Though the apartheid that bore Khayelitsha ended over 20 years ago, the damage has yet to depart. Cape Town was conceived for the sole purpose to house blacks in the white dominant country of South Africa, with protectant buffer zones of scrubland and valleys to separate Cape Town from the rest of the country. This made Cape Town one of the most populated cities in South Africa and Khayelitsha one of the most populated slums.
Though Khayelitsha was originally an apartheid dumping ground, as part of the “Group Areas Act” it is now one of the largest and fastest growing slums in South Africa. Khayelitsha is home to around 2.4 million individuals, 50 percent of which are under the age of 19.
Over the past ten years, the population has increased from 400,000 to 2.4 million. The unemployment rate for individuals living in Khayelitsha is 73 percent with 70 percent of its individuals living in shacks.
The severe poverty combined with a lack of community infrastructure has led the community to vast crime rates, gangs, violence and drug use, thus placing Khayelitsha as the murder capital of South Africa. Local police say they deal with an average of four murders every weekend.
Living conditions in Khayelitsha are less than pleasant, with the unfortunate 70 percent of individuals living in shacks made of timber and sheet metal. The shacks are built very close to one another making fires a constant problem due to how fast they spread and how often they occur. There are no street names in Khayelitsha, instead, the large area is divided into 26 districts, which are numbered by letters, with each shack having a different number.
Sanitation is another struggle for the individuals of Khayelitsha, often times their toilets leak into the streets, fermenting there for weeks. This sanitation issue causes many diseases and sicknesses within the community.
Lack of clean water and food is yet another hardship. An estimated one in three people have to walk 200 meters or more to access clean water. A limited food supply is sold between shacks, being constantly exposed to the sun and flies. Food sold between shacks is the only food option in Khayelitsha being that there are no supermarkets or stores of any kind.
Overcrowding has been another common problem in this ever-growing slum. Khayelitsha has a high population density and a low amount of resources to support the growing population. This, along with a lack of security makes theft and crime very easy.
In an interview, one Khayelitsha resident, Nomfusi Panyaza, explained what it is truly like to live in Khayelitsha. She explained that when it rains, the surrounding public toilets overflow into her living room with water coming through the ceiling. Panyaza lives in her small shack with six other family members and two beds to share among the seven of them.
Though Khayelitsha’s hardships are very much prevalent, certain NGOs are doing what they can to alleviate various hardships. Some of the outreach that has been made is through the Zhakele Clinic, which was opened in Khayelitsha for the population’s health care. Unfortunately, the need surpasses what this small clinic can do, but it is a starting point that can be expanded.
Secondly, the nutritional support initiative (NSI) encourages patients to come into the clinic by giving the patients a two-week supply of nutritionally enhanced maize meals called e’Pap. E’Pap is a pre-cooked porridge with soy protein fortified with 28 nutrients. Providing patients with e’Pap decreases the amount and severity of side effects to the medications that the patients are taking and improves their overall health by lessening their chances of malnutrition.
Thirdly, the NGO, TB/HIV Care, which started in 1929, aims to decrease the incidence of tuberculosis and HIV across all of South Africa. Their plan is to improve the current TB and HIV prevention and care by researching and monitoring the area, helping not only the current situation but also looking to better South Africa’s future.
Khayelitsha is certainly a vastly troubled place though it should not be considered a lost cause. With the combined efforts of determined people and organizations, both mentioned above, as well as others, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing slums can finally improve its situation.
– Bella Chaffey
Photo: Flickr
Courageous Physicians: Safari Doctors in Kenya
According to UNICEF, Kenya was a “success story” for their diligence in economic development and improvements made for greater accessibility to health care and education. However, by 2007, setbacks of political conflict and violence erupted with allegations of corruption amid the presidential elections, halting Kenya’s progressing narrative on its war on poverty.
Moreover, with the ongoing international crisis on terror, the Islamist terror group al-Shabaab, which has been targeting the eastern coast of Kenya, caused many aid groups and assistance to flee the area, leaving a huge shortage of medical professionals in Kenya.
Currently, 46 percent of its population of 44 million currently live below the poverty line. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Kenya currently has one doctor and 12 nurses for every 10,000 people.
