Poverty in Naples, Italy

poverty in naples
There is truth to the common stereotype that Naples, Italy is a poor and dirty city ruled by the mafia. Indeed, organized crime and political corruption have hampered the city’s development for decades.

Despite being a major tourist destination, Naples is one of the poorest cities in Europe. The city has an unemployment rate of about 28 percent, and some estimates even put the rate as high as 40 percent.

Across all of Italy, the economic situation has been on the decline. Ever since the 2008 recession struck, Italy has lagged behind the rest of Europe by a significant margin.

The poverty rate is the highest it’s been in at least 16 years. And matters are far worse in the south — where Naples is located — than in the richer north. Between 2011 and 2012 alone, poverty rose in the north from 4.9 percent to 6.2 percent compared to 23.3 percent to 26.2 percent in the south.

A recent study in Naples showed that only three percent of the population said that it was “easy to find a good job.”

Italy’s economic downfall has hit poor Neapolitans harder than most. The recession has forced a series of spending cuts. In 2010, the Campania region ended its minimum welfare program which delivered over 130,000 families into the clutches of poverty.

And those few Neapolitans who can find legitimate work have found the pay insufficient to support a family. The result has been a shocking increase in child labor.

Thousands of Neapolitan children have been forced to work just to keep their families afloat.

After his father suddenly died of cancer, 10-year-old Gennaro had to drop out of school and begin work as a shop assistant. He wakes up every morning at 7 a.m. and begins his work carrying boxes and crates for less than a euro an hour — which is significantly more than his mother earns.

He and his family live in a tiny 35-square-meter apartment in downtown Naples. Their story is becoming an increasingly common one for the area.

Between 2005 and 2009, 54,000 children in the Campania region dropped out of school, presumably to begin working. Of those kids, 38 percent were under 13 years of age.

As bad as child labor is, the more menacing case is when the kid drops out of school to work for the local mafia. The Camorra crime family — which runs Naples’ lucrative and dangerous black market — is infamous for employing child soldiers.

The mafia in Naples has built up an army of young pickpockets and enforcers. Take for example 12-year-old Marco, who was drafted as a pickpocket when his family fell into debt with mafia loan sharks. Camorra made Marco drop out of school and join their ranks, where he then became addicted to cocaine.

The crime-ridden state of affairs in Naples has made one in five locals say they “rarely or never felt safe” in their neighborhood.

While Italy’s economic crisis has played a large part in the misfortunes of Naples, it is the rampant organized crime that is primarily to blame. For a long-term, sustainable fix to poverty in Naples, the mafia’s grip on the city’s politics must be eliminated.

– Sam Hillestad

Sources: European Commission, Reuters, VoxEurop
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Food Security in Cambodia

A series of 88 hydroelectric dams to be built in the lower Mekong basin of Cambodia by 2030 is projected to put Cambodia’s largest source of food at risk. Cambodians eat 168 more grams of fish daily than the world’s average. The construction of the dams could cut the freshwater fish population up to 42 percent.

The growing demand for electricity in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China and Myanmar has prompted multi-national developers to begin planning 88 hydroelectric dams. Eleven of these dams will be located on the Mekong river mainstream and the 77 remaining dams will be on the various tributaries of the river.

“Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam development basin-wide, to the point of affecting the food security of its 80 percent rural population,” warned Eric Baran, a specialist with the WorldFish Centre.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Ouk Rabun, reported that Cambodia takes approximately 528,000 tons of fish from freshwater fisheries each year.

Fish is the cheapest food option for Cambodians. Consumed far more frequently than beef or poultry, fish is the primary source of protein for a population where a fifth of the citizens live below the poverty line of $17 U.S. dollars a month.

More than 40 percent of national production — about 300,000 tons of fish per year — comes from Tonle Sap Lake. Located in northeastern Cambodia, Tonle Sap is the most productive inland fishery in the world. WorldFish estimates that 1.5 million Cambodians make 95 percent of their income directly from the lake.

Cambodia has exceeded the Millennium Development Goal poverty target, and the poverty rate has halved, from 53 percent in 2004 to 20.5 percent in 2011.

