After a long-standing 20 years, a would-be abandoned bank in Caracas, Venezuela will be demolished. In most cases, the destruction of an abandoned building is hardly notable. However, this abandoned building, commonly called the Tower of David, is home to 1,145 families.
This unfinished building has become a home to hundreds of homeless people and families, creating a community that fully depends on the existence of this empty 45 story tower.
In Venezuela, few squatters find safety in the slums within the city borders. The Tower of David is a vertical beacon, offering refuge to those seeking a long term way of living in the streets.
The future of the bank tower is unclear, with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro telling media, “Some are proposing its demolition. Others are proposing turning it into an economic center. Some are proposing building homes there.” Maduro acknowledges the purpose it serves to many, while still acknowledging that this building represents the failed hopes of deceased dictator Hugo Chavez, whose goal was to create a dominant economy within Venezuela.
The building now holds social significance, appearing in multiple films and television shows as the Tower of David, the symbolic slum of Venezuela. Yet this has not coerced leaders into leaving the structure as is; the evacuation of residents has already begun.
The demolition project was suggested after several children were killed falling out of the building, proving it as a safety hazard to Venezuelans. With evacuations beginning on July 22, occupants have agreed to peacefully leave with the promise of homes and aid.
The refuge sought by the inhabitants will not be forgotten, as many reminisce on the solace the tower offered them. One resident, Yuraima Perra, 27, tells NPR, “Necessity brought me here, and the tower gave me a good home,” as the soldiers removed her valuables and belongings from her makeshift apartment.
Parra is one of what many Venezuelans call “invaders” that staked claim in the tower. These “invaders” rigged up electricity and controlled the elevators, essentially turning the abandoned building into subsidized housing for those in need. Due to the fact that there was little internal violence within the tower, civilians respected it, and thus families were allowed to safely flourish in a protected area.
President Maduro recognizes the tower as, “a symbol of a strange situation, a vertical ‘barrio’.” With regrets of allowing its continuation for so long with little monitoring and even less consideration, Maduro looks to the people for suggestions as to what should happen to this symbolic tower. One thing is clear: the end of the era may have come for the Tower of David, but those who called it home will forge on in search of another safe refuge in the dangerous streets of Caracas.
– Elena Lopez
Sources: Reuters, NPR
Photo: Flickr
Commonwealth Games Partners with UNICEF
The 20th annual Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow this week. The sporting competition features athletes from 71 nations and territories in the Commonwealth of Nations. This year, the games began with an opening ceremony unlike any other. The committees planning the ceremony teamed up with UNICEF, the games’ charitable partner, to use the ceremony as a fundraiser for children facing the challenges of poverty.
The Commonwealth Games, formerly known as the British Empire Games in 1930, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954 and the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, occur every four years. Competitors come from countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the United Kingdom that are included in the Commonwealth of Nations. The games celebrate a common appreciation for sport world-wide in the same way that events such as the Olympics or the World Cup do.
Many of the countries sending athletes to the games are considered developing countries that combat poverty back home. UNICEF is working to provide assistance to people in those countries.
No effort has been more successful or public as the fundraiser created as a component of this year’s opening ceremonies.
The ceremony provided attendees and television audiences with the ability to donate to UNICEF’s Put Children First Appeal. With 40,000 people in the live audience and over one billion people watching on television, the initiative created a widespread call for supporting children experiencing poverty.
The donations received will go toward saving children’s lives in Scotland and the rest of the countries in the Commonwealth. A $50 donation provides 30 children with life-saving medication, while $75 will give UNICEF the money to donate five safe water kits to families in Africa. Finally, a donation of $150 is enough to fund school supplies for 100 children
Filmmaker Lord Puttnam, one of the event’s organizers, believes that the charitable component of the Glasgow 2014 ceremonies will become a precedent for other major sporting events in the future. Puttnam told reports, “I cannot imagine the next World Cup not finding a means of allowing people to participate in giving to something that FIFA are promoting.”
Puttnam’s comment is extremely topical given the controversy over the most recent World Cup’s effect on global poverty. After expecting more to be done to support Brazil’s economy or the developing world in general through the World Cup, sport enthusiasts and philanthropists alike may be pleased to hear about the Commonwealth Games’ efforts.
The Put Children First Appeal is still accepting donations online, and the 20th Commonwealth Games will continue to support UNICEF throughout this year’s competition. As Puttnam says, hopefully future sporting events will use their power of global unification to combat global poverty.