It has been reported that only 4.5 percent of Kenya’s $54.93 billion GDP has been invested in health care. Residents who have been in need of health care have been alienated with low-quality treatments or have been lacking the medical access that they need.
In many cases, a majority of residents must travel long distances to reach the nearest health facility. Yet Umra Omar, a native of the Lamu Archipelago on the East Coast of Kenya, and alumni at a university in the United States strove to make health care more accessible by returning to her home country to “give back.” Omar has started an initiative called Safari Doctors in Kenya that provides medical care to the residents of the remote regions of Lamu.
Omar told CNN, “It was a kind of sense of responsibility to come back to where I was born.” With approximately six villages in Lamu with zero access to healthcare, residents are alienated as a boat trip from Lamu to one of its surrounding islands can cost as much as $300 or a week of salary.
Omar travels by boat bi-monthly to provide residents with free basic assistance including immunizations, maternal health care and treatment for malaria and other common diseases. These visits can take up to four days at a time, depending on the amount of funding they can secure before the trip. Omar and her team assist more than 1,000 people a year.
In late August of this year, Omar was selected as a CNN Hero for her bravery and initiatives to assist Lagu. She and her organization Safari Doctors in Kenya is an inspiration of how one person with conviction can do to make a difference on the war on poverty and in providing people with basic needs all deserve.
– Priscilla Son
Photo: Flickr
Top Five Reasons for Prioritizing Global Education
In a report recently released by UNESCO, only 64 of the 157 countries tied to the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) met the 2015 deadline for complete accessibility to global education.
While the U.N.’s sustainable development goal on education (SDG4), launched last September, strives to achieve universal education for both primary and secondary levels by 2030, only 12 countries are expected to achieve its goal by 2030. The U.S. is not expected to meet the goal until 2040.
What is causing the delay?
According to the director of the global education monitoring report, Aaron Benavot, there are two primary reasons for the slow progress made in reaching targets set out by MDG and SDG4. Benavot cites continued political instability, conflict and economic as well as social inequalities as casual factors. In addition, the director also notes that aid is not being distributed equally or prioritized to those countries that may need it the most.
“Mongolia has universal primary completion already, but received 15 times the amount of aid to education per child than Chad […], where only just a quarter of children are completing primary education,” Benavot explained to The Guardian.
Why is prioritizing global education important?
Although funds may support greater accessibility to global education for millions of children as well as prepare them to contribute to their country’s economies, education’s impacts cross multiple sectors — health, mortality rates and international conflict. Education is the disguised powerhouse towards successfully eradicating poverty. Meeting the U.N.’s SDGs by 2030 should be the number one priority.
– Priscilla Son
Photo: Flickr
Life Inside One of the World’s Largest Slums
Though the apartheid that bore Khayelitsha ended over 20 years ago, the damage has yet to depart. Cape Town was conceived for the sole purpose to house blacks in the white dominant country of South Africa, with protectant buffer zones of scrubland and valleys to separate Cape Town from the rest of the country. This made Cape Town one of the most populated cities in South Africa and Khayelitsha one of the most populated slums.
Though Khayelitsha was originally an apartheid dumping ground, as part of the “Group Areas Act” it is now one of the largest and fastest growing slums in South Africa. Khayelitsha is home to around 2.4 million individuals, 50 percent of which are under the age of 19.
Over the past ten years, the population has increased from 400,000 to 2.4 million. The unemployment rate for individuals living in Khayelitsha is 73 percent with 70 percent of its individuals living in shacks.
The severe poverty combined with a lack of community infrastructure has led the community to vast crime rates, gangs, violence and drug use, thus placing Khayelitsha as the murder capital of South Africa. Local police say they deal with an average of four murders every weekend.
Living conditions in Khayelitsha are less than pleasant, with the unfortunate 70 percent of individuals living in shacks made of timber and sheet metal. The shacks are built very close to one another making fires a constant problem due to how fast they spread and how often they occur. There are no street names in Khayelitsha, instead, the large area is divided into 26 districts, which are numbered by letters, with each shack having a different number.
