On October 14, 2016, an 18-second video of what looks to be a model airplane buzzes overhead against a sky slowly turning to dusk. A small red box ejects out of the back and begins a descent by paper parachute before landing at the front steps of a building in Rwanda’s Muhanga District. California-based company Zipline had just made its first delivery of blood by drone to improve health in Rwanda.
That day marked the beginning of Rwanda’s national drone delivery program which, over the next three years, is anticipated to save thousands of lives and drastically improve health in Rwanda.
The endeavor is a partnership between Zipline, the Rwandan government, the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of health in Rwanda by delivering important medical supplies to remote locations quickly. This partnership currently maintains a fleet of 15 drones, referred to as “Zips,” that are all designed, manufactured, operated and launched by the company itself. Zips have the capability to fly round trips of up to 150 km while carrying 1.5 kg of blood — despite windy and rainy weather conditions. Orders are placed by text messages. They are then received by the distribution center and sent out to be delivered via Zips launched from slingshot-style catapults. When the delivery is complete, the Zips simply return to their original locations without having to land at the drop site.
Chief Executive Officer Keller Rinaudo touts the company as a solution to the last-mile problem, which is when supplies are unable to be delivered from the city to more remote and rural locations. The reasons for the last-mile problem vary, but they usually involve a lack of adequate transportation for the rural poor. In addition, washed-out roads or difficult terrain like hills and valleys make it difficult to construct reliable roadways. Improving health in Rwanda has been slow due to these factors. In the medical field, the failure to connect a supplier to the end-users can be fatal.
In a November 2016 interview with Code Mobile, Rinaudo said, “When you need blood, you really need it. Your life is on the line and minutes are the difference between life and death. The challenge with blood is that it expires quickly. You have all different types, you don’t know what you’re going to need before you actually have a patient dying. What was happening was that…they have a patient that is dying, the doctor gets into a car, drives to a blood bank and drives four hours back. Obviously at that point usually the patient is either stable or dead.”
Approximately half of the blood that is currently delivered by road ends up being used for transfusions to women giving birth. When blood can be delivered quickly, doctors have access to more life-saving options for their emergency patients. In one case, a Zip only took five minutes to deliver a package of blood over a span of 33 miles.
For the beginning of the 2017 year, the plan is to expand Zipline into the Eastern half of Rwanda. This will keep their staff of skilled engineers, who have previously worked at organizations like Space X, NASA, Lockheed Martin and Google, incredibly busy. Justin Hamilton, the official spokesman for the company, described the future ambitions of the company: “There is a palpable sense of the promise this technology holds to save lives in the communities we serve. We look forward to expanding our efforts to serve the eastern half of Rwanda this year before expanding across Africa and the world.”
For Zipline, health in Rwanda is something that can be addressed with a talented staff and just a few catapults.
– Tammy Hineline
Photo: Flickr
Zipline Uses Drones to Ship Health in Rwanda
On October 14, 2016, an 18-second video of what looks to be a model airplane buzzes overhead against a sky slowly turning to dusk. A small red box ejects out of the back and begins a descent by paper parachute before landing at the front steps of a building in Rwanda’s Muhanga District. California-based company Zipline had just made its first delivery of blood by drone to improve health in Rwanda.
That day marked the beginning of Rwanda’s national drone delivery program which, over the next three years, is anticipated to save thousands of lives and drastically improve health in Rwanda.
The endeavor is a partnership between Zipline, the Rwandan government, the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of health in Rwanda by delivering important medical supplies to remote locations quickly. This partnership currently maintains a fleet of 15 drones, referred to as “Zips,” that are all designed, manufactured, operated and launched by the company itself. Zips have the capability to fly round trips of up to 150 km while carrying 1.5 kg of blood — despite windy and rainy weather conditions. Orders are placed by text messages. They are then received by the distribution center and sent out to be delivered via Zips launched from slingshot-style catapults. When the delivery is complete, the Zips simply return to their original locations without having to land at the drop site.
Chief Executive Officer Keller Rinaudo touts the company as a solution to the last-mile problem, which is when supplies are unable to be delivered from the city to more remote and rural locations. The reasons for the last-mile problem vary, but they usually involve a lack of adequate transportation for the rural poor. In addition, washed-out roads or difficult terrain like hills and valleys make it difficult to construct reliable roadways. Improving health in Rwanda has been slow due to these factors. In the medical field, the failure to connect a supplier to the end-users can be fatal.
