Groups in Ghana are working to draft an affirmative action bill to put more women in government positions. The bill is aimed to help Ghana reach Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Although a draft has been submitted to the Attorney General, workshops are still being held to tweak the bill for Parliament.
A two-day validation workshop was being held in Koforidua, and 21 public servants and representatives of political parties worked, and continue to work, to improve the legislation. The bill is supported by the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Presently, only 10.9 percent of Parliament consists of female representatives. The affirmative action bill would call for quotas on women representatives. This is not the first time an African country has used this tactic to increase the amount of women in leadership positions.
Liberia recommended that political parties in the 2005 election choose 30 percent female nominees. While not law, the parties that did follow the recommendation had the largest numbers of women in the Legislature for that election. The Legislature consisted of 14 women out of 94 positions, but this number dropped to only nine when the quota was not enforced in 2011.
In Nigeria, the current administration has promised a 35 percent representation of women in government. This has yet to be reached, and at the national convention of the All Progressives Congress, only eight out of 46 positions on the national executive council fell to women. All of these positions involved the title of “women leader.”
Why do women leaders in these countries feel that affirmative action quotas are necessary to put more women in leadership roles?
Bernice Sam, a Ghanaian women’s activist, spoke at the national forum on gender equality and women’s rights, held by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre in Accra. She believes empowered women are necessary for growth, and that Ghana needs to work to empower women in these roles. She mentions the challenges faced by female politicians, despite legislation designed to allow them to run for office.
Women often do not have as much money as their male opponents, which is a major barrier. They also have higher levels of illiteracy, tied to less educational attainment and opportunity. Sam encourages all women to attain skills for civic leadership. These include public speaking, networking and the ability and confidence to motivate and mobilize others. To find this confidence, women also need more support from their spouses, along with faith in their own abilities.
They also just need knowledge. In Kenya, a large portion of women in rural areas do not know that the government requires 30 percent of all procurement in public service to be reserved for them. Rachel Ruto, the wife of the Deputy President of Kenya, called on women to pass along knowledge of their rights and powers to other women.
There is also an “old boys” network of political connections that impede women from entering the political sphere. Women tend to be ignored by incumbent male leadership.
Another issue is that women are required to balance their home and political lives. They are expected to take care of their families while also trying to run an underfunded, under-supported campaign.
Across Africa, there is a call for power structures to enable women to step into leadership positions. Simultaneously, there is a call for women to assert themselves into these positions. Despite these movements, parties are not encouraging women to run. Consequently, many women are taught that they are incompetent and unlikely to succeed in government.
Ghanaian leaders believe the affirmative action bill will provide a balance of allowing competent women to fill leadership positions, while assuring others that that they too can succeed. Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, assures that the bill does not aim to make women compete with men, but to ensure they have equal opportunity to pursue positions.
To Lithur, the bill is designed to give women and other minorities in the country a voice. It works in tandem with legislation to ban early and forced marriage, witchcraft and genital mutilation to empower women in Ghana.
The bill aims to help women and therefore, the country.
-Monica Roth
Sources: Ghana Web 1, Ghana Web 2, Ghana Web 3, KBC, Leadership, All Africa
Photo: InformGhana
World Food Program to Provide Food to Waziristan Refugees
As a result of the recent, escalating conflict in the northern part of Pakistan, the World Food Programme has rapidly scaled up their food distribution in the region. Since June 22, the World Food Program has given 15 day food rations to over 4,600 families in the Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts.
Since the start of the offensive, launched by the Pakistani military, at least 350,000 people have been displaced, with most of them fleeing to the nearby town of Bannu. Unfortunately there is only one refugee camp in Bannu, and it lacks the basic necessities like food, water, and sanitation. Government officials have been urging people to flee the region as soon as they can, but according to the government approximately 80 percent of the 7 million people that live in the Waziristan region still remain in the area. In addition to other problems that typically go hand in hand with refugee crises, children that have been fleeing from the region are at an especially high risk of catching and spreading infections diseases. In addition to this, there at least 200 militant deaths already recorded and, most likely, many more which haven’t.
