Hunger kills more people per year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Nearly 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat and 98.2 percent of them live in developing countries. Yet hunger is essentially man-made; it is a product of poverty. In a world that can produce more than enough food to sustain everyone, hunger is due to human inefficiencies and inaction.
In the world of global poverty, “food insecurity” is a term often mentioned. But what exactly is food insecurity, what are its effects and how can it be prevented?
What is Food Insecurity?
In order to understand food insecurity, it is important to first define food security. According to the World Food Summit of 1996, food security exists “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”
This condition is based on three components: availability, access and use. First, a sustainable and sufficient food supply must exist to prevent malnutrition. Second, people must have both the physical and economic resources to obtain that food. And third, people must be able to use food in conjunction with clean water and sanitary practices to keep healthy, especially in countries where food-borne diarrhea has the potential to cause serious harm. Food insecurity means being without any of these critical components.
At its core, food security provides recipients with the elements necessary for optimal health and nutrition. But it depends on a sustainable, dependable and sufficient food supply system. Such a system solves not only issues of hunger, but also benefits environmental health, the economy and social equality.
What are the Effects of Food Insecurity?
Without sustainable and dependable food sources, malnutrition can wreak havoc on a population. Lack of access to sanitation and clean water can also spread diarrhea and other food-borne illnesses, which are especially deadly to young children. In addition, lack of proper access to food hinders development and trade. Victims of malnutrition are unable to work productively or put energy into new endeavors. When the majority of a country suffers from food insecurity, it is unlikely that substantial development will occur. This leads to a vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and stagnation.
How Can Food Insecurity be Prevented?
Food insecurity can be ameliorated by increasing local food production, increasing food imports, providing more jobs and higher pay for poverty-stricken communities and improving food distribution infrastructure. But food insecurity is a multifaceted issue, one which complicates any potential solutions. An example of a promising idea gone wrong is that of self-sufficiency.
Food self-sufficiency—in other words, meeting all food needs through domestic production—used to be a promising potential solution for developing nations. Not only would countries be able to buffer themselves from the fluctuations of international prices and trade, they would also be able to allocate more funds to the purchasing of foreign commodities instead of foodstuffs. Self-sufficiency was touted as a method to ensure that sufficient food was always available for a country’s population.
Yet in reality, many issues arose. Climatic factors and natural events such as storms, flooding and droughts could rapidly deplete or destroy resources and force nations to depend on foreign aid or imports. In arid regions, a disproportionate amount of available water and land resources were devoted to irrigation, depriving other sectors of water. Some countries even accumulated massive water deficits trying to produce their own grains.
Today, the most reliable solution seems to be a combination of self-sufficiency and food imports. Because of recent water scarcities, it is no longer feasible for many countries to irrigate their lands or grow certain crops. In addition, labor in industries other than agriculture can lead to higher returns and profits. This makes it easier to exchange national commodities for food imports.
However, poor developing countries in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia struggle to both grow their own food and purchase necessary food imports. Food aid is the quickest solution in such dire cases of food insecurity. But this also stresses the need for more long-term, extensive agriculture infrastructure programs. Such programs have great potential to increase food security by stimulating national productivity and reducing poverty.
-Mari LeGagnoux
Sources: WHO, World Food Programme, FAO
Photo: Agripolicy outreach
More Natural Disasters?
It’s widely accepted by scientists today that natural disasters are on the rise and there’s increased risk for everyone. It’s more likely that people are going to experience a natural disaster in their lifetime.
One reason for this is that there are simply more people and many are concentrated in areas that are prone to disaster. The proportion of people living in cities of developing countries has doubled since 1960. This is important because 13 of the world’s 19 largest cities are located in coastal regions that are naturally at risk for disaster. This proportion is expected to rise 55 percent, too, by the year 2030.
It’s important to note also that developing countries, harboring the greatest populations in the world, experienced 94 percent of the world’s natural disasters between 1990 and 1998.
On the other hand, there are more natural disasters today than there used to be. The earth’s southern hemisphere is most likely to bear the brunt of climate change, a fairly well-known driver of the planet’s increase in the frequency of natural disasters. Since 1950, there have been more droughts, hurricanes, floods and windstorms than there used to be. And most developing countries can be found in the global south.
But regardless of what’s causing these disasters to tear cities and lives apart, the experiences are costly. Since the 1960s, the costs of natural disasters have increased sevenfold and low-income economies are at the greatest risk. Here, the poor stand to suffer the most. Consequently, natural disasters are quickly rising as a major issue in efforts at global poverty reduction.
