Bicycles are essential to communities in developing countries. A bicycle provides an advanced mobility that allows for heavier loads, faster trips, less wear and tear on the body and, happily, the chance for recreation. A person’s day will include more accomplishments in less time.
Bicycles mean productivity. And donated bicycles mean opportunity.
Getting the Donated Bicycles
Entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations alike have become forces in mobilizing citizens with donated bicycles. Mike’s Bikes, a California-based bike shop, partners with other area businesses and organizes bike drives to fill shipping containers full of used bicycles and spare parts. Like Mike’s Bikes, Bicycles for Humanity ships bikes and parts in containers, and both organizations outfit the containers so they can become bike shops for the village in which they land. Bicycles for Humanity even refers to their containers as Bicycle Empowerment Centers.
World Bicycle Relief produces new bicycles, known as Buffalo Bikes, through monetary donations. They are built specifically for the rugged conditions of the particular region, with puncture-proof tires and a heftier frame for carrying more cargo. Bicycles Change Lives also produces new bicycles, naming its program Qhubeka, a Nguni word that means, “to progress,” or, “to move forward.”
Creating Jobs
Bikes for the World also ships donated bicycles and parts in large containers. The organization focuses on Africa, Central America and the South Pacific, and works with partners like the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana and Sierra Leone and the Madagascar Community-Based Integrated Health Project (MAHEFA) in Madagascar.
In El Salvador, the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) has built up an impressive bike shop, and an equally impressive program for training at-risk youth to work in it through the reconditioning, repair and maintenance of bikes. CESTA runs EcoBici, the training program aimed at helping young people build skills and stay out of gangs.
Donated bicycles are so vital that, as the youths learn to eventually manage their own shops, they find themselves at the center of their community with positive engagement and interaction. For people of all ages, the village bike shop has become an integral component in developing countries as a productive hub for societal and industrial activity.
Healthcare Workers and Their Patients
Remarkably, bicycle transportation improves health in rural areas, and not just for the rider. Amid the health crises in regions of Africa, trained healthcare workers and volunteers do all they can to visit patients in their homes and in hospitals, but are often traveling on foot.
In Zambia, one community volunteer, Royce, works to help citizens of her village by testing their HIV/AIDS status and educating them on prevention and treatment. Before she received her bike, she would walk seven kilometers each day to visit three patients. Now, thanks to World Bicycle Relief, she travels on two wheels and visits 18 patients, including vulnerable children, in a single day. “I’m always happy when I ride my bike,” says Royce. “People in my community recognize me. They say, ‘There goes our caregiver on her bike.’”
Elsewhere in Zambia, three healthcare volunteers, Gertrude, Robert and Francis, who work to prevent and treat malaria in their region, enjoy a similar experience when they are recognized on their bright orange Buffalo bikes, painted so for the 1500 health workers in the area. “When they see the bikes,” says Robert, “they know we have come to fight malaria.”
Statistics at World Bicycle Relief show that the over 138,000 Buffalo Bike-mobilized healthcare workers can reach 45 percent more patients and travel four times further than was possible on foot.
Education and Empowering Girls
The greatest challenge for most children wanting to attend school in developing countries is simply getting there. World Bicycle Relief statistics point out that the attendance of a student with a bicycle increases up to 28 percent, while their academic performance increases up to a dramatic 59 percent. And for girls, completing their education means they are six times less likely to become child brides.
For one 15-year-old girl, Ethel, a two-hour trek to school across rough terrain is now a 45-minute bike ride. Being on time helped her become a confident and exemplary student. Ethel even began using her bicycle to transport fellow classmates to school.
Education is key for the progressing dimensions of developing nations, including breaking the cycle of poverty. From 2009 to 2016, over 126,000 students have received Buffalo Bikes through World Bicycle Relief.