– Emily Walthouse
Sources: Daily Record, Glasgow 2014 1, Glasgow 2014 2, UNICEF
Photo: Daily Record
AIDS Conference in Australia
The 20th International Aids Conference took place July 20 -25 and was held in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the conference was to create a forum where people could address the problematic impact of AIDS on a global scale.
Speakers at the conference included founder and former U.S. president Bill Clinton, U.S. Global Aids Coordinator Ambassador Deborah Brix, USNG’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Michel Kazatchkine, among others.
The Melbourne declaration for the International Aids Conference states that in regards to HIV/AIDS, it is vital that everyone, “…call for the immediate and unified opposition to discriminatory and stigmatizing practices and urge all parties to take a more equitable and equitable approach through the following actions.”
The declaration then lists actions such as insisting that “governments must repeal repressive laws and end policies that reinforce discriminatory and stigmatizing practices and increase vulnerability to HIV, while also passing laws that actively promote equality,” that “all healthcare providers must demonstrate the implementation of non-discriminatory policies as a prerequisite for future HIV program funding” and that “restrictions on funding, such as the anti-prostitution pledge and ban on purchasing needles and syringes, must be removed as they actively impede the struggle to combat HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and hepatitis C among sex workers and people who inject drugs.”
The 2014 AIDS conference had 12,000 attendees from over 200 countries across the globe and was sponsored by the International AIDS Society (IAS). In addition to raising awareness, the conference also acted as a forum where researchers could present new findings for how to address and hopefully end this epidemic. The conference included information about other projects like the Global Village and hosted satellite meetings in order to serve as a networking platform to combat HIV/AIDS.
– Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: AIDS 2014, IA Society, USA Today
Photo: USA Today
Anti-Human Trafficking Bill Package
The issue of human trafficking has become a keynote subject over the past few decades. Terrorist organizations, like Boko Haram, frequent the news for the trafficking of children. In response, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a package of anti-human trafficking bills to combat the prominence of this tragedy.
A prior package of bills was also passed in May 2014 as a reaction to the Boko Haram incident. In April, the Islamic Jihadist group kidnapped 276 female students from a government-sponsored school in northeast Nigeria. As of July, the group still has over 200 of the girls, and has made a video which reveals the group’s intention is to sell them.
While human trafficking occurs on a smaller-scale as a domestic phenomenon, it most notably occurs in Africa, Asia and Central America. According to estimates, there are 27 million people living in modern-day slavery – whether it be through forced labor or sex trafficking. Children and women are most often targeted, with roughly two million children exploited by the global sex trade.
The bills passed in the House, however, will cover an array of different implementations that battle human trafficking both domestically and internationally. One part of the package, H.R. 4449, will require new standards of training for diplomatic officials – including ambassadors, embassy officers and mission chiefs. The aim of this program will be to have an increased awareness of the issue among leaders abroad.
More extensive training will also be provided to officials who are part of the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Transportation Security Authority (TSA). This training will include the best methods to identify and prevent human trafficking in situations where it may be unbeknownst to border officials.
Another bill, H.R. 5135, will require an official report to be published by an inter-agency task force designed to combat human trafficking. The report will detail and update the best strategies to prevent children from falling victim to trafficking.
By raising awareness of the issue, Congress aims to gradually have an impact and hopes to see human trafficking statistics dwindle over coming years.
As the issue of human trafficking is not a partisan one, politicians on both sides of the spectrum hope and expect to see these anti-human trafficking bills passed through Senate quickly.
– Conner Goldstein
Sources: CNN World, Human Trafficking Statistics, HS Today
Photo: Mizzouwire
Ebola in Sierra Leone
The Ebola outbreak spreading across Africa has become increasingly fatal over the past couple of months. The incubation period for Ebola ranges from two days to 21 days, and when not treated early on, has about a 90 percent fatality rate.
According to WHO, 630 people total in the West African countries of Sierra Leone (442 people infected, 206 deaths), Guinea (410 people infected, 310 deaths) and Liberia (196 people infected, 116 deaths) lost their lives to Ebola. One of the most recent victims of the disease includes one of the leading doctors in Sierra Leone, Sheik Umar Khan, who contracted the virus while attempting to help treat others afflicted by Ebola.
Psychologist Ane Bjoru, who has begun work in Sierra Leone, however, explains the impact of Ebola beyond purely the physical effects of the virus. In her article in The Guardian, she explains that as a non-medical staff member, a large part of her job is helping hygienists, who have to deal with disposing of the dead bodies, deal with this “new and disturbing experience” and much of her work “involves helping them with counseling and support.”