Recall the recent typhoon Rammasun in the Philippines, which flooded streets in Quezon City, killed thirty-eight and left eight missing. It came on the heels of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan which killed more than 5,000. These storms left the already-poor coconut farmers of the nation in devastation after having lost their livelihoods in the storm. Poor fishers, whose boats were destroyed, were threatened with relocation away from coasts, as well.
In southern Karnataka in India, coffee growers fear for their yield as the yearly monsoon rains have delivered 14 percent more water than normal.
But there is hope. Despite the increasingly costly nature of natural disasters, data shows that this year represents a leveling-out in disaster costs, which have generally been on the increase over the past ten years. The first six months of 2014 have had costs nearly 50 percent lower than the $95 billion average.
As climate change moves across the globe as an unstoppable force behind disaster and people concentrate in vulnerable regions, we can only hope that losses continue to fall with increased responsiveness and preparation.
– Rachel Davis
Sources: IMF, CBC, The Hindu, Actuarial Post
Photo: The Stress Surfer
Humans of New York in Jordan
It’s a common occurrence to browse on a social media site and see “#firstworldproblems.” Along with this hashtag come complaints of not wanting to wake up and go to work, food not being exactly how its partaker would like it and many times how technology is not working properly.
In contrast, this past week, Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton embarked on a world tour. Partnered with the U.N. and with the support of the Secretary General’s Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group, he is traveling 25,000 miles and photographing in 10 different countries showing the world, in particular the “first world,” what those less fortunate endure on a daily basis.
For his second stop on this 50 day tour, Stanton arrived in Jordan. Most photos taken in this Middle Eastern country were taken in the refugee camp Za’atari. A caption accompanies these photos with the person’s story or a simple phrase that was said. In many cases, nothing rings more true than the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Syrian refugees have come into Jordan and made Za’atari a make-shift home after fleeing their country due to the 2011 civil war outbreak. The Syrian Refugees website stated that the United Nations report from earlier this year declared that Za’atari is the second largest refugee camp in the world, with 80,000 refugees, making it the fourth largest city in Jordan.
Pictures that Stanton has posted while in Jordan show life in the camp, both the hardships and trials, but they also demonstrate that these displaced Syrians are trying to make a new life.
A photo of a man was posted just of his face with a slight smile. Under the photo was his story. He was taken by officers at a checkpoint in Syria and beaten. The only way to end the torture was to say that he murdered eleven soldiers, for which he was cast into prison. This refugee said, “But I never killed any soldiers. I never fought anyone. I’m a good person. I have a very sweet heart,” and still begging for belief in his innocence said, “You believe me when I tell you this, don’t you?”
Another picture is of a mother and a son on a couch and told of the day they decided to leave Syria: the day his brother was murdered.
While pictures of individuals and their stories show the pain, anguish and fear these refugees have been through, Stanton also highlights the good, simplistic things of life: a woman who joked with him for taking so many pictures and a pair of children- one in a wheelbarrow, while the other pushed- trying to get to their grandma’s house.
Through the good and the bad, these photos show just how strong and resilient the human spirit truly is.
– Kori Withers
Sources: Syrian Refugees, Humans of New York, Facebook: Humans of New York
Photo: NYTimes
Extreme Poverty Has Been Halved
Back in 2000, countries around the world convened to discuss the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – goals to make the world a safer, healthier place and to ultimately eradicate global poverty. Countries pledged that by 2015, they would halve the number of people living in poverty, cut maternal mortality by three-quarters and cut child mortality by two-thirds. Though there are considerable strides to make toward the latter two objectives, the former goal of halving extreme poverty has been achieved even earlier than expected.
In 1990, 1.9 billion people in developing nations were living in extreme poverty, or 43 percent of the world’s population. By 2000, that number was down by one-third. By 2010, the number was 1.2 billion – or 21 percent of the Earth’s population. This indicates that in a short 20 years, the global poverty rate was cut in half.
The quick, yet drastic improvements that were made in just two decades raise the question: what is stopping world leaders from reaching 1 percent in the near future?
According to Martin Ravallion, the World Bank’s head of research, growth alone does not ensure less poverty in a nation. Based on Ravallion’s research and surveys, he found that two-thirds of the poverty decrease was the result of growth and one third came from greater income equality. His surveys reveal that a one percent increase in incomes cut poverty by 0.6 percent in the most unequal countries and by 4.3 percent in the most equal ones.