According to the Disaster Management Authority located in the Waziristan area, only 36,000 families have registered as displaced. Because these are only families that have registered, even higher numbers have been estimated, and the number continues to climb as the conflict continues. The Government of Pakistan announced on June 22 that they would contribute an additional 25,000 tons of wheat to the World Food Program for distribution to those who have been affected by the conflict. USAID has also provided an additional $5.5 million USD to cover the cost of milling, fortifying, and distributing this wheat to those most in need. The food distributed by the World Food Program consists of fortified wheat flour, vegetable oil, iodized salt, and emergency rations of high-energy biscuits for children.
The World Food Program Country Direct in Pakistan, Lola Castro, recently released a statement on the issue: “We are working closely with the national and provincial authorities and civil society and our utmost priority is to provide food to all displaced people in the shortest possible time.” With any luck the World Food Program will be able to distribute this food to those who need it as soon as possible.
– Andre Gobbo
Sources: World Food Programme, The Borgen Project, BBC News
Photo: Wikimedia
Biosecurity and Global Health
The spread of infectious diseases is not only a threat to global health, but also to global security.
In recent years, diseases such as mad cow disease, avian flu, antibiotic-resistance tuberculosis and antibiotic-resistant malaria have spread around the world. In a global age, the spread of disease becomes very easy. Eradicating infectious diseases and establishing effective ways to combat their spread is becoming important to national security.
In February of this year, the President Obama began the Global Health Security Agenda. Led by the United States, this agenda is a collaboration of 30 countries that is seeking to establish a world that is not threatened by the spread of infectious diseases.
In order to reach the goal, the Agenda seeks to implement better systems of prevention, detection and response for infectious diseases around the world.
As part of prevention, the Agenda is creating laboratories around the world that are able to identify antimicrobial-resistant organisms, enhance biosecurity and biosafety, encourage the elimination of diseases spreading from animals to humans and improve access to vaccinations.
The Agenda is improving detection through improved biosurveilance and diagnostic tests and is also funding the placement of epidemiologists around the world.
In addition, the Agenda is working to set in place a coordinated response to any threats of infectious disease outbreaks.
Most of the efforts that organizations, such as the World Health Organization, are involved with laboratory practices. By providing safe and secure laboratories, much of the spread of infectious diseases is reduced. In addition, through increased training and education, many of the threats can be reduced.
Although biosecurity is often not a focus of national security, diseases can eradicate the human population as effectively as man-made weapons. By working to improve the resources available as well as improve worldwide practices of prevention, detection and response, much of the biosecurity risk can be eliminated.
– Lily Tyson
Sources: World Health Organization 1, World Health Organization 2
Photo: Science Media Centre
Sadili Oval Sports Academy Ignites Positive Change in Africa
Many nongovernmental organizations currently doing work in Africa utilize the power of sports to help positively shape the lives of those who live in poverty and slums across the continent. However, very few of these organizations are like the social enterprise that is the Sadili Oval Sports Academy. What makes the Academy so unique is that it offers underprivileged children from nearby slums the opportunity to develop their skills and potentially become a professional athlete.
Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Sadili Oval Sports Academy purchased the land they currently operate on in 1992, and after several years of development opened their doors to the public in 1998. The name “Sadili” comes from the Kiswahili term that roughly translates to “well-being,” which guides their current mission to this day. The indigenous, nonprofit and community-driven sports center utilizes the power of sports and education to empower youth to improve their lifestyles and and ensure a better future. Because the Academy borders the largest slum in Nairobi, Kibera, the Academy targets these children and caters its programs toward them. Currently, the Academy is the only place for these children to play sports.
Because the Sadili Oval Sports Academy is a unique social enterprise, it also contains a separate, for-profit branch. Thanks to this separate yet linked branch, the profit that comes from it is then used to help subsidize many of their non-profit programs.
The Academy also has a variety of programs, which includes the Slum Tennis Project (which is designed to help develop talent and potential professional athletes), Sports for Life, African Child Sport and Education Fund, and a Girl Power Club. Through focusing on vulnerable groups like the Kibera slum, the Academy has been able to reach 67 different secondary schools across the city of Nairobi.
Outside of sports, the Academy also has a distinct environmental focus. The land where the Academy currently stands was once a sewage area, which is part of why it took so long to develop and build the facilities. The buildings and gymnasium are constructed of recycled materials, and many of the programs offered by the Academy incorporate environmental themes.