In a November 2016 interview with Code Mobile, Rinaudo said, “When you need blood, you really need it. Your life is on the line and minutes are the difference between life and death. The challenge with blood is that it expires quickly. You have all different types, you don’t know what you’re going to need before you actually have a patient dying. What was happening was that…they have a patient that is dying, the doctor gets into a car, drives to a blood bank and drives four hours back. Obviously at that point usually the patient is either stable or dead.”
Approximately half of the blood that is currently delivered by road ends up being used for transfusions to women giving birth. When blood can be delivered quickly, doctors have access to more life-saving options for their emergency patients. In one case, a Zip only took five minutes to deliver a package of blood over a span of 33 miles.
For the beginning of the 2017 year, the plan is to expand Zipline into the Eastern half of Rwanda. This will keep their staff of skilled engineers, who have previously worked at organizations like Space X, NASA, Lockheed Martin and Google, incredibly busy. Justin Hamilton, the official spokesman for the company, described the future ambitions of the company: “There is a palpable sense of the promise this technology holds to save lives in the communities we serve. We look forward to expanding our efforts to serve the eastern half of Rwanda this year before expanding across Africa and the world.”
For Zipline, health in Rwanda is something that can be addressed with a talented staff and just a few catapults.
– Tammy Hineline
Photo: Flickr
Seven Worst Wars in History
War is a terrible phenomenon and one can uncover multiple layers of evil when evaluating just how bad a war is. One way to compare wars in history is to look at the loss of life during each war. Using that calculation, the worst wars in history become horrifically obvious.
Seven of the Worst Wars in History:
1. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) – Between 3.5 and 6 million people were killed in the wars Napoleon Bonaparte waged in the early 19th century. The Napoleonic Wars were some of the worst wars in history partly because of the widespread use of mass conscription, which was applied at an unprecedented scale during this war.
2. The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) – Some five to nine million people died in the Russian Civil War, which took place in the years that followed the collapse of the Russian Empire and the death of the last Russian Czar.
3. World War I (1914-1918) – An estimated 20 million people were killed in the first World War, then also known as the Great War. Erupting in Europe after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, World War I is one of the worst wars in history partially because it was among the first wars to have been fought using modern warfare tactics. Up until then, no one had ever seen a war of such scale, and the resulting trauma rippled through several generations.
4. An Lushan Rebellion (755-763 AD) – The An Lushan Rebellion happened in the Chinese Tang Dynasty when a Tang general established a rival dynasty in the North. Despite some disagreements about the reliability of the census system during the time, experts estimate between 13 and 36 million casualties.
5. Qing Dynasty Conquest of the Ming (1618-1683) – The Qing Dynasty is known for being the last of the old Chinese dynasties before the beginning of the Republic, but an estimated 25 million people died in the Conquest of the Ming before the Qing Dynasty began.
6. Taiping Rebellion (1850) – During the Taiping Rebellion, a convert to Christianity named Hong Xiquan led a rebellion against the Manchu Qing Dynasty, during which anywhere between 20 to 100 million people (mostly civilians) were killed.
7. World War II (1938-1945) – With a death toll between 40 and 85 million, the Second World War was the deadliest and worst war in history. Experts estimate with such a high death toll, about three percent of the world’s population in 1940 died.
While the wars listed above are some of the worst wars in history, one must be careful not to forget that deadly wars are being fought today all around the globe as well. These may be the worst wars in history, but who’s to say that the worst war of all isn’t one being fought right now?
– Mary Grace Costa
Photo: Flickr
Political Instability and Poverty in Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa with an estimated population of 1.8 million. The country gained independence from Portugal in 1974 and has since been marred by high levels of political unrest with repeated changes in government. No elected president in the country’s history has successfully served a full five-year term. The political instability and poverty in Guinea-Bissau has resulted in a lack of development throughout the country.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world with a gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita of 1,568 dollars. The country’s economy is highly reliant on subsistence farming, foreign assistance and the export of cashew nuts. International aid to the country has been suspended on several occasions due to concern over governance and the rule of law. Guinea-Bissau has become a way station for drugs bound for Europe due to lack of strong governance, poor economy and its geographical location. There are fears that Guinea-Bissau is becoming the first narco-state in Africa.
