, called the Chandler Bag.
Sustainable Solutions
Even less expensive and more sustainable options exist such as the Revive Necklace, a long silver pendant with pink tassels priced at $33. The steel for the pendant comes from recycled steel oil drums, a source that allows more money to go directly to the artisans instead of materials.
This model of selling beautiful products to American consumers who want to support local artisans and their children has proved extremely lucrative and effective. Trades of Hope claims that 1,183 Haitians have been positively impacted.
The company has expanded to 17 countries since 2010 and has 9,440 full-time employees. This substantial group fosters the environment and provides the solutions to combat Haitian poverty at the root, and thereby reduce corruption and struggle as in Haiti’s orphan crisis.
– Charlotte Preston
Photo: Flickr
Efforts to Increase Access to Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa
As of 2014, more than 60 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa did not have bank accounts. However, with the growth of digital financial services — including mobile money accounts — companies and organizations work to help more individuals access financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Increasing Access to Financial Services
Overall, financial access benefits Africans by making it easier to save money, receive loans (often for entrepreneurial purposes), and prepare themselves for abrupt changes in the economy. The traditional banking sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has struggled for over a decade, due to “limited physical banking infrastructure and substantial levels of poverty and financial exclusion.”
As a result, mobile money accounts have become increasingly popular in Sub-Saharan Africa, and are the primary reason that financial inclusion has been improving over the past few years. The Partnership for Financial Inclusion was formed in 2012 with the goal of increasing access to digital financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, the organization has helped more than seven million Africans become more financially secure.
New Tech Brings New Worries
However, persuading Africans to use digital financial services is not always easy. The Partnership for Financial Inclusion found that many have grown accustomed to using informal financial services and are often mistrustful of formal banking systems. Additionally, they may also be skeptical of new technology or lack the knowledge necessary to use it. Fostering trust in new digital financial services is crucial and primarily driven by banking agents, who help individuals understand and use these services.
The spread of digital financial services increases demand for banking agents, which in turn, creates new job opportunities for Africans. Many DFS (digital financial service) agents are small-scale business owners who have begun offering banking services to their customer base, while others are primarily banking agents, hiring others to help expand their network.
DFS Perks for Women
Interestingly, a study by the International Finance Corporation found that women tend to be more successful than men at being DFS agents. While gender bias prevents many African women from being successful entrepreneurs, some have been able to become thriving DFS agents. On average, female agents register 12 percent more transactions per month than their male counterparts. This could be due to the fact that more female agents were located in low-income areas where these services are less readily available.
The overall success of these banking agents and the growth of trust in digital financial services is reflected in the fact that globally, most of the markets that had more mobile money accounts than traditional bank accounts in 2015 were located in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region is leading the world in the adoption of digital financial services, which companies hope will encourage entrepreneurship and create jobs.
Future of Digital Financial Services in Africa
For small-scale entrepreneurs in particular, DFS are very beneficial. Madagascar entrepreneur Voahirana Mamy Ravelonoro explained the ease with which she was able to get a loan for her restaurant because of these services. She received a text message that she had been approved for the loan, and all she had to do to receive the money was show the banking agent the message and verify her identity.
Additionally, companies, including FinTech and Kalon Venture Partners, are committed to investing in African entrepreneurs, with the goal of creating jobs, increasing GDP, and improving access to financial services. In 2016, investments in startup companies increased by 33 percent. According to IT News Africa, FinTech companies “are looking to go after African problems and opportunities,” improve financial access and spur job creation and the spread of technology.
Kalon Venture Partners is dedicated to investing in “high growth technology companies, with innovative business models, geared to existing and emerging institutions and their consumers.” CEO Clive Butkow refers to Africa as new frontier with “incredible financial inclusion opportunities.”
With the increase in digital financial services and and investments in African entrepreneurs, the percentage of Africans without access to financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa should continue to decrease, eventually improving financial stability throughout the region.
– Sara Olk
Photo: Flickr