Through capitalizing on the power of sports and instilling important lessons about lifestyle, the environment and leadership, the Sadili Oval Sports Academy has already made a difference in the lives of many and stands to do more of the same in the future.
– Andre Gobbo
Sources: SadiliE, Al Jazeera, Women Win
Photo: Tripadvisor
Ghana Drafts Affirmative Action Bill
Groups in Ghana are working to draft an affirmative action bill to put more women in government positions. The bill is aimed to help Ghana reach Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Although a draft has been submitted to the Attorney General, workshops are still being held to tweak the bill for Parliament.
A two-day validation workshop was being held in Koforidua, and 21 public servants and representatives of political parties worked, and continue to work, to improve the legislation. The bill is supported by the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Presently, only 10.9 percent of Parliament consists of female representatives. The affirmative action bill would call for quotas on women representatives. This is not the first time an African country has used this tactic to increase the amount of women in leadership positions.
Liberia recommended that political parties in the 2005 election choose 30 percent female nominees. While not law, the parties that did follow the recommendation had the largest numbers of women in the Legislature for that election. The Legislature consisted of 14 women out of 94 positions, but this number dropped to only nine when the quota was not enforced in 2011.
In Nigeria, the current administration has promised a 35 percent representation of women in government. This has yet to be reached, and at the national convention of the All Progressives Congress, only eight out of 46 positions on the national executive council fell to women. All of these positions involved the title of “women leader.”
Why do women leaders in these countries feel that affirmative action quotas are necessary to put more women in leadership roles?
Bernice Sam, a Ghanaian women’s activist, spoke at the national forum on gender equality and women’s rights, held by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre in Accra. She believes empowered women are necessary for growth, and that Ghana needs to work to empower women in these roles. She mentions the challenges faced by female politicians, despite legislation designed to allow them to run for office.
Women often do not have as much money as their male opponents, which is a major barrier. They also have higher levels of illiteracy, tied to less educational attainment and opportunity. Sam encourages all women to attain skills for civic leadership. These include public speaking, networking and the ability and confidence to motivate and mobilize others. To find this confidence, women also need more support from their spouses, along with faith in their own abilities.
They also just need knowledge. In Kenya, a large portion of women in rural areas do not know that the government requires 30 percent of all procurement in public service to be reserved for them. Rachel Ruto, the wife of the Deputy President of Kenya, called on women to pass along knowledge of their rights and powers to other women.
There is also an “old boys” network of political connections that impede women from entering the political sphere. Women tend to be ignored by incumbent male leadership.
Another issue is that women are required to balance their home and political lives. They are expected to take care of their families while also trying to run an underfunded, under-supported campaign.
Across Africa, there is a call for power structures to enable women to step into leadership positions. Simultaneously, there is a call for women to assert themselves into these positions. Despite these movements, parties are not encouraging women to run. Consequently, many women are taught that they are incompetent and unlikely to succeed in government.
Ghanaian leaders believe the affirmative action bill will provide a balance of allowing competent women to fill leadership positions, while assuring others that that they too can succeed. Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, assures that the bill does not aim to make women compete with men, but to ensure they have equal opportunity to pursue positions.
To Lithur, the bill is designed to give women and other minorities in the country a voice. It works in tandem with legislation to ban early and forced marriage, witchcraft and genital mutilation to empower women in Ghana.
The bill aims to help women and therefore, the country.
-Monica Roth
Sources: Ghana Web 1, Ghana Web 2, Ghana Web 3, KBC, Leadership, All Africa
Photo: InformGhana
Flooding in Paraguay
After intense rain, flooding in Paraguay has destroyed crops, destroyed homes, and blocked roads. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated so far, most of which are sleeping in improvised tents and makeshift settlements. Those most affected by the flooding are people living near the Paraguay and Paraná Rivers. The National Secretariat for Emergencies estimates that the level of the Paraguay River is likely to rise by another 3 inches in the next week.
President Horacio Cartes expresses his concern for his citizens and his determination to support everyone, saying, “We won’t be happy or satisfied as long as we’re going through this situation.”
The Paraguayan government has spent more than 3 million on food aid to assist the people affected by the flood.
Governor Carlos Silva stated Friday that the United Nations and Red Cross experts have evaluated the situation, and the International Federation for the Red Cross has already dedicated 275,000 Swiss francs through their Disaster Relief Emergency fund. The governor believes that aid from other countries will be sent soon as well.