Guinea-Bissau has a Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.42, which puts the country in the low human development category, ranking 178 out of 188 countries. Life expectancy in the country has increased somewhat but is still around 55 years. The adult literacy rate is 56%. In addition, the average number of years that people go to school in Guinea is only 2.8 years. Nearly 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
A major contributing factor to poverty in Guinea-Bissau is the fact that almost 85% of the population depends on agriculture as the main source of income. This is not a stable form of income due to several factors, such as political instability, irregular rainfall and volatile prices of imports and exports. As a result, 11% of households in Guinea-Bissau are classified as food insecure and in some regions, this figure is as high as 51%.
While Guinea-Bissau has one of the slowest growing economies in Africa, there is potential for growth in several untapped sectors. This includes adding value to raw exports like cashew nuts and timber, as well as exploring untapped mineral deposits of bauxite and phosphates.
However, effectively addressing poverty in Guinea-Bissau and reaching sustainable economic growth will require long-term political stability.
– Helena Kamper
Photo: Flickr
Trump’s Views on a Two-State Solution
Since the Trump administration took office in January, the international community has been working to reestablish the importance of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Even before Trump took office, European leaders met to discuss the issue in mid-January, asserting their endorsement behind a two-state solution. Trump’s views on a two-state solution have left the international community baffled.
At the meeting, French President François Hollande stated in regards to Trump’s influence that the “two-state solution, which the international community has agreed on for many years, appears threatened. It is physically threatened on the ground by the acceleration of settlements, it is politically threatened by the progressive weakening of the peace camp, it is morally threatened by the distrust that has accumulated between the parties, and that has certainly been exploited by extremists.”
The new ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, was picked by Trump and houses views that are in concordance with Israel’s conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Friedman rejects the two-state solution, disregarding that it has been widely accepted by the international community. The views of the new correspondent have raised concerns for Palestinians as well as members of the international community, who have been encouraging a two-state solution for many years.
Feeling emboldened by the new administration in the White House, Israel has recently announced intentions to extend settlements into Palestinian land. The settlements have been condemned by international law and the U.N. Security Council, but Netanyahu continues to press forward in the movement.
When Trump met with Netanyahu in mid-February, it became clear that the Prime Minister is closed to the idea of holding back on Israeli settlements and a two-state solution. Trump’s views on a two-state solution are less clear, as he failed to directly address questions regarding the settlements during a press conference with the Prime Minister.
Palestinians, however, are dismayed at Trump’s apparent lack of insistence for a two-state solution. Many in the West Bank and Gaza are concerned that without American support for a two-state solution, peace will be even more difficult to come by in the region.
As of July 2015, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center estimated that there were at least 263,500 internally displaced persons in Occupied Palestine (West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem). The number includes Palestinians who have been displaced in the area since the beginning of Israel’s occupation in 1967.
It is unclear how Trump’s views on a two-state solution will affect those displaced in Palestine, but the ideological stance of Trump’s appointed ambassador to Israel and Trump’s own wishy-washy convictions leave many in the international community wondering if peace in the region is still a possibility.
– Peyton Jacobsen
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Education in Kilimanjaro: Inside Out Project
The Importance of Education in Kilimanjaro is a 24-portrait photography exhibition in Moshi, Tanzania that is advocacy-based. The exhibition premiered in 2014 and was led by the Inside Out Project. The exhibition traveled from a small village in France, Rogerville, to the school of Mbokumu in Tanzania, which is located in a village by Kilimanjaro.
The Inside Out Project was created by JR, a French artist and photographer, after he received the TED Prize in 2011. Speaking about the project, JR said, “I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…inside out.”
The goal of the project is to allow worldwide participation by taking people’s portraits and publicly displaying them in exhibitions to support certain ideas or experiences. Since 2011, Inside Out has had 260,000 participants across the globe in 129 different countries.
Each one of the 24 portraits in the Importance of Education in Kilimanjaro project is taken by a schoolchild of a different age. Additional photos in the exhibition picture the children putting the exhibition together. They are seen laughing, dancing and helping the Inside Out team paste the large-scale photographs throughout the streets.
In Moshi, Tanzania, there are many issues regarding education in the community. There are high drop-out rates, students miss school on a regular basis and there are low levels of progression. Most schools in the area face challenges such as a lack of reliable transportation, classrooms and teachers. The exhibition speaks to the necessity for children to be able to access quality education, despite their background. No matter where they are born, every child deserves equal access to education.