The advantage of mobilization by donated bicycles for workers, healthcare volunteers and students is tremendous. It also reaches farmers and small business operators who can travel greater distances with more wares to sell. It reaches citizens like businessman Ernest in Ghana, who gets his work done earlier in the day and can now coach a local youth soccer team in the time he’s saved. It reaches 14-year-old Koketso, who says there is now a cycling club at her school and that she’d like to take cycling up as a sport.
“With my bicycle,” Koketso says, “I can visit a lot of places that I have never seen before.”
– Jaymie Greenway
Photo: Flickr
Donate to Fight Poverty
Sustainable Agriculture in the Philippines a Model for the Region
ANSOFT looks to promote communication networks in terms of organic technology development, both nationally and internationally. The project produces a database of successful organic farming techniques, pest and soil management, traditional practices and knowledge of natural resources.
Here are more innovative projects underway in the region as the Philippines establishes its reputation as a leader in developing sustainable agriculture:
Empoldering technique bolsters agriculture
Empoldering, a method of reclaiming low-lying land from bodies of water by building up dikes and constructing drainage canals, has proven effective in the Philippines. After the technique was implemented, a 2008 study found that empoldering improved the fish, rice and vegetable production systems through better access to fresh water, as it creates a new upland microenvironment. The microenvironment serves as a seedbed and allows for the integration of fish into the rice crop. The high-impact method helped increase food availability and employment opportunities in farming, thereby increasing food security for the region.
Pasali Philippines Foundation and “Brain Gain”
Sustainable Agriculture Programs of the Pasali Philippines Foundations are housed under the larger concept called “From Brain Drain to Brain Gain”, a strategy to alleviate poverty by investing technologies and skills learned nationally and internationally into local development. The Brain Gain concept focuses on food security, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability through climate change mitigation.
The Pasali Foundation backs sustainable agriculture programs that work toward infrastructure support, capacity building, seed banking and agroforestry, as well as addressing issues of land tenure and seeking the interest of microfinancing institutions.
Philippine Rural Development Project
In 2014, the World Bank approved financing for the Philippine Rural Development Project. The project focuses primarily on farming infrastructure that supports sustainable agriculture in the Philippines, including farm-to-market roads, bridges, greenhouses, fish sanctuaries, solar dryers, and facilities for pre- and post-production and harvest storage.
The project estimates a direct impact for nearly two million farmers and fisherfolk, and indirect impacts for 22 million citizens in the region. Currently in its fourth year, the project expects to achieve major increases in the household incomes of farmers and fisherfolk, as well as small business incomes and product values. The project also partners with the Global Environment Facility, whose focus is on the conservation and protection of selected coastal and marine areas in the region.
As recognized by AFACI and through the implementation of other ambitious initiatives, the Philippines leads the way in setting the standard for sustainable farming practices in Asia. Accordingly, sustainable agriculture in the Philippines may just set the standard for alleviating poverty in Asia as well.
– Jaymie Greenway
Photo: Flickr
Differences Between Congressmen and Senators
The differences between congressmen and senators are often confusing. Oftentimes, the two roles are used interchangeably to represent someone who works and composes the legislature of the United States. However, the roles, influences and powers of congressmen and senators vary.
Congress refers to both the Senate and the House of Representatives. A congressman is any member of either the Senate or the House of Representatives. There are a total of 535 voting congressmen, 435 of which are representatives and 100 which are senators.
To become a senator of the U.S., the potential candidate must be elected by the people of the state. Like any election, the candidate with the most votes wins. Each senator has an office in Washington, D.C., as well as one in the home state.
Senators are members of the legislative branch – their job is to represent the people living in their state. For example, to support a bill which aims to reduce poverty, individuals can contact their state senator. These bills are voted on and passed by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, which are then signed by the president to become law. Each state within the U.S. has two senators representing it, regardless of the size or population of the state.
In accordance with the Constitution, “all legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” The Constitution grants the Senate its own unique power: ratifying treaties, approving presidential appointments and a two-thirds vote of Senate is required before a person is impeached from office.