The flooding in Paraguay has also affected Brazil and northern Argentina. In Brazil, 11 people have already died, and 560,000 people have been affected in some way. In North Argentina, in the province of Misiones especially, roads and bridges have been damaged, and thousands have been cut off from the rest of the world. In both locations the heavy rainfall is expected to continue.
In this particular region of South America, flooding is frequent, and similar intense flooding happened just last year, lasting for almost 2 months. In central and southern Chile, although a bit further away from the other region, is also being negatively affected by flooding
Flooding has become all too common in recent years, and scientists believe it is due to rising sea levels from global climate change. When sea levels rise globally, areas with rivers are more susceptible to flooding.
Although people in developing countries carry a smaller carbon footprint than those in developed ones, flooding and other natural disasters negatively affect the poor at a higher and more dangerous rate.
The lower quality of infrastructure, inadequate health care and the inability to recover from unexpected situations result in a similar disaster affecting the poor much more severely than the rich. In 1998, when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras, poor households lost 15%-20% of their assets, while the richer population only lost about 3%.
Another way flooding effects poor areas unequally is through the economy afterwards. In poorer populations, citizens rely on farming and tourism as two main sources of income. With massive amounts of flooding, both are likely to be damaged.
The flooding in Paraguay is expected to continue throughout this next week, and the full damage of the floods will not be known until it completely stops.
– Courtney Prentice
Sources: BBC News, The New York Times, USA Today, Floodlist, The Nature Conservancy, The Economist
Photo: Plus America
Mali’s Security Woes Lead to UN Help
The Security Council recently extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali by one year. The mission was established by the Security Council in April in an effort to bolster Mali’s state authority. That authority has been repeatedly tested by rebel factions in the country’s north which have seized a significant amount of control over communities in that region.
A ceasefire agreement mediated by the African Union has been in effect in Mali since ethnic Tuareg rebels launched assaults on government buildings, killing soldiers and government officials following a visit to the northern town of Kidal by new Prime Minister Moussa Mara. The attacks were a reminder of the violence which has gripped the nation in recent years.
In June of 2013 the Ouagadougon Agreement between Tuareg rebel groups from northern Mali and the government was signed with the African and European Unions serving as co-signees. The agreement allows the government’s army and administration to return to the region of Kidal which has been under the control of rebels since 2012 following a military coup. However, the agreement, like the ceasefire, has been tenuous at best, with the rebel group still wielding significant control over the country’s northern region.
In June 2013 French military intervention led to the defeat of Islamist groups controlling the North. It allowed for stability to return to the region, but that stability has remained fleeting.
Recently the United Nations announced that its peacekeeping forces in Mali will be using unmanned drones to gather useful information. This is similar to the drone operations already being utilized in Congo. So far, only 8,000 of the promised 12,000 UN peacekeeping troops have been deployed in Mali. The numbers are set to increase soon, but there is no doubt that an integral portion of Mali’s stabilization efforts remains unavailable.
An addendum to Mali’s security woes has been the recent announcement by the World Bank that they would be delaying $63 million in aid pending their inquisition into Mali’s government spending. The International Monetary Fund followed suit by delaying $6 million of its own aid money. This follows the government’s purchase of an expensive presidential jet despite the country’s significant budgetary restraints.
It has become clear that Mali is plagued by varying levels of instability. Over the coming months the U.N. will attempt to temper that instability and instill competence in the state’s operations. The results are yet to be seen.
– Taylor Dow
Sources: UN News Centre, ABC News, Reuters Africa, CBC News, Reuters
Photo: Almanar News
First 28 Days of Life
The first 28 days of life are the most fragile. Because newborns are especially delicate, many child deaths happen within the first 28 days of life. In 2007, out of 9.2 million infant deaths, 40 percent of the deaths were during the newborn stage.
Over half of child deaths occur during the newborn stage in developing countries, as most babies only live a few days after birth. Some of the main causes of early death are serious infections, prematurity, birth asphyxia (a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen, causing unconsciousness or death from suffocation) and congenital malformations.
Another major cause of early death is the health of the mother during pregnancy. Some specific examples that lead to early deaths in developing countries are a lack of attention to maternal health because they do not have care from proper skilled caretakers, the lack of knowledge about infant illnesses and the absence of proper birthing facilities.