Ane Bjoru explains that to treat Ebola in Sierra Leone the hygienists are responsible for cleaning the blood and stool produced by the patients, and are confronted with a confusing mix of emotions when dealing with the dead bodies. They are filled with sadness from the loss, fear from the contagious bodies, and especially in Sierra Leone where the dead are usually dealt with by the elders of the society, some of the hygienists feel they are too young to be involved with this part of the life cycle.
Ane Bjoru, through her work, seeks to build a wider community of people to help citizens of Sierra Leone deal with the emotional consequences of the Ebola outbreak.
— Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: World Health Organization, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, BBC News
Photo: The Guardian
Examining Reading Skills in Brazil
Researchers from the Frontiers scientific community recently conducted a study in Brazil to examine the cause of low reading skills in Brazil’s young children. The study tested 106 children ranging from ages six to eight. The study found that poor memory skills are closely correlated with lower reading skills.
The 106 children tested came from a variety of backgrounds. Half of them live below the poverty line, half above. Researchers intentionally split participants this way to determine the impact of socioeconomic status on basic reading skills. After testing the children, researchers found that memory skills had the most severe impact on young readers, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
The testing consisted of 12 cognitive assessments. Researchers were able to determine that memory skills correlate with reading abilities based on the fact that the children who were evaluated by their teachers as “poor readers” scored the lowest on the Working Memory/Cognitive Flexibility sections of the test. The other three components of the assessment were Interference Suppression, Selective Attention and Response Inhibition.
Higher level readers, on the other hand, consistently performed better on the Working Memory/Cognitive Flexibility sections of the test. The difference between high and low level readers’ results were not as significant in the three other areas. Therefore, the examiners conducting the test were able to hypothesize that memory and reading skills are related somehow.
A strong memory allows a child to concentrate on an activity for an extended period of time, which may account for children with strong memories who find reading easier at a young age. These children have a greater attention span and can focus on learning how to read for a longer period of time than children with weaker memories.
In countries where student to teacher ratios are poor and classrooms are small, the potential for distractions in the learning environment is very high. Children with strong memories and, therefore, extreme concentration abilities can focus on their studies better than students with less cognitive flexibility.
Unfortunately, distracting conditions are common, meaning that some children inevitably will score lower on reading tests. By providing funding to decrease student to teacher ratios and build more functional classrooms, it is possible to decrease distractions in classroom settings which hinder learning in children with weaker memories. By fixing the classroom environment, educators can solve a seemingly un-fixable problem.
– Emily Walthouse
Sources: Frontiers, Psyblog
Photo: Economist
Controlling Cholera: Vaccination vs. Sanitation
The cholera crisis in South Sudan continues to worsen, as do fears of a probable outbreak in Syrian refugee camps in Iraq. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 2,400 people have been infected and 62 have been killed so far. As these numbers rise, the demand for a more comprehensive international response grows. This urgent situation polarizes aid providers into two camps: those advocating for widespread vaccination and those directing their focus toward sanitation.
Cholera is highly contagious and fast-acting. It spreads through bacteria-contaminated food and water, and is most common in places with poor water quality and sanitation. Many at-risk areas lack a widespread and comprehensive strategy for cholera prevention. The effectiveness of vaccines overshadows this issue, especially during time sensitive periods when outbreaks have already begun.
A study by The New England Journal of Medicine about a cholera outbreak in Guinea shows that two doses of a particular vaccine were able to protect people with 86 percent effectiveness.
Doctors Without Borders and the Guinean Ministry of Health were able to vaccinate 75 percent of the affected population, thereby containing the outbreak. Similar results were observed in a larger trial in Kolkata. Another benefit is that the vaccine is inexpensive – at approximately $3 per two doses – making it affordable to patients in vulnerable developing countries.
Successes like those seen in Guinea and Kolkata have encouraged the use of vaccination to control future cholera outbreaks and provide quick, inexpensive protection.
However, vaccines are not always suitable for settings with weak health systems. They require refrigeration – often up to the point of delivery – which, in some areas is impossible. Developing countries often must deal with unreliable electricity, transportation issues, high temperatures and deliveries to remote, rural communities. Also, it is necessary to mix the vaccine with clean water – a scarce commodity in the poor areas where cholera is most likely to take hold.
Factors such as these have created debates over how best to allocate resources. Instead of spending them solely on vaccines, some argue that resources should be used to develop and strengthen basic water and sanitation infrastructure. Vaccinations, though effective, can only reach a percentage of the population, while proper sanitation benefits all.