China is responsible for three-quarters of the world’s total decline in extreme poverty over the past twenty years. Back in 1980, the country was home to the greatest poverty-ridden population in the world. In just two decades, China lifted 600 million citizens out of extreme poverty.
It is not the only nation, however, that has experienced accelerated economic growth. In Brazil, new poverty reduction policies – including equality through minimum wages, cash transfer programs for the poor and better public services – have largely contributed to the nation’s economic development. Not only has poverty been considerably reduced, but deforestation of the Amazon has also been cut by 80 percent.
World leaders argue that today’s developed nations have the resources and technology to eventually eradicate extreme poverty. It is the small factors, however, that will be most important. Not only is it essential for a nation to experience economic growth and income equality, but it must also foster a healthy and stable population.
This means that education and health are at the forefront of the United Nations’ agenda. Though 17,000 more children are alive per day compared with the situation twenty years ago and mosquito nets have saved 3.3 million lives from malaria, there are still large obstacles to overcome. Taking small initiatives, while tackling large issues with the proper resources, will be the key to seeing the end of extreme poverty by the year 2030.
– Samantha Scheetz
Sources: The Economist, UN, Devex
Photo: My Modern Met
GravityLight in African Homes
A considerable amount of resources have been dedicated to finding a sustainable means of providing electricity to those suffering from poverty. In order to create a solution for such a complex problem, a tremendous amount of creativity, innovation and resources have been directed toward finding an answer. Thus far, one idea has managed to utilize the same power that keeps our entire earth in orbit — gravity.
GravityLight, a new product created by the London-based design consultancy firm Deciwatt, does just that. The light is entirely powered by a specific weight, usually around 10 kilograms. This weight can be anything, including sand, stones or even water. As the weight descends due to gravitational force, the kinetic energy created by this process is converted into light by a handful of small gears within the self-contained mechanism. The light lasts anywhere from 28 minutes to 12 minutes, depending on what setting the light is on. It requires no batteries, and can be used repeatedly without any running costs.
The best part about this technology? The entire apparatus only costs $6. For the price of a hamburger, families can buy a source of light more reliable than a kerosene lamp.
Naturally there was some original skepticism surrounding the product. GravityLight was almost shelved entirely in 2012, due to a lack of funding. Jim Reeves, co-creator/inventor of GravityLight said, “In truth, at first it didn’t go well. But it’s an iterative process. You see what doesn’t work, you move on. You see what doesn’t work, and you improve upon it.”
Eventually inertia kicked in, the word spread and the product began to gain traction. The original fundraising goal was to raise $55,000. However, the campaign massively exceeded expectations by raising $399,590 thus far. This has allowed for the product to become even more accessible to those who need it.
The end goal is to eventually make GravityLight commercially available. While the producers of the technology haven’t hit that goal yet, they are currently on track to pursue mass production by next year. With any luck, GravityLight will provide hundreds of thousands of people with a source of light more stable than any other form of electricity.
– Andre Gobbo
Sources: Devex, Deciwatt
Photo: Sustainable Brands
UN Report: Africa’s Youth to Top 1 Billion by 2050
A recent report released by UNICEF has predicted a massive shift in Africa’s child population. The study reported that the under-18 population is predicted to increase by two-thirds, and will reach at least 1 billion by 2050. The report also noted that approximately 40 percent of the world’s children will be in Africa. Over the next 35 years, almost 2 billion babies will be born in Africa, and the continent’s population will double in size.
These numbers show a drastic increase from 1950, when only 10 percent of all children lived in Africa. These new statistics also come in spite of a high child mortality rate. Africa currently accounts for approximately half of all child deaths globally, and the ratio of child mortality could rise to about 70 percent.
There are a multitude of factors that play into this high mortality rate. The UNICEF report specifically mentioned that three in ten children live in conflict-affected areas or in fragile regions. It also pointed out that almost 60 percent of all Africans will live in cities by 2050.
Special attention was given to Nigeria, which is currently the most populous country in all of Africa. Nigeria has the greatest number of births on the continent, and is projected to account for one in ten births globally by 2050.
As Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, explained, “This report must be a catalyst for global, regional and national dialogue on Africa’s children. By investing in children now – in their health, education and protection – Africa could realize the economic benefits experienced previously in other regions and countries that have undergone similar demographic shifts.”