However, those who have escaped poverty are still vulnerable to slight economic fluctuations. Neak Samsen, Poverty Analyst of the World Bank in Cambodia warns, “the loss of just $0.30 (US) per day in income would throw an estimated three million Cambodians back into poverty, doubling the poverty rate to 40 percent.”

The proposed site for the dam construction is the Mekong basin. Of the fish normally caught in the basin, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) found that at least 39 percent are migratory.

Building dams in the Mekong would obstruct the migratory fish from swimming between the basin and Tonle Sap.

According to the U.N. World Food Program’s country director for Cambodia, Edith Heines, “The reduction of fish stocks due to the construction of the dams could have serious implications on the health, and specifically the well-being of malnourished children under five.”

The World Bank projects future generations of Cambodians will rely more heavily on aquaculture and rice field fisheries to meet their fish consumption needs.

However, this change in food source has implications for Cambodians living in poverty, because “the poorest people will not be able to simply shift to different agriculture practices without reallocating water, building infrastructure, or exploiting other water sources.”

Although government officials argue that the money gained from the dams will go toward agricultural development, there have been no guarantees and the impoverished in Cambodia may likely be the ones to suffer the greatest losses.

– Grace Flaherty 

Sources: IRIN, The World Bank
Photo: IRIN

10 Facts About International Disaster Relief

Disasters are indiscriminate when they strike. They can be anywhere, in any country, at any time and they have devastating effects on the communities and countries they touch. Throughout the world, nearly 25.8 million people are affected by a natural disaster each year. This number is only increasing due to effects of climate change, which increases the severity and destruction caused by these disasters.

In the aftermath, communities can face difficult long-term issues such as drought, famine and disease. International relief must not only address the direct effects of disasters, but also the long-term rebuilding efforts that will mitigate the communities from falling into other disasters like disorder, conflict and violence.

  1. Disaster relief addresses everything from hurricanes and earthquakes to conflict and famine.

Disaster /noun/: something that happens suddenly and causes much suffering or loss to many people

The definition of a disaster includes much more than natural events like earthquakes, tsunamis, fires and floods. Other events like a plane crash, famine, AIDS, disease and war are all disasters that warrant international disaster relief.

  1. Disasters are costly on many levels.

Between 2000 and 2012, natural disasters caused $1.7 trillion in damage and affected 2.9 billion people worldwide. During that time, 1.1 million people were killed as a result of natural disasters. With this much destruction, humanitarian disaster relief is crucial for helping communities rebuild.

  1. Climate change, growing populations and environmental degradation all contribute to the increase in frequency and severity of disasters around the world.

The communities that are most prone to natural disasters are often the ones that are least able to cope with the effects. Just as climate change will most severely affect those contributing to it the least, natural disasters will disproportionally affect people living in disaster-prone areas around the world.

  1. There are a multitude of reputable international agencies that engage in disaster relief.

Organizations such as Relief International, Mercy Corps, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, International Orthodox Christian Charities, United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) are just some of many organizations that provide services and resources when disasters strike around the world.

  1. The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (under USAID) is the main U.S. office that responds to disasters around the world.

On average, OFDA responds to approximately 70 disasters in 56 countries every year. These include everything from volcanoes and floods, to drought and conflict. The office coordinates with USAID as well as with regional government offices to address the needs of those affected by disasters.

  1. The International Committee of the Red Cross is the oldest and most prominent disaster relief organization.

Founded in 1863, ICRC has become one of the most important relief agencies in the world. ICRC addresses not only the immediate disaster effects, but also the long, drawn-out effects that tend to arise afterward: competition for resources, migration, urbanization and environmental degradation. Disaster relief goes beyond just rebuilding the broken infrastructure, but on to addressing longer-term issues.

  1. Competition between organizations can be a problem when responding to disasters.

For many years, despite the good intentions of many organizations in the international community, whenever disaster struck, competition would often ensue between NGOs, and inefficiencies in providing aid would become a major problem.

In response to this, following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, The Sphere Project along with the U.N. and 400 other NGOs came together and created the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response handbook.  The handbook provides minimum performance guidelines and standards that must be met by NGOs working in a disaster area in order to be most effective.