The differences between congressmen and senators also relates to their level of authority. Congress has an important role in national defense, including the power to declare war, raise and maintain armed forces and create rules for the military.
The Senate and the House of Representatives must approve and ratify legislation before it is executed.
– Jennifer Serrato
Photo: Flickr
Success for Women’s Empowerment in Macedonia
These insecurities stem out of the traditional role that men play in the Macedonian society. Women still cannot inherit property, which hinders the ability to access bank loans for businesses and entrepreneurship advances. “Woman Has the Power” introduced participants to U.N. agencies and E.U. mission representatives. In the case of successful women, this event enabled them to reach out to other women to give guidance and help.
In 2011, successful actress and movie producer Labina Mitevska, through Women Unlimited Macedonia, advocated against drug addiction, violence, corruption and prostitution in regards to women. Women Unlimited Macedonia was a platform created with the help of The Art of Living Macedonia for women to network, to discuss and gain support and to practice yoga and meditation. These efforts in individual organizations fueled government involvement and initiatives.
Implementation to create equal rights for both men and women continued in the government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s commitment to end discrimination and violence against women. The National Strategy for Prevention and Protection against Domestic Violence, adopted by the government, focuses on domestic violence and placement of women in the social and economic sphere of society.
The National Strategy’s aim is to strengthen the capacities for courts to handle cases regarding violence against women, establish services for victims of such crimes and educate parents and children on prevention. These efforts were signed into the National Strategy for Gender Equality 2013-2020, in accordance with Step It Up for Gender Equality. The movement did not stop there to enhance women’s empowerment in Macedonia.
The International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) works to promote women for candidacy for Parliament and local government positions. Fighting violence against women who attempt candidacy, both the IFES and the Club of Women promote the presence of women in the government. One of the significant success efforts of the Club of Women was a mandatory quota of no less than 30 percent of candidates be women running for Parliament and municipal councils.
Successes such as these provide hope for women in Macedonia. Progress is not perfect and women are still the less represented gender, but through organizations’ efforts, there is potential for improving women’s empowerment in Macedonia.
– Bronti DeRoche
Photo: Flickr
Development Projects in Dominica Helping Nation Rebuild and Grow
The Commonwealth of Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, is a beautiful country located in the Caribbean. While the nation is still developing, it is making a lot of progress in improving its economic state. These five development projects in Dominica are helping to reduce poverty in the country.
Like many Caribbean countries, Dominica is greatly affected by hurricanes. The country aims to lessen the effects of hurricanes with this project. In addition, the River Defense Wall Project has social and economic benefits. Local citizens were hired to help build the wall and it is critical in its ability to preserve human life.
Investing in housing is important to developing an economy because it reduces homelessness, which could in turn reduce poverty. This project will create homes, retail outlets and jobs for people in one fell swoop. The homes will reduce homelessness and the outlets will increase foot traffic and spending in the area, which will boost the economy and reduce poverty. Of the current development projects in Dominica, this one could be the most far-reaching.
In the late summer of 2017, Dominica was struck by Hurricane Maria. The country needs to rebuild, and this project seeks to aid in that task. The Disaster Vulnerability Project will reduce vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change impacts in Dominica by investing in resilient infrastructure and improving hazard data collection and monitoring systems, according to the World Bank. This project has already helped the country rebuild roads that were damaged by the hurricane.
It is well known that one way to reduce poverty in a country is to create jobs and develop entrepreneurial skills. This project aims to support small businesses in the country in order to accomplish that goal. The funding from this project goes toward staff training and obtaining equipment that the potential business will need.
Another important way to reduce poverty is to invest in education. A person can increase their earnings by 10 percent with every year they are in school. This project’s goal is to improve individuals’ skills in order to better prepare them for the future. It focuses on teaching basic skills, such as woodwork or hospitality, in addition to math and English. Sometimes a trade skill is involved. Because of its collaboration with the From Offending to Achieving program, this project is also being used to educate individuals rather than incarcerate them.