– Andre Gobbo
Sources: BBC, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2
Photo: Kiwanja
Flooding in Nepal: Poor Most Vulnerable
On August 2, a landslide and flooding in Nepal killed approximately 156 people. It completely covered a main highway leading to China with 20 feet of debris, blocked a major river and damaged hydro power stations, causing a 10 percent power loss across the nation. The Nepal Red Cross Society said that this recent two kilometer-long landslide was the worst in the nation’s history.
As a result, experts are encouraging the Nepalese government to map out hazard areas and include natural disaster planning in its economic and development plans for the country. Experts also agree that an early warning system could have avoided the large death toll.
Almost 80 percent of Nepal’s residents live in rural areas and 25 percent of the total population lives on less than $1.25 a day. About 3.5 million people are food insecure, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. As a result, the impoverished in Nepal are among the most severely affected by natural disasters because their resources are so greatly limited.
The United Nations Development Programme explains “the poorest of the poor, who largely rely on agriculture, typically live on steep slopes under the constant shadow of landslides, or in low-lying flood-prone areas…have virtually no resources with which to bounce back after a weather-related calamity.”
Typically, communities that live in poverty also live in high-risk areas and, because of poverty, cannot afford to move to a safer location before or after a disaster.
Despite over 3.6 million people being affected by flooding, the New York Times writes, “Villagers continue to return to their ancestral homes where they at least have access to fertile land and water, which enables them to make…a living.”
There have been 4,511 deaths and over 18,000 homes destroyed in Nepal within the past three decades, according to a 2013 Natural Disaster report by the Nepalese government. Seventy-five people have died in separate floods in Nepal within the past year.
Yadav Prasad Koirala of the Department of Natural Disaster Management stated, regarding the August 2 landslide, “We have names of 159 people who are believed to be missing and buried, but there could be even more people.” Furthermore, lack of official records may mean the death toll is even higher.
A local resident of Mankha who was injured during the landslide expressed fear that the people in his village were all killed. “There are nearly 100 people in the 60 houses in my village and 20 more people in the neighboring village who were buried by the landslide. All of them are likely dead.”
The ministry of home affairs reports 300 deaths and 3 million dollars of damages per year because of landslides and floods. Although landslides are common in Nepal, with 14 major events since 1967, the recent landslide was unique because it was the first to occur in an area with major infrastructure.
It is hard to imagine the struggle an average American has to go through to recover from a natural disaster, but in a country with a much higher poverty rate and lower standards of living, it is even more difficult.
The concept of risk vulnerability is well established in social sciences, and it has been recognized by several academics that the poor are endangered more by natural disaster than wealthier people. The poor people of Nepal are certainly among the most vulnerable in the world to these natural disasters.
– Christopher Kolezynski
Sources: Global Issues, Circle of Blue, New York Times, NDTV
Photo: Poleshift
Primer on Food Insecurity
Hunger kills more people per year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Nearly 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat and 98.2 percent of them live in developing countries. Yet hunger is essentially man-made; it is a product of poverty. In a world that can produce more than enough food to sustain everyone, hunger is due to human inefficiencies and inaction.
In the world of global poverty, “food insecurity” is a term often mentioned. But what exactly is food insecurity, what are its effects and how can it be prevented?
What is Food Insecurity?
In order to understand food insecurity, it is important to first define food security. According to the World Food Summit of 1996, food security exists “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”
This condition is based on three components: availability, access and use. First, a sustainable and sufficient food supply must exist to prevent malnutrition. Second, people must have both the physical and economic resources to obtain that food. And third, people must be able to use food in conjunction with clean water and sanitary practices to keep healthy, especially in countries where food-borne diarrhea has the potential to cause serious harm. Food insecurity means being without any of these critical components.
At its core, food security provides recipients with the elements necessary for optimal health and nutrition. But it depends on a sustainable, dependable and sufficient food supply system. Such a system solves not only issues of hunger, but also benefits environmental health, the economy and social equality.
What are the Effects of Food Insecurity?
Without sustainable and dependable food sources, malnutrition can wreak havoc on a population. Lack of access to sanitation and clean water can also spread diarrhea and other food-borne illnesses, which are especially deadly to young children. In addition, lack of proper access to food hinders development and trade. Victims of malnutrition are unable to work productively or put energy into new endeavors. When the majority of a country suffers from food insecurity, it is unlikely that substantial development will occur. This leads to a vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and stagnation.
How Can Food Insecurity be Prevented?
Food insecurity can be ameliorated by increasing local food production, increasing food imports, providing more jobs and higher pay for poverty-stricken communities and improving food distribution infrastructure. But food insecurity is a multifaceted issue, one which complicates any potential solutions. An example of a promising idea gone wrong is that of self-sufficiency.