A committee has been developed specifically for newborn health and development and aims to prevent newborn deaths. This committee is called Every Newborn: an action plan to end preventable deaths. The main partners involved in this community are WHO and UNICEF. Every Newborn (ENAP) is also working with governments who have recently made commitments to look into this issue and come up with solutions. ENAP works to develop solutions. Solutions range from a wide variety of aid to end preventable deaths in newborns and mothers. The committee claims they have the knowledge, power and skills to prevent two-thirds of newborn deaths.
ENAP’s mission is “a vision of a world in which there are no preventable deaths of newborns or stillbirths, where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth celebrated, and women, babies and children survive, thrive and reach their full potential.”
– Priscilla Rodarte
Sources: Every Newborn, Healthy Newborn Network, WHO 1, WHO 2 UNICEF
Photo: GW Hospital
5 Famous Refugees
June 20 marked the 65th World Refugee Day, described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as “a special day when the world takes time to recognize the resilience of forcibly displaced people throughout the world.”
The official definition of the term “refugee,” quoted from the 1951 Refugee Convention, states:
“A refugee is someone who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
While many associate this definition to the countless faces pictured in the midst of crisis, like the current situation in Syria, the term refugee can be applied to prominent figures that have made a significant change in our international history. Below are just five examples of famous refugees that have made a difference.
1. Albert Einstein
Profession: Scientist
Country of Origin: Germany
Country of Asylum: United States of America
Backstory: As a German Jew, Einstein was accused of treason and his books were thrown into Hitler’s bonfires. Finding it increasingly difficult to work in Nazi Germany, Einstein took a job at Princeton University in 1932 and gained United States citizenship. Despite having left Germany, Einstein and his wife continued to support the German Jews from abroad, making visa applications for refugees and later selling his 1905 research paper on special relativity, earning $6 million towards the war effort.
Quote: “I am privileged by fate to live here in Princeton,” Einstein wrote in a letter to the Belgian Queen. “In this small university town the chaotic voices of human strife barely penetrate. I am almost ashamed to be living in such peace while all the rest struggle and suffer.”
2. Frédéric Chopin
Profession: Composer
Country of Origin: Poland
Country of Asylum: France
Backstory: Chopin left his home country to advertise Poland’s fight, against the Russians, through music abroad. After leaving Warsaw for Vienna, the fighting broke out and Chopin was notified that he was longer welcome back in Poland.
Quote: “Oh, how hard it must be to die anywhere but in one’s birthplace.”
3. Madeline Albright
Profession: First Female U.S. Secretary of State
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Country of Asylum: United States of America
Backstory: Albright is unique in the fact that her family was forced to leave her home country on two separate occasions. The family fled to England when Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II and later fled Prague during the Communist takeover of 1948.
Quote: “My father had been in the Czechoslovakian Diplomatic Service. I was a refugee during World War II in England as a little girl and lived through the Blitz. I then went back and had a fairly glorious life as a daughter of an ambassador. And then all of a sudden we were again refugees and came to the (U.S.) with nothing.”
4. Sigmund Freud
Profession: Neurologist
Country of Origin: Austria
Country of Asylum: England
Backstory: Upon the Nazi army’s attack on Austria, Freud fled to London and became a refugee at age 84, after living in Austria for 79 years.
Quote: “Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.”
5. Henry Kissinger
Profession: 56th U.S. Secretary of State
Country of Origin: Germany
Country of Asylum: U.S.
Backstory: Kissinger did not publicly share much information about his experience as a refugee. However, it is known that Kissinger fled with this family to the U.S., escaping the Nazi regime in his homeland of Germany. Dr. Kissinger became a U.S. citizen in 1938 at age 15.
Quote: “When you see the mass exodus of people in war situations, or in genocidal situations, that magnifies my personal experience. But I think my personal experience creates an understanding and, I like to think, a sense of obligation to being sympathetic and supportive. So for all of these reasons I think helping refugees is something this country must do.”
– Blythe Riggan
Sources: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, History, Huffington Post, BrainyQuote, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Nobel Prize, International Rescue Committee
Photo: Colombo Telegraph
What Do We Really Know About Our Food?