Tourism is a major source of income in Dominica, but that is not necessarily the best way to sustain an economy. With these development projects, Dominica can grow its economy and reduce poverty in many different ways.
– Dezanii Lewis
Photo: Flickr
State of Infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1996, rebels finally captured the capital while Mobutu was away for medical treatment; the dictator would die soon after this historic event. Today, as the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo try to move on from their past and make a new future for themselves, violence and turmoil continue to wreak havoc on the state in the form of corruption and rogue rebels.
Aid from abroad is used to stabilize the country, and some of this money goes towards improving the infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is in dire need of repair.
The Congo River
The Congo river is the lifeblood of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its source lies deep within the continent and its end spills into the Atlantic. The Congo river and its tributaries act as the main highway for the country, as no single railway runs the length of the country, and the few paved roads are in disrepair. Moving goods along the river allows them to be brought to the ports at the end of the river and near the coast, where the goods can then be shipped internationally.
Unfortunately, the entire river is not entirely navigable. Short sections of railway and roads are needed to move goods around obstacles such as waterfalls and rapids. According to the CIA, it is due to these obstacles that the river has never been accurately measured.
More innovative minds see the river as more than just a way to move goods and people; they see it as a way to power the country. The DRC lacks the infrastructure to power many of the homes, even within the cities. The African Development Bank group wants to invest $15 million into the feasibility of the Igna 3 project, which is estimated to produce 400,000 megawatts of power upon completion.
International Involvement
The World Bank also works to improve the infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their $147 million project called DRC Electricity Access & Service Expansion (EASE) means to accomplish its namesake by first improving the existing network, especially in critical areas, and then helping the private sector obtain or improve their access to the electrical grid. The project began in May 2017 and is set to be completed by October 2022.
Initially colonized for ivory, slaves and rubber, other nations and international organizations have again taken notice of the rich natural resources within the DRC. For instance, China is one of the most active countries in the improvement of infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 2007, the governments of the DRC and China came to an agreement: in return for investment in Congolese infrastructure, China would receive beneficial terms when dealing with the rich natural resources of the DRC (especially copper as the mineral is one of the most valuable).
To access this copper and other resources, the Chinese government agreed to invest $8 billion into infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Much of the work was to be done by Sincomines, a Chinese company, but setbacks due to the instability of the country and lack of infrastructure have made the Chinese more hesitant to continue their work in the DRC.
Infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo requires the cooperation of many parties in order to see substantial improvement. Hopefully, as different governments, including the DRC’s own, slowly improve the infrastructure, economic political and social stability can be found in the coming years.
– Nick DeMarco
Photo: Flickr
Donated Bicycles: Opening Doors and Changing Lives
Bicycles mean productivity. And donated bicycles mean opportunity.
Getting the Donated Bicycles
Entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations alike have become forces in mobilizing citizens with donated bicycles. Mike’s Bikes, a California-based bike shop, partners with other area businesses and organizes bike drives to fill shipping containers full of used bicycles and spare parts. Like Mike’s Bikes, Bicycles for Humanity ships bikes and parts in containers, and both organizations outfit the containers so they can become bike shops for the village in which they land. Bicycles for Humanity even refers to their containers as Bicycle Empowerment Centers.
World Bicycle Relief produces new bicycles, known as Buffalo Bikes, through monetary donations. They are built specifically for the rugged conditions of the particular region, with puncture-proof tires and a heftier frame for carrying more cargo. Bicycles Change Lives also produces new bicycles, naming its program Qhubeka, a Nguni word that means, “to progress,” or, “to move forward.”
Creating Jobs
Bikes for the World also ships donated bicycles and parts in large containers. The organization focuses on Africa, Central America and the South Pacific, and works with partners like the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana and Sierra Leone and the Madagascar Community-Based Integrated Health Project (MAHEFA) in Madagascar.