Food self-sufficiency—in other words, meeting all food needs through domestic production—used to be a promising potential solution for developing nations. Not only would countries be able to buffer themselves from the fluctuations of international prices and trade, they would also be able to allocate more funds to the purchasing of foreign commodities instead of foodstuffs. Self-sufficiency was touted as a method to ensure that sufficient food was always available for a country’s population.
Yet in reality, many issues arose. Climatic factors and natural events such as storms, flooding and droughts could rapidly deplete or destroy resources and force nations to depend on foreign aid or imports. In arid regions, a disproportionate amount of available water and land resources were devoted to irrigation, depriving other sectors of water. Some countries even accumulated massive water deficits trying to produce their own grains.
Today, the most reliable solution seems to be a combination of self-sufficiency and food imports. Because of recent water scarcities, it is no longer feasible for many countries to irrigate their lands or grow certain crops. In addition, labor in industries other than agriculture can lead to higher returns and profits. This makes it easier to exchange national commodities for food imports.
However, poor developing countries in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia struggle to both grow their own food and purchase necessary food imports. Food aid is the quickest solution in such dire cases of food insecurity. But this also stresses the need for more long-term, extensive agriculture infrastructure programs. Such programs have great potential to increase food security by stimulating national productivity and reducing poverty.
-Mari LeGagnoux
Sources: WHO, World Food Programme, FAO
Photo: Agripolicy outreach
Rebuilding Yemen: Public Works Project
In 2011, mass protests overtook the country of Yemen, resulting in the eventual ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Without the president’s stabilizing force, violence quickly spread. Today in the south, Sunni Muslim militants from al Qaeda continue to create chaos, while in the north Shi’ite tribesmen and Sunni Islamists engage in ceaseless fighting.
The unemployment rate of Yemen is 35 percent and almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. It is the poorest country in the Middle East/North Africa region and one of the least developed in the world.
However, a recent project funded by the World Bank has been making significant gains for poor Yemenis. The Third Public Works Project was the recipient of an award by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for its efforts in rebuilding Yemen.
The aim of the project is to build basic infrastructure, which the country has been struggling without. Before, only 11 percent of rural roads in Yemen were paved. The project works with local contractors to design labor-intensive infrastructure plans which provide the dual purpose of rebuilding Yemen’s roads and buildings and creating jobs. The project, both directly and indirectly, has created more than 740,000 job opportunities. It has provided work and development options to 1,900 local contractors and 1,250 local consultants.
Benefits of the Public Works Project extend beyond job creation and infrastructure building. Due to newly built schools, education has increased by 141 percent for males and 181 percent for females.
“The location of the school is in the middle of the adjacent village, [which means] people in the village can now send their children to school without being worried, and they may also permit their daughters to go to school,” says one beneficiary of the project in Al-Ghoola Village in the Dhi Been District of Yemen.
As a consequence, literacy rates have improved, as well as access to health services and water.
“The project has left different social and economic impacts on people in remote areas and the poorest in Yemen through the alleviation of poverty and addressing its manifestations,” U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew, said at the award ceremony.
Before the ceremony, the project had already completed 3,900 sub-projects which benefit 14.7 million of Yemen’s poor. Its plans for moving forward center around the World Bank’s hope to, with the help of committed partners, turn the project into a fund which will provide a sustainable way to finance future development projects.
– Julianne O’Connor
Sources: World Bank, U.S. Department of the Treasury, All Africa, Yemen News Agency (SABA), Reuters,CIA
Photo: Wikimedia
Violence Against Women in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is an island in the South Pacific located just north of Australia, with a population of around 7 million. It is a developing country, ranking 156 out of 187 countries on the UN Human Development Index.
Papua New Guinea suffers—like most developing nations—from high levels of poverty and corruption within the government due to vast oil and gas reserves.
But Papua New Guinea doesn’t simply have to deal with the normal problems of a developing country. Sadly, in recent years this island nation has become known for rampant and increasing violence against women.
It has been reported that 68 percent of PNG women suffer from violence. What is worse is that one in three women have reportedly been raped. As with most rape statistics, that number is often low, as many women who have been raped do not report it.
Violence against women in Papua New Guinea is not always of a sexual nature. Women are often accused of sorcery, and violence is used as retribution. In February 2013, there was a highly publicized case of a 20-year old woman accused of sorcery. As punishment, she was burned alive.