In addition to The Importance of Education in Kilimanjaro, many of the Inside Out Project’s exhibits speak to the significance of education across the globe
– Shannon Elder
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in the Virgin Islands
This year, articles detailing adventures in the Virgin Islands have populated news feeds, travel blogs and online newspapers. To celebrate its 100th anniversary of becoming a U.S. territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands is offering $300 in travel credits to visitors vacationing for three or more nights in 2017. President Obama was recently photographed kitesurfing in the British Virgin Islands. However, outside of the scenic and comforting oceanfront villas that whisk vacationers away to alternate dimensions of rest and relaxation, the internet lacks recent data on poverty in the Virgin Islands.
U.S. Virgin Islands
Recently, the economy of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) has been unstable. Between 2011 and 2015, real gross territorial product (GTP) decreased by 7.8%. However, in 2015 alone, real GTP increased by 0.2% in the USVI; in comparison, U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.6% in 2015. It is alarming that exports have decreased significantly. Between 2011 and 2015, total exports decreased by 41%; in 2015 alone, total exports decreased by 80%.
The number of jobs in manufacturing on the Islands decreased by over 20% between 2011 and 2015. One of the world’s largest refineries based in the USVI shut down in 2012, driving this decrease in jobs. In the same year, refined petroleum exports to the U.S. plummeted by 90 percent. However, civilian employment increased in 2015, the most recent year that displays data. Furthermore, employment within leisure and hospitality remained fairly consistent between 2011 and 2015, which indicates a steady tourism industry.
A 2010 U.S. census found that 22% of the population in the Virgin Islands lives in poverty. Fifty percent of those living under the poverty level were families led by single mothers. The Congressional Research Service discovered that on average, children living in female-headed families were more likely to live in poverty than children living in two-parent households.
Euromonitor explains that tourism heavily impacts the USVI. The Wall Street Journal discovered that annual expenditures by visitors between 2007 and 2013 fell 19%. The article discovered that the Islands have high levels of debt and mounting pension obligations. If new bonds cannot be sold, widespread layoffs are a possibility.
The British Virgin Islands
Like its counterpart, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) relies on tourism to support its economy. A.M. Best, a U.S. based rating agency, found that tourism generates approximately 40% of the territory’s revenue. The rest is generated by the financial services sector. The BVI is extremely attractive to international businesses. For the first quarter ending in 2015, the BVI has registered over 478,000 companies. A.M. Best found that its economy grew two percent in 2015; however, insufficient data exists to properly understand the BVI’s poverty rate.
Levels of poverty in the Virgin Islands remain somewhat ambiguous; however, the Wall Street Journal stated that the USVI’s budget deficit is around $110 million. Therefore, travel credits are a great way to attract more visitors and increase visitor exports. Highlighting the USVI travel credits, a writer for Thrillist said, “We should be banging down the doors to get in, not the other way around.” U.S. News found that the USVI was one of the best places to visit in the Caribbean — especially during the springtime.
– Andy Jung
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About the War in Northwest Pakistan
As the attention of Americans is turned toward the new administration in the White House and the ongoing effects of the Syrian refugee crisis, certain problems in other parts of the world slip under the radar. The war in Northwest Pakistan is one such problem.
Here are some facts about the war that most Americans are not aware of:
In 2005, when the war had only started, the local Taliban and its allies declared to be in the “fight until the last man and the last bullet.” Thirteen years later, their determination to defeat the Pakistani government has held true.
– Brenna Yowell
Photo: Flickr
UWC to Offer Scholarships to Further Education for Refugees
United World Colleges (UWC) has committed to raising funds for 100 scholarships per year for refugee students to attend UWC schools worldwide as a part of its UWC Refugee Initiative. Established as a response to the challenges many refugees face due to their politically insecure status, the scholarship program is intended to provide greater access to tertiary education for refugees.
The UWC values each scholarship at $75,000 and says it will cover the full education program, board and lodging, travel and visa support, co-curricular activities, educational materials and student welfare for two years. The UWC plans to finance the $7.5 million needed to support the 100 scholarships with donations from foundations and private donors.