In El Salvador, the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) has built up an impressive bike shop, and an equally impressive program for training at-risk youth to work in it through the reconditioning, repair and maintenance of bikes. CESTA runs EcoBici, the training program aimed at helping young people build skills and stay out of gangs.
Donated bicycles are so vital that, as the youths learn to eventually manage their own shops, they find themselves at the center of their community with positive engagement and interaction. For people of all ages, the village bike shop has become an integral component in developing countries as a productive hub for societal and industrial activity.
Healthcare Workers and Their Patients
Remarkably, bicycle transportation improves health in rural areas, and not just for the rider. Amid the health crises in regions of Africa, trained healthcare workers and volunteers do all they can to visit patients in their homes and in hospitals, but are often traveling on foot.
In Zambia, one community volunteer, Royce, works to help citizens of her village by testing their HIV/AIDS status and educating them on prevention and treatment. Before she received her bike, she would walk seven kilometers each day to visit three patients. Now, thanks to World Bicycle Relief, she travels on two wheels and visits 18 patients, including vulnerable children, in a single day. “I’m always happy when I ride my bike,” says Royce. “People in my community recognize me. They say, ‘There goes our caregiver on her bike.’”
Elsewhere in Zambia, three healthcare volunteers, Gertrude, Robert and Francis, who work to prevent and treat malaria in their region, enjoy a similar experience when they are recognized on their bright orange Buffalo bikes, painted so for the 1500 health workers in the area. “When they see the bikes,” says Robert, “they know we have come to fight malaria.”
Statistics at World Bicycle Relief show that the over 138,000 Buffalo Bike-mobilized healthcare workers can reach 45 percent more patients and travel four times further than was possible on foot.
Education and Empowering Girls
The greatest challenge for most children wanting to attend school in developing countries is simply getting there. World Bicycle Relief statistics point out that the attendance of a student with a bicycle increases up to 28 percent, while their academic performance increases up to a dramatic 59 percent. And for girls, completing their education means they are six times less likely to become child brides.
For one 15-year-old girl, Ethel, a two-hour trek to school across rough terrain is now a 45-minute bike ride. Being on time helped her become a confident and exemplary student. Ethel even began using her bicycle to transport fellow classmates to school.
Education is key for the progressing dimensions of developing nations, including breaking the cycle of poverty. From 2009 to 2016, over 126,000 students have received Buffalo Bikes through World Bicycle Relief.
The advantage of mobilization by donated bicycles for workers, healthcare volunteers and students is tremendous. It also reaches farmers and small business operators who can travel greater distances with more wares to sell. It reaches citizens like businessman Ernest in Ghana, who gets his work done earlier in the day and can now coach a local youth soccer team in the time he’s saved. It reaches 14-year-old Koketso, who says there is now a cycling club at her school and that she’d like to take cycling up as a sport.
“With my bicycle,” Koketso says, “I can visit a lot of places that I have never seen before.”
– Jaymie Greenway
Photo: Flickr
5 Important Facts on Development Projects in Guinea
Located on the western African shore and home to over 12.6 million people, Guinea contains a large amount of potential energy through 12 main rivers. With only 26 percent of Guinea’s population living with electricity, the potential for hydroelectric energy to improve the country’s situation is huge. Many development projects in Guinea work toward creating accessible electricity, thereby strengthening the country’s ability to react to emergencies such as Ebola.
According to USAID, in 2015, when Electricité de Guinée (EDG) began its management of the national grid with funding from the World Bank, one huge accomplishment was the installation of the Kaleta hydropower plant. The hydropower plant approximately doubled the output of electricity in Guinea and is beginning to meet the nation’s demand.
The more access to electricity and communication that Guinea has, the more prepared and reactionary it can be to outbreaks like Ebola. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 11,310 Ebola-related deaths were confirmed in western African countries like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. With an insufficient number of medical supplies and personnel, patients were reported dying while waiting in line for treatment.