Also, vaccinations are often implemented only after an outbreak has begun, rather than as a preventative measure. Water and sewage facilities play a major role in preventing cholera once they have been implemented. The WHO has endorsed the use of re-hydration solutions and antibiotics for the treatment of cholera, rather than advocating for vaccination alone.
Access to clean water and sanitary conditions are necessary to effectively control and eliminate cholera. It may be a challenge to focus on these basic needs when the research behind vaccines is so promising. Though providing better hygiene infrastructure for communities will not only help prevent diseases, but also set the foundation for growth in other areas such as health and development.
It is hopeful that both vaccination and sanitation will be used in tandem to provide a multifaceted, integrated approach to preventing and controlling cholera in the future.
– Mari LeGagnoux
Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, New England Journal of Medicine
Photo: The Guardian
The Price of India’s Mission to Mars
In November of 2013, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its first mission to Mars. The achievement was met with mixed feelings.
For many Indians, it was a moment of immense national pride. India proved itself capable of working with and persevering through the technological challenges of the 21st century. For others, it was a source of unmitigated fury. How could a nation with so much poverty spend so much money on something as irrelevant as a space mission?
This is a generalization made for unpacking.
The mission to Mars cost India 74 million dollars. To put this in perspective, this is about 21 percent of the $3.5 billion dollars allotted to Meal Scheme, a project aimed to improve nutrition among school-age children. About the same amount, $2.5 billion, was given to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The budget for the mission is a significant fraction of all the numbers listed above; it could do a great deal of good in any one of the programs. Though it is important to understand this, it is also necessary to recognize that the space program works alongside other social initiatives; the existence of a space program does not mean that resources for poverty-reduction are lacking.
This mentality is inaccurate because of the utility of many projects run by the agency. ISRO satellites report weather — floods, droughts, cyclones and landslides. They collect information on natural resources; information that is essential to agricultural and conservation efforts. With remote-sensing technology, researchers have even been able to map out prospective groundwater sites.
As to the mission itself, the strongest defense has been anecdotal. When America reached the moon, 13.8 percent of Americans were below the poverty line. When Russia put Sputnik in orbit, the nation was recovering from Stalinist policies. When China sent the first woman into space, 100 million Chinese were living in poverty.
Yes, the money could have been spent elsewhere, but should it have been? Supporters of the mission argue that the presence of poverty should not stop scientists and researchers from making their own mark on their field.
– Olivia Kostreva
Sources: Thomas Reuters Foundation, Exim Guru, The Economic Times
Photo: The Times
Slum Destruction in Venezuela
After a long-standing 20 years, a would-be abandoned bank in Caracas, Venezuela will be demolished. In most cases, the destruction of an abandoned building is hardly notable. However, this abandoned building, commonly called the Tower of David, is home to 1,145 families.
This unfinished building has become a home to hundreds of homeless people and families, creating a community that fully depends on the existence of this empty 45 story tower.
In Venezuela, few squatters find safety in the slums within the city borders. The Tower of David is a vertical beacon, offering refuge to those seeking a long term way of living in the streets.
The future of the bank tower is unclear, with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro telling media, “Some are proposing its demolition. Others are proposing turning it into an economic center. Some are proposing building homes there.” Maduro acknowledges the purpose it serves to many, while still acknowledging that this building represents the failed hopes of deceased dictator Hugo Chavez, whose goal was to create a dominant economy within Venezuela.
The building now holds social significance, appearing in multiple films and television shows as the Tower of David, the symbolic slum of Venezuela. Yet this has not coerced leaders into leaving the structure as is; the evacuation of residents has already begun.
The demolition project was suggested after several children were killed falling out of the building, proving it as a safety hazard to Venezuelans. With evacuations beginning on July 22, occupants have agreed to peacefully leave with the promise of homes and aid.
The refuge sought by the inhabitants will not be forgotten, as many reminisce on the solace the tower offered them. One resident, Yuraima Perra, 27, tells NPR, “Necessity brought me here, and the tower gave me a good home,” as the soldiers removed her valuables and belongings from her makeshift apartment.
Parra is one of what many Venezuelans call “invaders” that staked claim in the tower. These “invaders” rigged up electricity and controlled the elevators, essentially turning the abandoned building into subsidized housing for those in need. Due to the fact that there was little internal violence within the tower, civilians respected it, and thus families were allowed to safely flourish in a protected area.
President Maduro recognizes the tower as, “a symbol of a strange situation, a vertical ‘barrio’.” With regrets of allowing its continuation for so long with little monitoring and even less consideration, Maduro looks to the people for suggestions as to what should happen to this symbolic tower. One thing is clear: the end of the era may have come for the Tower of David, but those who called it home will forge on in search of another safe refuge in the dangerous streets of Caracas.
