Historically, cricket in Tanzania has not been a sport played by the nation’s indigenous population. Those with backgrounds from countries with strong cricket programs, such as India and the United Kingdom, traditionally dominated the sport. That demographic has been changing, however, ever since 1999 when Zully Rehemtulla, chairman of the Tanzania Cricket Association, and former player Kazim Nasser became set on bringing cricket to all Tanzanians.
In the initial stages, Rehemtulla estimates that only about 150 people in Tanzania played cricket. He and Nasser decided that it was unacceptable for the sport to not permeate the majority of the country and started to focus their attention on bringing the sport to schools in Dar es Salaam, the capital.
Since then, and after about a century of non-indigenous participation in cricket, the sport has taken off, with Rehemtulla estimating that roughly 15,000 people now play in Tanzania. In August 2013, the International Cricket Council ranked the men’s Tanzanian team at 30th in the world.
Women in Tanzania have joined the game too. Though the Tanzanian women’s cricket team was eliminated from the last two World Cups early into qualification rounds, women’s participation has increased significantly.
Rehemtulla and Nasser state that they run into many barriers, due to Tanzania being one of the most impoverished nations in the world, when attempting to boost the participation of adolescent girls in cricket.
Moreover, they state that when girls become teenagers in Tanzania, their families put pressure on them to get jobs and contribute to family income. In order to offset this hurdle, the pair began offering services to girls who wanted to start playing cricket. They offered housing, HIV and malaria awareness classes, as well as, of course, cricket coaching to make them better players and in the future, effective coaches themselves.
The results of this program were very successful, with women not only continuing to play cricket, but also with many attending universities and maintaining lucrative jobs. Nasser and Rehemtulla report that many of the girls in the program are now financially comfortable and can make up to five times as much as low-wage workers in Tanzania.
Nasser explains that he and Rehemtulla have gotten to know the girls in the program and can serve as mentors and aid in their future development.
“We have spent five years with them so we try to do what is best for them. We train them so they get employment instead of going to work as house maids.” Furthermore, he states, “We as an association tried to give them classes and pay the school fees. We tried our best to help them to ensure they have better lives in the future.”
Cricket is also growing in other African nations. There has, for instance, been increased financial investment in cricket programs, including plans to build a new cricket stadium in Rwanda, largely to support the development of its new women’s team. Cricket has already become the second most popular sport in South Africa, whose men’s team, the Proteas, is globally competitive and whose amateur women’s team is gaining recognition.
Though the Tanzanian women’s team has not made it to the cricket World Cup, Tanzania has participated in a World Cup event. In 1975, Tanzanian athletes competed as a part of an East Africa team that included Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.
Tanzania is still far from achieving its goal of having premier, globally-recognized cricket teams, but with programs supporting female athletes and an increased investment in cricket and cricketers, one day Tanzania could prove its athletic prowess.
– Kaylie Cordingley
Sources: BBC Sport, AllAfrica
Photo: BBC News
New Programs in Tanzania Support Women’s Cricket
Historically, cricket in Tanzania has not been a sport played by the nation’s indigenous population. Those with backgrounds from countries with strong cricket programs, such as India and the United Kingdom, traditionally dominated the sport. That demographic has been changing, however, ever since 1999 when Zully Rehemtulla, chairman of the Tanzania Cricket Association, and former player Kazim Nasser became set on bringing cricket to all Tanzanians.
In the initial stages, Rehemtulla estimates that only about 150 people in Tanzania played cricket. He and Nasser decided that it was unacceptable for the sport to not permeate the majority of the country and started to focus their attention on bringing the sport to schools in Dar es Salaam, the capital.
Since then, and after about a century of non-indigenous participation in cricket, the sport has taken off, with Rehemtulla estimating that roughly 15,000 people now play in Tanzania. In August 2013, the International Cricket Council ranked the men’s Tanzanian team at 30th in the world.
Women in Tanzania have joined the game too. Though the Tanzanian women’s cricket team was eliminated from the last two World Cups early into qualification rounds, women’s participation has increased significantly.
Rehemtulla and Nasser state that they run into many barriers, due to Tanzania being one of the most impoverished nations in the world, when attempting to boost the participation of adolescent girls in cricket.
Moreover, they state that when girls become teenagers in Tanzania, their families put pressure on them to get jobs and contribute to family income. In order to offset this hurdle, the pair began offering services to girls who wanted to start playing cricket. They offered housing, HIV and malaria awareness classes, as well as, of course, cricket coaching to make them better players and in the future, effective coaches themselves.