The average person makes approximately 200 food-related decision per day. This statistic makes it seem as though food is one of the few things over which we have control. Or do we? While the choice is entirely up to each individual, do we always have all the knowledge necessary to make an informed decision?
Socially learning which foods are poisonous and which are nutritious was a crucial evolutionary step. But in the era of the grocery store, information about food is abundant and often confusing. What is more, food information provided by labels, the media or even so-called independent reviewers usually comes with ulterior motives.
According to Public Health Perspectives blogger, Beth Skwarecki, the concept of nutrition can be manipulated for marketing purposes or to even create a fear fad. Take, for example, the controversial topic of genetically modified organisms. There is so much information both against and for it that most of the information is more confusing than informative to consumers.
As a teacher of nutrition at a community college, Skwarecki says that it is important for people to develop their “baloney detectors.” Once you understand the science behind each topic, it is much easier to make an informed decision.
This method might work in developed countries, but what about people in poor countries? Residents of the industrialized world have better access to information, so that if someone takes the time to research the issue, he or she can make better food choices. But what about people in developing nations that depend on foreign aid to cover their most basic nutritional needs?
Low income and food insecure people are the most vulnerable to lack of nutrition. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, while substantial progress has been made over the last decade in agricultural practices, progress in nutrition and health of poor farmers and consumers in developing countries is still slow.
One of the strategies proposed is to increase access to nutritional food. However, this also means implementing educational programs that would allow people to understand where their food comes from, and where to find the most added-value nutrition.
So whether it is for people in advanced nations or in the developing world, one of the most important elements to nutrition is having access to correct information. In the end, this comes back to the most basic notion of having a say in what we eat, and how we allow the content of our food to impact our lives.
-Sahar Abi Hassan
Sources: Public Health Perspectives, International Food Policy Research Institute
Photo: The World Bank
Drowning Prevention in Vanuatu
Vanuatu, an archipelago northeast of Australia in the South Pacific, has a geography, culture and death rate shaped by water. The island nation’s residents frequently travel between the 83 islands to visit friends, attend schools and fish. But this comes with risks; residents have been prone to water-related accidents, notably death by drowning.
The fact may seem surprising (island dwellers don’t know how to swim?), but it makes some amount of sense; water is so completely integrated into Vanuatuan daily life that there are bound to be accidents. It’s the equivalent of car crashes in the United States. This does not mean, however, that the 40 percent of accidental deaths caused by drowning should be ignored, or even taken for the norm.
Instead, volunteers have answered the outcries of Vanuatuan businesses and communities who feel increased precaution is necessary. Heading the charge is Nancy Miyake, an American expatriate and swim instructor who has begun a three-month trial of a new swim course. And she’s not the only one speaking up.
Martin Wilke, a volunteer lifesaver, will spend the next 18 months as a Drowning Prevention and Education Officer in Vanuatu. His program, emphasizing government and administrative obligation to drowning prevention, is made possible by the Red Cross Australian Volunteer for International Development program. It is also supported by Surf Life Saving, a multifaceted Australian movement providing lifeguarding services.
In Vanuatu, until recently, there were no strategies to prevent drowning, few life preservers on boats and no organized swimming lessons. “There are children who have died,” Ms. Anis, a Vanuatuan mother of four, laments, “they’ve drowned because they aren’t able to swim.” Many instances of drowning, however, aren’t even reported. Anika Wright, a volunteer surf lifesaver in Vanuatu, believes that this is because “people see drowning and water-based deaths as black magic.”
To prevent deaths such as these, and to prevent superstition from interfering with safety, Miyake and other volunteer lifesavers will target children. They are the most vulnerable to water-related accidents and, Miyake hopes, will in adulthood become advocates for water safety and volunteer swim instructors themselves. The trial that is now being established may grow into a self-perpetuating system; this kind of system is what aid looks like at its finest.
Her lessons are administered in local languages and with local materials. Twice a week, children come to learn floating techniques, practice the basic strokes and instill confidence in each other. The water shouldn’t be anything to fear – if it were, Vanuatuan culture wouldn’t look like it does today. Swimming instruction is now taking place in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. Meanwhile, Martin will collaborate with the Vanuatu Surfing Association.
-Adam Kaminski
Sources: Surf Life Saving Australia, Australia Network News, BBC
Photo: International Surfing Association