  1. There are 6 internationally agreed upon core standards for disaster relief.

The Sphere Project created the six standards to serve as guidelines for how organizations should approach their humanitarian responses whenever they work in a disaster hit community. Adhering to the standards increases the chances that aid will be most effective and efficient. The standards are:

  • People-centered humanitarian response
  • Coordination and collaboration
  • Assessment
  • Design and response
  • Performance, transparency and learning
  • Aid work performance
  1. The best way to help victims of international disasters is not by collecting goods, but by giving financial donations.

Cash contributions allow relief organizations to purchase what is most needed – without transportation or storage costs added on. By providing a monetary donation, relief supplies can be bought near or at the disaster site, which decreases the time it takes for relief to reach the victims, while also stimulating the local economy. If cash is the preferred method for agencies, it is important that those contributing feel comfortable with the organization. Cash has a much greater impact than goods, so it is a vital part of relief efforts.

  1. Small or large, all donations make a difference

Even a small amount of money can help purchase life-saving antibiotics for disaster victims. In Haiti, $5 buys a life-saving course of antibiotics. In Zimbabwe, $10 provides regular healthcare for 90 people in one year. In Java, $50 provides 1-month food supply to volunteers rebuilding homes for earthquake victims.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: ICRC, PSAid, UN, Global Corps, Red Cross, Do Something, Encyclopedia.comDisasterium
Photo: Red Cross

,

Chiquita: Behind the Banana Republic

The banana company Chiquitawas founded in 1870 by Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker, and since then it has become the largest banana producer in the world. Underneath their popularity and production lies many controversies surrounding the company.

In 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer published a piece about Chiquita’s business practices, which included the company using illegal pesticides, destroying villages to use their land and even using their transport ships to smuggle cocaine.

The Cincinnati Enquirer later recalled the articles and announced they would pay more than $10 million to avoid being sued by the company. Whether or not their information was true and obtained legally is still under question.

In 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was sent into exile and a coup took place. John Perkins and other activists believed there was a link between Chiquita and the coup.

Recently, the company has been sued by about 4,000 Colombians, who stated that the United Self Defense Forces (AUC), a parliamentary group that has gained funding from Chiquita,  has killed many of their family members. Because of Chiquita’s association with the group and the group’s work, family members of the deceased want the company to take responsibility.

Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita gave $1.7 million to AUC, a group that the US and EU consider a terrorist organization, and has been held responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Colombians.

Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita gave $1.7 million to the United-Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, a group that the U.S. and EU consider a terrorist organization, and has been held responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Colombians.

Chiquita has already paid a $25 million fine for their work with the AUC, but it is also believed that they were paying a “banana bribe” in order to use their relationship with AUC to control Colombia’s banana industry.

“Chiquita has great sympathy for the Colombians who suffered at the hands of these Colombian armed groups, but the responsibility for the violent crimes committed in that country belongs to the perpetrators, not to the innocent people and companies they extorted,” said Chiquita spokesperson Ed Lloyd.

The United States Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the decision was “outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.”

While the company managed to escape the claims against them since their inception, with this new lawsuit gaining attention, it is hopeful that Chiquita will think twice before getting their hands dirty again.

– Courtney Prentice

Sources: BBC News, The Wire, Chiquita, Democracy Now!, Ethical Consumer, FundingUniverse, Gawker, NBC News
Photo: BBC News

,

7 Facts About the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act

Almost five years after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the United States Congress is using the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2014 to evaluate how U.S. funds are being used in reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

1. The legislation noted that conditions have not improved enough.

Although more than 90 percent of displaced people have been able to leave camps, around 171,974 people still remain in camps. On top of that, corruption is widespread, the business climate is not ideal, unemployment is high and the government is weak.

2. Aid has been slow to materialize.

The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has distributed only 31 percent of its reconstruction funds pledged to Haiti. The vision of thousands of new homes has not happened, which has forced earthquake victims to return to existing housing through a rental subsidy program. The June 2013 report by the GAO saw that goals were not being met and projects were very far behind.