Sanitation is another struggle for the individuals of Khayelitsha, often times their toilets leak into the streets, fermenting there for weeks. This sanitation issue causes many diseases and sicknesses within the community.
Lack of clean water and food is yet another hardship. An estimated one in three people have to walk 200 meters or more to access clean water. A limited food supply is sold between shacks, being constantly exposed to the sun and flies. Food sold between shacks is the only food option in Khayelitsha being that there are no supermarkets or stores of any kind.
Overcrowding has been another common problem in this ever-growing slum. Khayelitsha has a high population density and a low amount of resources to support the growing population. This, along with a lack of security makes theft and crime very easy.
In an interview, one Khayelitsha resident, Nomfusi Panyaza, explained what it is truly like to live in Khayelitsha. She explained that when it rains, the surrounding public toilets overflow into her living room with water coming through the ceiling. Panyaza lives in her small shack with six other family members and two beds to share among the seven of them.
Though Khayelitsha’s hardships are very much prevalent, certain NGOs are doing what they can to alleviate various hardships. Some of the outreach that has been made is through the Zhakele Clinic, which was opened in Khayelitsha for the population’s health care. Unfortunately, the need surpasses what this small clinic can do, but it is a starting point that can be expanded.
Secondly, the nutritional support initiative (NSI) encourages patients to come into the clinic by giving the patients a two-week supply of nutritionally enhanced maize meals called e’Pap. E’Pap is a pre-cooked porridge with soy protein fortified with 28 nutrients. Providing patients with e’Pap decreases the amount and severity of side effects to the medications that the patients are taking and improves their overall health by lessening their chances of malnutrition.
Thirdly, the NGO, TB/HIV Care, which started in 1929, aims to decrease the incidence of tuberculosis and HIV across all of South Africa. Their plan is to improve the current TB and HIV prevention and care by researching and monitoring the area, helping not only the current situation but also looking to better South Africa’s future.
Khayelitsha is certainly a vastly troubled place though it should not be considered a lost cause. With the combined efforts of determined people and organizations, both mentioned above, as well as others, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing slums can finally improve its situation.
– Bella Chaffey
Photo: Flickr
Healthy Oceans are Key to Alleviating Global Poverty
The fishing market is a crucial component of both developing economies and the global economy, acting as an essential food source for millions living along seashores and waterways. It is undeniable that healthy oceans provide a great sense of poverty alleviation.
In 2012 alone, global fish production reached 153 million tons, accounting for 16.5 percent of the world’s animal proteins and essential micronutrients. As the demand for fishery products continues to rise, fisheries are in dire need of solutions to climate change, water pollution and other environmental concerns that directly affect the fishing industry.
“Healthy oceans are critical for combatting rural poverty, ensuring food security, improving nutrition and achieving zero hunger,” José Graziano da Silva, the director-general of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) announced at the African Ministerial Conference on Ocean Economies and Climate Change.
Global warming, rising sea levels and saltwater intrusions are only some of the biggest threats to coastal communities.
The FAO estimates that 10-12 percent of the world’s population rely on fisheries and aquaculture for financial and physical survival. About 38 million people worldwide are fishers and fish-farmers, 95 percent of whom live in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Developing nations are responsible for 90 percent of the 100 percent increase in fish consumption since 1973. Currently, small-scale fisheries provide 50 percent of fish products used for consumption worldwide.
Small-scale fisheries improve economies and develop nations, contributing up to seven percent of national GDPs in some countries. Coastal communities account for 61 percent of the world’s gross national product (GNP), according to the World Bank.
Local fishing industries both reduce and prevent poverty at the household level through employment and economic opportunities. The FAO reports that the majority of households in developing countries involved with fishing kept from going further into poverty.
“For billions around the world — especially the world’s poorest — healthy oceans mean jobs, food and protection,” the World Bank writes in an article. “Healthy waters are crucial for growth and food production in developing countries.” Thus, the World Bank, the FAO and other organizations have called for sustainable solutions to reverse or lessen the effects of climate change and environmental destruction.
The World Bank, for example, has an active ocean-improvement program worth $5.4 billion, which provides funding for coastal infrastructure, ocean habitat conservation and other related projects. The organization also has educational programs to provide information on oceans and fisheries for developing nations.