Domestic violence seems to be the most prevalent form. It is often the result of the male’s desire to assert authority over his female partner because he may perceive that she is acting insubordinate or lazy.
Amnesty International states that this type of violence “includes rape, being burnt with hot irons, broken bones and fractures, kicking and punching and cutting with bush knives.”
There have been some attempts by the government to deal with this issue. In April of last year, the 1971 Sorcery Act, which criminalized sorcery, was repealed.
In September 2013, the parliament in PNG passed the Family Protection Bill, which made domestic violence illegal.
However, many women still do not know of the existence of this law, and implementation has been difficult and not very far reaching. The same is true of the sorcery law, which is in the appeals process and does not change the pervasive cultural view of the existence of sorcery.
Women’s groups from within and outside PNG continue to try and spread awareness of this issue and work on programs that attempt to eradicate these grave human rights violations.
Statistics and research on this subject are hard to find though. Women’s rights groups have a difficult time funding further research because no raw data exists. Papua New Guinea is low on the international radar.
Awareness and further research on this issue is needed in order to help the women of Papua New Guinea escape this terrible cycle of violence.
– Eleni Marino
Sources: Child Fund, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Islands Business, Human Development Report, United Nations,
Photo: ABCNews
Free High School in Nicaragua
In order to eliminate poverty, the impoverished must be educated. This is the philosophy practiced by Margaret Gullette, co-founder of the Free High School for Adults in Nicaragua. 12 years ago, Margaret, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and is a resident scholar at Brandeis University, was volunteering in Nicaragua through the Newton-San Juan del Sur Sister City Project when she and another woman, Rosa Elena Bello, decided they wanted to start a literacy program.
“It’s a great story,” Margaret said as she recalled the details. “Rosa was working in a clinic for women and children, and infant mortality rate was not improving.” The two women believed that it would never improve without literacy. It is not enough just to donate money; the people must be educated.
In Nicaragua, one out of 10 people are illiterate, and this figure is even higher among women. The average Nicaraguan has less than five years of schooling and only 29 percent of children complete primary school. Much of this can be attributed to the poverty cycle. Until 1979 a dictator ruled Nicaragua, and dictators rely on ignorance to control the masses. “Poverty and ignorance should always be put together,” Margaret explained. Because many adults who lived under that dictator’s rule and did not receive an education themselves, not only do they not have enough money to pay for school supplies and uniforms, but they often do not value education.
In order to begin the literacy program, Margaret applied for funding to 25 different grants. She received 24 rejections, but the one acceptance was all the two women needed. At first it was difficult to get Nicaraguan women involved in the program because their lives revolved around housework and children, but in the first three years nearly 300 women received certificates for the completion of sixth grade.
High school in Nicaragua runs from grade 7 to 11, so after the success with the sixth grade program, the next logical step was to continue the women’s education into high school. Once again Margaret found funding in America, and the following year (2002) a free high school for adults opened. 12 people graduated that year and the number has been growing ever since. The high school currently has 800 students and 616 graduates.
Eventually the Nicaraguan government took over the building of the schools, and the 12 communities that have these high schools have better overall health and fewer unwanted pregnancies. What makes the Free High School Program unique is the teaching model adopted by Margaret and Rosa. The schools use feminist textbooks and a modified version of twentieth century educator Paolo Freire’s teaching method.
Freire believed that education was vital to the liberation of the oppressed and did not support the method of teaching in which students are simply empty vessels to be filled with knowledge. For basic literacy, Freire believed in teaching language that is meaningful to people’s lives. He did not have a program for women, so Margaret and Rosa adapted his method to teach the women in Nicaragua. The first word the women learn is “fetus,” which Margaret says is a word every woman should know.
The Free High School program has continued to grow with a technical high school that opened in 2006 in which students can specialize in one of three fields: Management of Tourist and Hotel Enterprises, Accounting and Civil Construction. A number of graduates from both the Free High School and the Technical School have gone on to receive university degrees and other accomplishments.
Margaret believes that “there is always something to do in Nicaragua,” pointing to her husband David’s bio-sand filter project for contaminated water as an example. The next steps in the Free High School project are to buy new textbooks and construct an office building for the organization in Nicaragua. Go here (http://sanjuandelsursistercityproject.wordpress.com/) to learn more about the various Newton-San Juan del Sur Sister City projects, including the Free High School.
– Taylor Lovett
Sources: San Juan del Sur Sister City Project, Bless the Children, Interview with Margaret Gullette
Photo: The Random Act