One of several development projects in Guinea was driven by the Chinese government. The Chinese government gave over $4.5 million to West African countries, including Guinea, to fight the recent Ebola outbreak in 2014. China sent medical supplies as well as personnel to assist Guinea in treating patients. All efforts were directly coordinated with WHO as well as with the United Nations.
Another disease that wreaks havoc on Guinea’s population is malaria. As a preventable and curable disease, malaria impacts large amounts of Guineans every year following the rainy season, according to USAID. While the disease is treatable, it can be very costly for poor families.
Garambé, a town in Guinea, was plagued with malaria so frequently that people began accepting it as the norm. USAID’s program, the StopPalu project, aimed to strengthen malaria resistance by 50 percent by 2017, and began distributing 3.3 million insecticide-treated bed nets, proven to have drastically reduced the spreading of malaria, in 2013. According to Assietou Diallo, the head nurse at the Garambé health center, the usual 50 malaria patients per month has been reduced to under 10 patients thanks to preventative measures.
StopPalu also has trained about 1,300 volunteer medical personnel to help identify and treat malaria. This measure helps patients in remote villages who cannot travel to medical centers.
Another issue that plagues Guinea is the severe lack of education for women and children. About 40 percent of children are out of school, and only about 30 percent of young girls are literate.
One of the reasons that attendance in schools is so low in Guinea is because many children are tasked with taking care of domestic issues and tending to crops. Without a proper education, issues such as poor family planning and the spread of HIV/AIDS rise to the surface of Guinean societies.
Girl-friendly school EAF, which lasted from 2014 to 2017, combated these issues by working to improve educational systems in Guinea. This project aimed to improve education in rural areas by training instructors on better methods of teaching as well as on how to remove obstacles that prevent girls from receiving their education. The Turing Foundation contributed €150,000 to this educational development project.
Roughly one out of three children in Guinea are affected by malnutrition and suffer from growth stunts, according to UNICEF. However, several African countries have agreed to a program designed to use micro levies to fund the fight against malnutrition, UNITLIFE, agreeing to use their natural resources to provide nutritious food to hungry children. Adopted in 2015, the levies were predicted to produce $100 million to $200 million in one year.
These development projects in Guinea will pave the way for sustainable prosperity by giving citizens the opportunity to be healthy and well-educated.
– Austin Stoltzfus
Photo: Flickr
How Blood Donation Rates Were Multiplied in Haiti
The NBTC was responsible for the majority of blood collections as well as screening all of Haiti’s blood donations for transfusion-transmissible pathogens. Many of the men, women and children in critical conditions that were waiting for blood transfusions were thus unable to get the treatment necessary to survive. Organizations such as the Haitian Red Cross relied on foreign aid in order to collect a blood supply to help as many patients as possible.
Rapid efforts were put into place to actively repair damages and increase the scale of blood donations following the earthquake. By 2014, blood donation rates had multiplied in Haiti. Before the earthquake, blood collections were 52 percent in Port-au-Prince, which is the largest city in Haiti. As part of the recovery plan, Haiti’s Ministry of Health (MSPP) created the National Blood Safety Program (NBSP) in order to increase blood collections in outer regions of Haiti, hoping to decrease focus on the Port-au-Prince area, as this was where most of the damage was received.
Expanding the blood transfusion posts, where blood donations were completed and blood stored, was also a goal of the NBSP, as this would also encourage more active participation in blood donations throughout the entirety of Haiti. Prior to the 2010 disaster, Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. This was only exacerbated following the destruction. Building blood transfusion posts, recruiting donors and obtaining healthy blood were intense challenges faced by health and humanitarian efforts.