3. The act gives Congress the power of monitoring assistance to Haiti.

The act allows Congress to supervise the $3.6 billion that has gone to Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act passed in the Senate 15 days earlier and it is awaiting President Obama’s signature to be signed into law.

4. The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2014 entails the U.S. Secretary of State submitting an annual report to Congress.

The legislation requires the U.S. Secretary of State to submit an annual report on the condition of development projects and earthquake recovery in Haiti, no later than December 31 each year, through December 31, 2017.

5. The bill was sponsored by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Nelson, like many others, has expressed fear about the transparency in United States foreign aid, and the slow distribution of aid in Haiti. The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act received bipartisan support and the House passed it with no objection.

6. The legislation was applauded by several groups.

The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act has received support from many groups such as the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), which provides financial aid to grassroots organizations and agencies in Haiti.

7. The act states that certain promises are to be met by Haiti’s government.

The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act specifically addresses “transparency, a market economy, rule of law, and democracy.” The bill emphasizes that the situation in Haiti does not depict improved conditions and that the country is far behind in reconstruction.

“In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, our government laudably committed a significant amount of aid to help Haiti rebuild, but a lack of transparency made it difficult to understand how U.S. government funds were being used and if recovery efforts were making progress and were being measured,” stated the president of American Jewish World Service, Ruth Messinger. She believes that the “legislation embodies a new commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance.”

Read more facts about the Haiti Earthquake.

– Colleen Moore

Sources: The Sentinel, McClatchy DC News
Photo: Washington Memo

, , , ,

Zachary Levi, Comic-Con Support Operation Smile

While many of the conversations about the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) have been about the latest updates and footage from some of the hottest movies, some of the guest panels were doing good deeds.

Zachary Levi, from the television show, Chuck, used the opportunity to entice the fans as well as raise funds for Operation Smile. Some of the “Conversations for a Cause” panels hosted by Levi’s company, The Nerd Machine, included Badass Women, the cast of Orphan Black, and a conversation with Nathan Fillion, among several others. Last year, Nerd HQ, an offshoot of The Nerd Machine, raised around $215,000 for Operation Smile and this year they beat previous fundraising efforts.

Operation Smile is a non-profit organization that helps to pay for cleft palate surgeries in underprivileged areas. The deformity has a high prevalence rate and cleft lip and palates can inhibit a child’s ability to eat, speak, hear and breathe. Unfortunately, like many disabilities, cleft palate is incredibly stigmatized and many people born with it have trouble finding employment.

While Nerd HQ has garnered a reputation for innovation and technology in the four years since its inception, it is also gaining a philanthropic name. Since its partnership with Operation Smile, the non-profit estimates that Nerd HQ has raised over $400,000 to pay for the surgeries.

With many of the attendees noting Nerd HQ’s “Conversations for a Cause” as one of the highlights of the Comic-Con. Over the past two years, attendance and donations have increased so hopefully next year Nerd HQ can continue to increase its philanthropic donations.

– Kristin Ronzi

Sources: The Nerd Machine
Photo: Zachary Levi Star

, ,

FotoKonbit: Stories Through Photography

To an outsider, Haiti is often synonymous with natural disaster and despair. FotoKonbit is determined, however, to show that Haiti’s society is much more rich and complex than its façade of poverty and turmoil. As a grassroots nonprofit organization, FotoKonbit is a photography workshop designed to give Haitians the freedom to tell their stories through images.

Popular media defines Haiti as a nation in crisis, which isn’t far off from the truth. According to the World Food Programme, even before the earthquake 1.9 million people were ‘food insecure,’ meaning they needed assistance to ward off hunger. Some 55 percent of the nation’s nine million people live below the poverty line of U.S. $1 a day.

Though the statistics are undeniable, the founders of FotoKonbit claim that while Haiti certainly faces challenges, it has a beautiful yet untold culture and history. They have thus made it their mission to ensure that this story is told.