Following the recent executive order restricting refugee access to the United States, UWC released a public statement urging U.S. authorities to ensure that students can safely continue their education in the U.S. regardless of their nationality or their refugee status. UWC’s United States campus also plans to increase its admission of refugee scholars in the fall semester of 2017. Other campuses, such as UWC Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, committed to providing additional places at their campuses for Muslim and refugee students.
“In light of the dramatic escalation in the number of young refugees, there is an urgent need for refugee talent to gain access to world-class education helping them to become tomorrow’s leaders of their communities,” UWC International Executive Director Jens Waltermann said. “UWC schools, with their emphasis on education for peace, must set an example and inspire others to open their gates to this underserved group.”
A number of other colleges and higher education programs have begun offering scholarships specifically to refugees in recent months, including Wheaton College in Massachusetts, the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and Bard College in Berlin.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees outlined access to tertiary, higher education as a developmental goal in its 2012-2016 education strategy, and listed greater access to scholarships as a potential solution for providing a better education for refugees.
– Casie Wilson
Photo: Flickr
How Many Refugees Does the United States Accept?
With Trump’s immigration ban, you may be wondering, how many refugees does the United States accept? To answer this question, you must do some math.
The United States will not accept any more refugees until May 27, and in the meantime, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence will review the screening procedures for refugees. President Trump’s immigration policy includes a 90-day complete ban on individuals from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from entering the United States. Syrian refugees will be banned from entering the United States for an undetermined amount of time.
Over 100,000 refugees were allowed in the United States in 2016 under Obama’s plan, but Trump is capping the number of refugees allowed into the United States at 50,000. The 2017 fiscal year began last October, and as of Jan. 20, 29,895 refugees were already accepted. This leaves room for only about 20,000 more refugees to enter the United States in 2017 under Trump’s plan.
The United States accepted almost 85,000 refugees in 2016, according to the United States Department of State. In 2016, over 45% of those refugees were Muslim, the highest recorded number of Muslim refugees in history. President Trump said that he will give Christian refugees priority over Muslim refugees in the future.
David Mednicoff, Assistant Director for Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, states that there are many benefits to allowing Syrian refugees in the United States. Syrian refugees bring a knowledge of the conflict in the Middle East and how to diffuse it. Mednicoff believes that if refugees are allowed into the country, they are more likely to show gratitude rather than malice toward the United States.
As you can see, “How many refugees does the United States accept?” is a complicated question. The number of refugees that will be allowed into the United States may change as the 120-day ban ends this summer.
– Jennifer Taggart
Photo: Flickr
Speaking About the Success Against HIV in Africa
Big data is buzzing in the healthcare sector. As more and more data becomes available, analysts are looking for ways to improve the healthcare industry. While developed nations, with their multitude of activity trackers and smart devices, are better positioned to leverage big data, developing nations are also taking advantage of the rapidly growing pool of information being recorded.
The International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) at Columbia University was clearly aware of the value of data when it proposed the Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) Project. In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ICAP has been gathering data to measure the level of success against HIV in Africa. With the help of the ministries of health in the affected countries, they have been conducting surveys and diagnostic tests to measure national HIV incidence, pediatric prevalence and viral suppression. Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia were the first countries to release their survey and test results. Over the next several years, 17 other countries will participate in the project and publish their findings.
So far, the results have been encouraging. The data indicates that the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is achieving success against HIV in Africa. PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to combat any single disease internationally. If the results from Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia are early indicators, then the PEPFAR has been well worth the investment.
The initial results of the PHIA Project indicate that these countries are on track to achieve the 90-90-90 targets set by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal is to have 90% of HIV patients diagnosed, 90 on antiretroviral therapy and 90% with adequate viral suppression by 2020. Models predict that the AIDS epidemic can be ended by 2030 if these goals are reached.
In Zimbabwe and Zambia, the treatment and viral suppression goals are almost a reality; more than 85% of patients are on treatment and virally suppressed. In Malawi, the viral suppression target has already been reached. The percentage of patients on treatment is just shy of 90%. Ninety percent and 86% of women and men, respectively, are on treatment. In all three countries, though, improvements in diagnosis are needed. Three out of every 10 patients are unaware of their status.
However, these early indicators of success against HIV in Africa are not signs that there is no more work to be done. Rather, in the words of Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, the director of ICAP, “Now more than ever, we have to keep our foot on the pedal and push even harder.”
– Rebecca Yu
Photo: Flickr