The results of this program were very successful, with women not only continuing to play cricket, but also with many attending universities and maintaining lucrative jobs. Nasser and Rehemtulla report that many of the girls in the program are now financially comfortable and can make up to five times as much as low-wage workers in Tanzania.
Nasser explains that he and Rehemtulla have gotten to know the girls in the program and can serve as mentors and aid in their future development.
“We have spent five years with them so we try to do what is best for them. We train them so they get employment instead of going to work as house maids.” Furthermore, he states, “We as an association tried to give them classes and pay the school fees. We tried our best to help them to ensure they have better lives in the future.”
Cricket is also growing in other African nations. There has, for instance, been increased financial investment in cricket programs, including plans to build a new cricket stadium in Rwanda, largely to support the development of its new women’s team. Cricket has already become the second most popular sport in South Africa, whose men’s team, the Proteas, is globally competitive and whose amateur women’s team is gaining recognition.
Though the Tanzanian women’s team has not made it to the cricket World Cup, Tanzania has participated in a World Cup event. In 1975, Tanzanian athletes competed as a part of an East Africa team that included Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.
Tanzania is still far from achieving its goal of having premier, globally-recognized cricket teams, but with programs supporting female athletes and an increased investment in cricket and cricketers, one day Tanzania could prove its athletic prowess.
– Kaylie Cordingley
Sources: BBC Sport, AllAfrica
Photo: BBC News
Poverty in France Has Been Overlooked
More than just the illustrious Eiffel Tower looms over France. The land of crepes and Albert Camus is also the land of prevailing poverty. At 40 percent of the average standard of living, two million French residents sustain themselves with 645 euros, or $873.85 per month after accounting for social benefits. For individuals who make less than 977 euros, the minimum living income in France, it is difficult to accommodate daily needs.
Furthermore, 3.6 million French residents rely on some form of social assistance to varying degrees. Approximately 1.4 million recipients of social assistance report aid from the Revenu de Solidarité Active (RSA,) a French social welfare program in which an eligible individual receive, as of January 2014, receives a maximum allocation of 499.31 euros, or $676.47 per month.
Additionally, 3.5 million residents report relying on food aid, such as food packages, vouchers, and charity meals, according to the National Council of Food. Over a third of the individuals who rely on food aid receive assistance through the Secours Populaire, a non-profit French organization that aims to mitigate poverty in France and poverty in the world.
The Secours Populaire typically lends aid through the form of emergency food, clothing, and shelter. However, 1.8 million individuals (these individuals may overlap with the previously-stated 3.5 million who rely on food aid) report being unable to have a full meal at least once a day at some point within the past two weeks.
According to the French food-aid charity Secours Catholique, 31 percent of its aid recipients are single mothers, even though single mothers only comprise eight percent of households in France. However, in the past, single men and single mothers made up the majority of France’s poor, but due to global economic crises, France has seen an increase in the number of poor families.
Although poverty has declined in France since the 1990’s, a substantial amount of the French population remains economically stagnated, relying on social welfare and housing assistance. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is appalling how such a disproportionate amount of the population struggles to make an adequate income.
– Phoebe Pradhan
Sources: Secours Populaire, Palgrave, Inequality Watch
Photo: BookFHR
Farm Bill Legislation Preserves Income Inequality
One of the most relevant issues in modern America is the overwhelming level of income inequality. The Barack Obama administration plans to establish 2014 as a ‘year of action’ and hopes to address the pressing issue of income inequality substantially.
Currently, 66% of Americans believe the government ought to take action to narrow the gap between upper and lower economic classes.
In addition to harming the middle and lower classes of society, income inequality also has a significant impact on federal debt. As more people move from the middle class to the lower class, federal welfare spending increases to accommodate, which contributes to the United States’ already tremendous debt.
However, bipartisan legislation has already been brought up that may do more harm to lower classes. Revisions made to the Farm Bill—“a five-year congressional funding program for agriculture and hunger programs”—will result in an $8.7 billion funding cut to food stamps for Americans over the next 10 years. The food stamp program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) aids one in seven people.
The Farm Bill revisions additionally secure government subsidies to Koch industry subsidiaries in biomass and exempts chemical runoffs from forestry sites from government regulation under the Clean Water Act. Lobby reports indicate that Koch industry lobbyists were heavily influential in the Farm Bill legislation.
The funding cuts are expected to impact 850,000 American households through the next decade. Unfortunately, the congressional measure also comes after a $5 billion reduction to the food stamp program on November 1, 2013.