In 2010, a group of American and Haitian educators, photographers and artists founded the organization. The project began in Northern Haiti with a group of adult participants, both men and women, from around the region. With a camera in hand, these citizens used skills acquired from the workshop to capture a story of their culture, still unexposed to the outside world. Noelle Therard, one of the founders, took students to various historical sites to snap photos of the grounds on which Haitian heroes fought for independence.

Since its establishment, FotoKonbit has worked with over one hundred students from nine different communities. They are currently working with five diverse communities: a group of adults in the southern agricultural town of Camp Perrin, adults in the fishing village of Labadie, children in the cities of Jacmel and Cap Haitien and a weekly class at the Zoranje school just outside of Port-au-Prince.

Photos taken by students have been featured on National Geographic’s Instagram account, an achievement that the founders did not foresee. However, this type of renowned coverage is exactly what the organization’s founders had envisioned. The stories of local villages, of Haitian fishermen and farmers, are now accessible to a global audience. With the power of social media, FotoKonbit has a bright future.

Images now have a certain potency that they never once had: they can reach millions of people around the globe within seconds. FotoKonbit is painting an alternative history of Haiti for the world to see – one that is indubitably stricken with poverty, but rich with a resilient population.

– Samantha Scheetz

Sources: Kickstarter, FotoKonbit, World Food Programme
Photo: Kickstarter

4 To-Dos While Congress is in Recess

With the end of one of its most unproductive sessions in history, the United States Congress began its five-week recess on August 1. The break – mandated by a 1970 law – means that many representatives will be returning to their home states to campaign and meet with locals.

Here are a few ways to take advantage of the next five weeks:

1. Try to Meet Your Congressmen

Today, many congressmen have a portal on their websites where constituents can request a meeting – usually two weeks in advance. It helps to focus on a specific issue and to meet the congressmen on behalf of, or with,  an organized group. Of course, this will be much more difficult if the congressman is up for election.

To maximize their outreach while on recess, politicians are finding other methods of meeting with voters, like Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California who will hold a town hall on August 16, or Congressman Kevin Yoder of Kansas who has held a series of telephone town hall forums.

2. Send an Email 

Depending on the issue, certain activist groups and charities have pre-written emails that require no more than the sender to fill in his or her name and address and click send. Groups like Amnesty International, Bread for the World and  The Borgen Project use the address information to determine the sender’s representatives and automatically connects the user to his/her congressional leaders’ contact information.

Senders can even personalize the message. The entire process can take 30 seconds or less. Send an email with The Borgen Project here.

3. Make a Quick Call

Congressional offices keep track of how many people call in and for what they request of the congressman. A 30-second phone call to an office, explaining you are a constituent and you wish the congressman to support a certain issue, will likely be filed under a call report.

If a congressman receives a high number of calls regarding an issue, he or she is likely to consider this in making a decision. Activists can program the phone number for the office in his or her phone and call on a weekly basis. It helps to know exactly what you plan to say before making the call. Encouraging friends and family to make the same call can increase support for a cause.

4. Advocate on Social Media

Following back-to-back presidential wins for President Barack Obama, many political experts pointed to the emergence of the social media presence as a major factor in the success of his campaigns. While several other factors also help explain his wins, the fact remains that one month out from the 2012 election, Obama led Governor Romney on Twitter by some 19 million followers and Facebook by over 21 million likes.

Similarly, members of Congress are attempting to use social media to their benefit, which provides constituents another venue through which to contact their congressmen. Sharing articles relating to your issue of choice not only informs your friends and followers, but also reminds your leaders to take action.

Even if you are not quite ready to start a movement, a small effort can spur big change.

– Erica Lignell

Sources: Time, Facebook 1, Facebook 2, Amnesty USA, Bread for the World, Iowa Food Systems Council, NY Times
Photo: Wikimedia

,

NGO Opportunities in Boston

While The Borgen Project and many other notable poverty-fighting organizations are situated in Seattle, opportunities to work for NGOs are everywhere. Across the country, Boston provides a metropolitan hub with a perfect atmosphere for encouraging global development. Here are just a few of the numerous NGO opportunities in Boston:

1. Grassroots International

Grassroots International makes its home on Boylston Street in Boston, and its mission is to create a more just and sustainable world by advancing people’s rights to the resources of land, food and water. The organization works in rural areas with small farmers, indigenous peoples and women focusing on human rights, the environment and sustainable agriculture. It accomplishes its goals through grant-making to financially support social movements, advocacy efforts in the U.S. and connecting various movements and organizations.