– Ashley Leon
Photo: Flickr
GravityLight: Energy Access in Developing Countries
The GravityLight Foundation developed a gravity-powered LED lamp funded by Siemens to provide energy access in developing countries. The aim is to reach 15,000 people in off-grid areas of developing countries by 2017.
The light harnesses kinetic energy from gravity activated by a 12-kilogram weight. The weight can be made from accessible sources such as a bag of sand or rock. The resulting light lasts for 20-30 minutes, takes three seconds to recharge and is six times brighter than a kerosene lamp.
GravityLight costs approximately $10 and pays for itself over the course of two to three months when the cost of kerosene is removed.
The project is funded by Siemens Stiftung, a German engineering firm that sponsors a competition for sustainable development improvements. The gravity-powered light was chosen as the winner from 800 submissions across 88 countries.
GravityLight was tested in 26 countries with 55 partner organizations. Feedback received during these trials from countries such as Liberia, Guatemala and the Philippines provided invaluable feedback regarding the use of the light and the needs of those living off the grid.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) maintains that 1.2 billion people in developing countries do not have adequate access to safe and affordable lighting. Kerosene is expensive, dangerous and an environmental hazard.
According to the World Bank, kerosene costs 20-30 percent of a family’s income. Approximately $38 billion per year is spent on kerosene, the equivalent of $80 per kilowatt-hour for electricity, among the world’s poorest citizens.
A kerosene lamp burning for four hours emits 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Additionally, inhaled kerosene fumes are the equivalent of 40 cigarettes per day, killing approximately 1.5 million Africans every year.
The GravityLight Foundation intends to locally produce the lamps, creating a market for skilled jobs and contributing to local economies. The foundation is currently testing assembly in Kenya. The next goal is to provide GravityLight to 100,000 people in Indonesia and Peru in 2018.
Dependable lighting is taken for granted in developed countries. Technology such as GravityLight can change social dynamics in developing countries by allowing children to complete homework after dark, allowing adults to work longer and allowing families and friends to come together for interaction and other activities.
Light, even for just a few additional hours per day, can change lives and create opportunities in developing countries.
– Mandy Otis
Photo: Flickr
Efforts to Address Poverty and Hunger in Egypt
Following the political turmoil of the last five years, the Egyptian economy is currently in a tenuous position. The World Food Program (WFP) explains that poor economic conditions such as increasing poverty and decreasing purchasing power among the poor are the primary drivers of food insecurity in Egypt.
The United Nations Development Project reports that the poverty rate is around 28 percent and overall unemployment now stands at 13 percent. Moreover, the Economist reports that Egyptian deficits are running very high and youth unemployment is currently a towering 40 percent.
A 2013 WFP report found that in 2011, 17 percent of Egyptians were food insecure. Additionally, according to a 2015 United Nations report, 45 percent of Egyptian children under the age of five suffer from anemia, which is a nutrient deficiency.
The news is not all bad, however, there are groups trying to make a difference. The WFP is one organization attempting to help the Egyptian people through these tough times. They currently provide a number of services designed to reduce hunger in Egypt.
One such program involves empowering low-income rural communities to adapt to global warming, diminishing agricultural losses by helping to create sustainable livelihoods. Another includes assisting the government to institute efforts aimed at preventing chronic malnutrition. Additionally, as part of the WFP’s Syrian Regional Refugee Response they are providing food assistance to Syrian refugees currently living in Egypt.
Along with these ongoing programs, the WFP partnered with the European Union in 2014 to initiate a $67 million project aimed at encouraging school participation among current or potential child laborers.
The project, entitled Enhancing Access of Children to Education and Fighting Child Labor, targets 100,000 children across Egypt by providing them and their families with food incentives to stay in school. Children who attend school receive an in-school snack that satisfies 25 percent of their daily nutritional needs, and their families receive a monthly food ration of 10 kg of rice and one liter of oil.
Egypt itself is also attempting to address some of these problems by launching its Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), a data collection framework based on the United Nations Strategic Development Goals. Nihal El Megharbel of Egypt’s Ministry of Planning explains in the Egypt Strategy Support Program’s news bulletin that the country hopes to “reduce mortality by 20 percent and eradicate extreme poverty” by 2030 using the SDS.