However, with the collaborative efforts of MSPP and the Haitian Red Cross, as well as generous donations from international relief agencies, the NBSP saw their efforts paying off within years. By building a greater geographic area for all participants to access transfusion centers, blood donation rates multiplied in Haiti. By 2012, annual blood collections exceeded pre-earthquake levels and continued to increase. By 2014, collections were 36 percent higher than in 2009. Both the international community and local community within Haiti understood the necessity for blood transfusions in the country, and volunteers rose to the occasion.
Blood donation rates multiplied in Haiti due to other efforts as well, outside of building new facilities. In 2012, Haiti initiated a new plan to continue attracting volunteers for blood donations. The country aimed to increase the percentage of voluntary blood donors to 85 percent and regular donors to 40 percent. It also sent mobile blood drivers around Haiti to network with the community and discuss the importance of blood donations. Incentives were given out, like t-shirts, books and stickers, to attract locals to the idea.
Using technology to network also became an important driver. The Haitian Red Cross Society hosts a biweekly radio show to educate listeners on the subject and encourage life-saving behaviors. Particularly on important dates such as Blood Donor Day, the National Blood Transfusion Center produces messages on the radio and through text for people to donate blood, which can help compensate for limited stocks at different moments in time.
These combined efforts have clearly exemplified the dedication that Haiti has to reaching its goal of 100 percent donation rates in upcoming years. Its work has set an example for nations worldwide that have suffered from similar problems in obtaining efficient blood collections to treat those in need.
– Caysi Simpson
Photo: Flickr
Ten Facts About Refugee Camps, Home to 2.6 Million Worldwide
Here are the top 10 facts about refugee camps.
These facts about refugee camps give people insight into what exactly refugee camps are, how they help and the complications they face. Although refugee camps face extreme difficulties, they help countless numbers of refugees every single day, whether it be temporary or long-term. This is why it is imperative to continue to spread awareness and ensure that forms of assistance like refugee camps continue to be a priority across the globe.
– McCall Robison
Photo: Flickr
The Nation With the World’s Lowest Life Expectancy
The central African country of Chad was estimated to have the lowest life expectancy in the world for 2017. Chad is a country of 12 million people, 40 percent of which live below the poverty line. While the country began oil production in the early 2000s, Chad’s poverty rate is expected to continue its rise. In part, this is due to the country’s high mortality rate and low life expectancy. To gauge the ability of the U.S. and other developed nations to help increase Chadians’ average lifespan of only 50.60 years, it is first necessary to examine the causes of death.
Early Deaths
Children in Chad die from all sorts of illnesses, from malaria and respiratory infections to prematurity and diarrhea. Because so few Chadians have access to birth control, as only approximately five percent use contraception, the birth rate in Chad is growing. 43 percent of the population is aged 14 or younger, and that figure is rising. The risk of dying by this young age is 44 percent for boys and 39 for girls, as of 2012.
Furthermore, Chad has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Extreme poverty, poor to no maternal health care and adolescent pregnancy has contributed greatly to the high maternal death rates. In a country with the lowest life expectancy in the world, the extreme poverty rates must decrease and better access to maternal healthcare is essential if the country is to improve.
Diseases
Chad, like many African nations, is no stranger to disease. Lower respiratory diseases, malaria, HIV/AIDS and diarrhoeal infections are dangerously common. Lower respiratory infections alone killed 24,700 people in 2012. The risk factors for falling prey to these diseases are lack of adequate healthcare, a rarity of potable water and the hot and arid climate. As the largest of Africa’s landlocked countries, Chadians are forced to walk long distances for water.
As only 28 percent of the population lives in urban areas, the vast majority of Chadians do not have quick access to necessities such as water and healthcare. As the country with the world’s lowest life expectancy, it is vital that Chad provide better access to these basic human needs to the entirety of its landscape.
The U.S. is in a unique position to provide monetary and medicinal assistance. Maintaining accountability with the Chadian government regarding these resources would be the most effective way to ensure that taxpayer dollars are going to good use and can be reflected by a rising life expectancy for the people of Chad, and all over Central Africa.
– Eric Paulsen
Photo: Flickr