To become a part of the Grassroots International community, check out the jobs, internships and volunteer opportunities available on its website.

2. ACCION International

Working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S., ACCION International empowers people by providing them with economic opportunities through microfinance loans. ACCION is the largest micro-finance institution in the U.S. and is seeking to expand to under-served areas in India, China, Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa. ACCION believes in a “financially inclusive world,” which is the driving force behind its work to improve people’s lives.

If ACCION International sounds like the Boston-based NGO for you, visit its work and volunteer page.

3. BNID

The Boston Network for International Development recognizes Boston’s capacity as a center for fighting global poverty and encouraging international development. Sponsored by Boston University’s Global Development Program and World Education, the BNID connects the city’s various international development institutions, educational facilities and concerned individuals.

There are many ways to get involved with the BNID. Its jobs page lists open positions and internships, and the events page features various events and volunteer opportunities such as the upcoming Bikes Not Bombs bike loading for Ghana on August 10.

As a bonus, the BNID lists the organizations it works with, which you can peruse to discover even more NGO opportunities in Boston.

-Abby DeVeuve

Sources: Grassroots International, BNID, ACCION International
Photo: BostInno

 

View Telecommute and Seattle Internships.

Conflict in Nigeria Escalates

Churches and mosques alike have been burned in Nigeria’s most religiously segregated city, Jos. The key city in Nigeria’s middle belt, Jos splits the predominantly Muslim north from the primarily Christian south. Christian tribes receive preferred access to public education, government jobs and other benefits, even though Muslim tribes (deemed “settlers” to their Christian counterpoints, who are viewed as the state’s indigenous people) hold the same obligations, including paying tax and upholding state laws.

While discrimination across Nigeria takes another form in states where Christians are controlled by Muslims, the fight for religious dominance in Jos has quickly escalated. In 1994, a Hausa (a group of Muslim “settlers”) was appointed as Jos North local government chairman, catalyzing the religious conflict in Nigeria between the indigene, who were upset at a settlers’ appointment to office. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed since 2001 in the conflict.

Twenty years ago, Hajiya Badamasi, a practicing Christian, married her Muslim husband in the central city of Jos, where she later converted to Islam. Badamasi claims that, prior to Jos’ evolution as the epicenter of religious strife in Nigeria, religious identification hardly mattered. Now, as the fighting continues to increase between the indigene and settlers in what Human Rights Watch has described as “horrific internecine violence,” many agree Jos remains at a violent standstill.

Some attribute increasing conflict in Nigeria to the country’s wealth gap. In fact, violence and religious conflict in the country is not unique to the city of Jos alone. While Southern Nigerian states boast economic growth through multinational corporations, Northern states suffer extreme cases of poverty. Poverty in the North is perhaps exactly what makes the territory so susceptible to widespread attacks – most recently those perpetrated by Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group.

Around 1,505 Nigerian Christians have been killed so far this year by the extremist group Boko Haram. While the group kills Christians for their religious beliefs, their approach with Muslims is a bit different; according to claims, Muslims are killed for a “reason,” such as working for the government or refusing to pay the group extortion taxes. The group has killed almost as many Christians in seven months as were killed in all of last year.

While most claim these religious problems will not fully disappear until the constitution grants settling tribes equal rights, some Muslim leaders have voiced optimism toward the religious conflict. “I’m an optimist,” said Mohammed Hashir Saidu, a state government official. “People are getting more enlightened.”

Still, older Nigerian couples remember a time when Jos was home to acceptance of inter-religious families and people. “When my parents went to visit my wife’s parents, they were received wholeheartedly,” said Alhaji Abdulaziz Haruna, a 59-year-old Muslim who is married to a Christian. Now, just four decades later, the fate of similar couples seems much more bleak.

– Nick Magnanti

Sources: IBI Times, Yahoo News, Naharnet, BP News
Photo: Naharnet