The SDS will achieve this by substantially increasing Egypt’s capacity to collect meaningful data on food insecurity and poverty and using that data to develop data-driven solutions. Derek Headey of the International Food Policy Research Institute believes such a method has great potential explaining during a United Nations Development Program seminar that “some of the best national success stories have invested the most in measurement.”
Given that Egypt is the largest state in the Arab World, the country is central to the future of the Middle East. If it is to succeed where many other nations in the region are failing, it must take care of its people. The best way to accomplish this is by working to reduce poverty and hunger in Egypt.
– James Long
Photo: Flickr
Palm Tree Oil Plantations in Gabon Create Rural Jobs
With notoriety for being one of six leading oil producing countries in Africa, Gabon embarked on a new project — developing palm tree oil plantations aimed at reducing the poverty gap and encouraging sustainable development.
Since 2013, Gabon has been facing a decline in its oil reserves. The government committed up to one million hectares of sustainable land to appeal to investors in agricultural development and spawn economic diversification.
Collaboration With Olam Palm Gabon
Olam Palm Gabon, Singapore’s Olam International Ltd and Gabonese government-owned company made an agreement with the government of the Republic of Gabon to utilize 50,000 hectares of land for palm plantation.
The development of palm tree oil plantations will enable the country to diversify its dependency on oil and instead invest in a more lucrative and long-term venture. Palm oil trees can produce fruit for more than 30 years with a plant yield far more advantageous than any major oilseed crop.
Sustained Economic Livelihood
Gabon has a population of 1.9 million, the highest urbanization quota in Africa with more than four in five Gabonese citizens residing in the metropolitan area. With an additional unemployment rate of 20%, partnership with Olam to build plantations will generate a revenue of $400 million and up to 5,000 new jobs.
Planting began in 2011; currently, 31,000 hectares exist. Upon complete production, the plantation is expected to yield 24 metric tons of fruit bunches per hectare and 5.2 metric tons of oil per hectare. The total estimated investment in phase one development of plantations, palm oil mills and related assets was $500 million.
Six thousand five hundred and two hectares have been sold and leased for $130 million. This proves Gabon’s ability to support innovative financial structures designed for the growth of the palm oil sector.
Job and Investment Opportunities
Experts believe that investment in the palm tree oil plantations in Gabon and the rest of Africa is thriving and will create local jobs and guarantee the stability of the local economy. Ali Bongo Ondimba, the head of State, commissioned on Sept. 16 the new production site of sustainable palm oil of Olam, in Kango, in the Estuaire province. Eight hundred jobs have been created in this location, with an inevitable 120 contracts planned. Social contracts signed by Olam ensure small farmers are key sellers in the project with a mutual benefit of electricity, road repair and water supplies.
Falling oil prices in Gabon have had the most severe effect on the country’s poor. The project also entails support of local community farming around Kango with the construction of 400 accommodations and social infrastructures.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, many countries rely on extractive industries for revenues, but extractive industries don’t create a lot of jobs, and so countries are beginning to invest more in agriculture as a means of job creation,” said Gagan Gupta, chief executive at Olam Gabon Enterprise. “To succeed, however, agriculture projects must take into account, and invest in, local communities.”
Given the attention Gabon has received for their actions, it is hopeful that such efforts will continue to yield fruitful results encompassing economic growth.
– Shanique Wright
Photo: Flickr
Tourism in Kenya Has Been a Boon
With a concurrent poverty rate of 44 percent and a population of 44 million, Kenya has been the epicenter of mass migration in East Africa. Unfortunately, poor infrastructure, sanitation and absolute poverty have pervaded the country for many years. Even so, tourism in Kenya remains its crowning jewel as it is a microcosm of the country’s cultural and religious diversity.
The country is a haven for all manners of flora and fauna that have recently seen the advent of a new era of ecotourism. Over 62,800 visited Kenya in the month of May 2016 alone.
Kenya made headlines recently with a report by American-based luxury travel network Virtuso declaring that Kenya has topped the world in tourist bookings. This figure is also predicted to rise by a staggering 17 percent in the future.