– Elena Lopez
Sources: Reuters, NPR
Photo: Flickr
Three Years Later: Fukushima Today
The Great East Japan Earthquake ripped through Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 2:25 in the afternoon. Within hours, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert that took effect in 50 countries and territories. Japan was hardest hit. In the end, 19,000 people lost their lives.
Later that night, cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began to fail. Radiation levels steadily rose, and by 5:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, a nuclear emergency had been declared.
The radiation that seeped from the plant in the first week of the disaster totaled 770,000 terabequerels, which is 20 percent of the radiation emitted from the Chernobyl meltdown. The U.N. recently dismissed fears of ill-effects for the evacuees; their exposure to the radiation was simply too low.
Though thousands were evacuated, not everyone had the luxury of leaving. With three melted reactors and a defunct cooling system, the situation had to be contained, and so hundreds of plant workers stayed on. Even now they suffer myriad health problems, among them burns, radiation sickness and cancer.
Reconstruction within the plant and in affected areas is slow going. The decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant may take up to 40 years to complete. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officials are faced with the disposal of hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated waste water. Proposed solutions have included creating an underground “ice-wall” surrounding the plant, as well as treating the water and releasing it into the ocean. This latter proposal has not been popular among the area’s fisherman.
Nearly one-third of an estimated one million displaced people remain in temporary accommodation. The news outlet Asahi Shimbun predicts that as many as 60 percent of the exclusion zone evacuees will not return to their hometowns for at least four years. A nuclear scientist with Green Peace considers the contamination to be too great, in some areas, for anyone to return.
Many of the survivors are receiving stipends from the Japanese government. People who lived within the exclusion zone receive about $1000 dollars monthly. Those who are unable to find adequate housing live in federally constructed encampments.
Contrary to expectation, it is when the bans on their towns are lifted that many residents will find themselves in trouble. People are mistrustful of the government and of TEPCO, which assured them of the safety of the nuclear plants years ago. They dislike the idea of living in such an irradiated area.
When they can officially return home, the stipends will stop. Retired and unemployed individuals will have no choice but to live once again in the shadow of the Daiichi plant.
– Olivia Kostreva
Sources: World Nuclear Association, Earthquake-Report.com, BBC News: Asia, Christian Science Monitor
Photo: Flickr
Planet Aid: Humanitarian Aid and Sustainability
What is yellow and found in most American cities? Planet Aid bins. Founded in Boston in 1977, Planet Aid was at first a small operation. Donations became so plentiful that the nonprofit had to upgrade its office space and nondescript drop boxes.
Planet Aid’s mission is to inspire people to “bring about worldwide and environmental progress.” The organization is part of the Humana People to People Federation, a source of resources for 32 aid groups working across the globe. Every year, about 12 million people are benefited by Federation projects.
Though Federation aid groups provide an array of services, Planet Aid focuses on collecting and recycling used clothing and supporting development projects.
Discarded clothing is reduced to two functions: sitting in a landfill and creating carbon emissions. About nine percent of American methane emissions are produced by landfills. Over eight percent of landfills are rubber, leather and textiles. Recycling clothes is a step toward reducing the nation’s carbon footprint, but it is also expensive.
Local governments are hesitant to cover the cost, and so Planet Aid steps in. Their bright yellow boxes are beacons of light for environmentally conscious old-jean-holding citizens everywhere. Once collected, some of the clothing is shipped off to domestic thrift stores.
Most, though, are taken to overseas buyers. Why sell overseas? The market is huge. Quality shirts, pants and shoes can be sold to someone in need for a couple dollars.
If people need them so badly, why sell? Because charity can wreak havoc on local economies. It’s better to stock a merchant’s shelves with affordable goods than to put him or her out of business.
Planet Aid revenues are invested in development projects that meet the goals of their mission: “strengthening communities,” “reducing poverty,” “increasing health awareness” and “promoting small enterprise,” among others.
The organization runs projects in 15 countries. So far, Planet Aid has taught 9,500 teachers in India and Africa. From 2010 to 2011 alone, it provided over 5.5 million dollars in micro-finance to Indian women. It raised HIV/AIDS awareness, established a club that teaches sustainable farming practices and founded several vocational schools.
Everything is funded by profits made from clothing and monetary donations. Through its work, Project Aid has shown that humanitarian aid and environmental sustainability are not conflicting interests.
– Olivia Kostreva
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Planet Aid 1, Planet Aid 2, Planet Aid 3
Photo: Bethesda 365