As a result, tourism in Kenya has played a significant role in the 5.6 percent growth rate the country has experienced recently. Tourism has been a boon in Kenya as it has singularly contributed to 1.6 percent of this growth while bringing in employment opportunities.
Moreover, tourism has been a boon in Kenya because it has pumped more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the country. This paves the way for more opportunities to enterprise and market. Daily Nation reported that Kenya experienced the highest exponential rise in FDI in both Africa and the Middle East.
Consequently, tourism has been a boon for Kenya as it is an integral aspect of this rise because of the investment power that it entails. The capital invested in Kenya’s infrastructure services is also a synergic endeavor that will bolster the tourism sector.
This has resulted in the growth of numerous safari businesses that have sprouted all over. The existence of rich biodiversity and diverse tribes in Kenya has helped these businesses flourish. The dawn of these industries can create great entrepreneurship opportunities for many communities.
The Kenyan Tourism Board (KTB) decided to expand into new markets in Asia to diversify its market. Eyeing the massive great potential of Kenya’s tourism sector, travel trade investors from the Middle East have agreed to invest in Kenya’s tourist sector in Kenya.
Additionally, the Sixth International Conference of African Development is being convened in Kenya, with the focus and objective to advance hotel and accommodation facilities significantly. Forty heads of states, 100 firms and Japanese delegations will discuss opportunities and incentives in Kenya with regard to the development for the further growth of tourism.
The appointment of Joseph Cherutoi as the head of The Tourism Fund and Tourism Finance Corporation is also essential to note, as it will lead the way for a new and successful era in tourism. However, with an influx of over 500,000 tourists to Kenya every year, the people feel that preservation is imperative to safeguard one of the major backbones of their country. Thus, the inception of the concept of ecotourism has ushered in a new dimension of tourism in Kenya.
Ecotourism has spearheaded this movement by involving community-based organizations (CBOs) that are run by the local people, corporate organizations and individuals to aid in initiating improvements and engaging in conservation to ensure a sustainable form of tourism development in Kenya. This has led to a higher propensity to enterprise among the people and has brought many communities together.
Tourism has been a boon for Kenya owing to the manifold opportunities that it will offer the country and the people. Its development is a good sign for the people, the country’s progression and equitable growth.
– Shivani Ekkanath
Photo: Flickr
Ten Facts About Refugees in the Philippines
The islands of the Philippines have been in the news for their responses to the recent Syrian refugee crisis. A chain of approximately 7,500 islands located in Southeastern Asia, these lands are home to a vast biodiversity and many active volcanoes. The country has been in the public eye lately for its increasing amount of violence related to the government’s war on drugs. Victims included an innocent five-year-old girl, prompting outrage online as to why the government isn’t doing more to protect its citizens.
Below are 10 facts recovered in relation to refugees in the Philipines:
The key word for the Philippines government’s current refugee policies seems to be host. Their priorities lie with establishing a stable economy and prosperous nation, in which 25 percent of the population does not have to live in poverty. Then and only then can the Philippines consider being more than a temporary host to refugees. Without economic stability and a lower poverty rate, the Philippines’ government cannot hope to provide for refugees much more than what the refugees escaped from.
– Bayley McComb
Photo: Flickr
5 Things to Know About Healthcare in Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste is a small nation in Southeast Asia of around 1.3 million people. One of the world’s newest countries, Timor-Leste was a Portuguese colony until it was annexed by Indonesia in 1974. Subsequently, it endured nearly 30 years of occupation and unrest before finally winning its independence in 2002. Now a democracy, Timor-Leste has made great progress in terms of combating poverty and improving public health, during the past 20 years. Here are five things to know about healthcare in Timor-Leste.
5 Things to Know About Healthcare in Timor-Leste
A Hopeful Prognosis
While Timor-Leste is still facing the struggles of a developing nation, there have been many positive signs of progress in the past 20 years. The country has made huge strides forward in developing the foundation of a successful healthcare system — showing itself to be effective at treating diseases like malaria while growing life expectancy. With this continued progress, the citizens of Timor-Leste can look forward to a much brighter and healthier future.
– Jack McMahon
Photo: Wikimedia Commons