The lower income populations of Pennsylvania and New Jersey are two of many states that anticipate significant harm. In Pennsylvania, “roughly 175,00 households will lose an average of $65 a month,” which can be particularly devastating for the poor. A source quotes, “In New Jersey, an estimated 157,000 households will have their benefits cut.”
The Farm Bill legislation, signed by Obama, arrives surprisingly shortly after his recent declarations of action towards income inequality. It continues to subsidize large agricultural corporations at the expense of lower income individuals and will expect to provide difficulties for food stamp recipients over the course of the next decade.
– Jugal Patel
Sources: Philly, Huffington Post, ABC News, CNN, The Nation
Photo: RI Future
The Launch of the Philomena Project
The story of Philomena Lee, an Irish woman forced to give up her son for adoption over 50 years, was the inspiration for an Oscar-nominated film this year. The film, “Philomena,” stars Dame Judi Dench and depicts Lee’s search for her son that leads her to the United States.
On January 24, Lee launched the Philomena Project in Dublin, Ireland to campaign for the release of over 60,000 adoption files currently in the possession of the state, churches and private agencies. In Ireland, adoption was sometimes forced on unmarried mothers and neither child nor mother was given information on the identity or whereabouts of the other.
Lee was single and pregnant at the age of 18 and was sent to a home for unmarried mothers in Roscrea, Ireland run by the Catholic Church when Lee was forced into the adoption of her 3-year-old son, Anthony. When he was taken, she had no idea that he in fact had been sold by the abbey to an American couple.
Lee tried to get information about Anthony, but was not given any indication of where he was sent after his adoption. Anthony, in turn, went looking for his mother in Ireland many years later but was told by the abbey that his mother had left him.
Lee’s story brought attention to this reprehensible practice and after the film’s success, Lee joined forces with the Adoption Rights Alliance. Lee said that she and her daughter decided to found The Philomena Project after receiving such a large amount of responses to her story.
The Philomena Project seeks to get these previously withheld adoption files released, ones that prevent any mother and child who wish to be reunited from doing so.
Susan Lohan, co-founder of the Adoption Rights Alliance, has said Lee’s story has effectively “woken up many people to the crimes committed against thousands of unmarried mothers and their children under the guide of so-called legal adoption.”
Lohan has additionally vowed to end toleration of Ireland’s “deny ‘til we die” strategy and has named the state, private agencies and representatives of the Catholic Church as being in possession of information that people could use to find their natural families.
The Philomena Project hopes to have the Irish Government bring in legislation that would make the thousands of withheld files available to anyone who wants to find either their natural mother or child.
The backers of the Philomena Project have additionally asked the Catholic Church to cooperate with them and also plan on lobbying politicians in both Britain and the United States.
The project has also found support in Maeve O’Rourke, a lawyer from London, well-known for her campaigning for victims of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries.
O’Rourke has said that “the right of a child to preserve her identity and family relations without unlawful interference is today recognized internationally, and without hesitation, as a basic human right.”
Lee has also expressed her “hope that this effort will help us find solutions that ensure every mother and child who wants to be reunited are able to come together once again.”
– Julie Guacci
Sources: BBC, The Irish Post
Photo: The Independent
The Choir that Empowers Orphans
Ugandan orphans sing their stories and hope for a brighter future.
The worshipers in Kent’s Hextable Church last Sunday were dazzled by the performance of the Watoto Children’s Choir. The Choir comprises of Ugandan children who have all lost their parents through war or disease and have been taken in by the Watoto Child Care Ministries.
The program was started in 1994 by Gary Skinner and his family, who had moved to Uganda 14 years earlier to build a church in Kampala, the country’s capitol. After meeting a 79-year-old widow who had lost her husband, lost six of her children to AIDS and who was now watching her last daughter die of the same disease, Skinner was compelled to start a program that would not only harbor orphans, but educate and support them as future leaders.
The Watoto model for raising these children includes physical care, medical intervention including HIV/AIDS treatment and trauma counseling, both a formal and technical education and spiritual guidance: “We exist to raise the next generation of African leaders, by pursuing excellence in academic and practical skills, integrity in conduct and moral values, so that each one becomes a responsible Christian and a productive citizen.”
The choir is comprised of 18 children and young adults who sing, dance and tell the audience about themselves and their experiences traveling with the choir. The group has been all over the world, performing in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Australasia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, South America, Hong Kong, China and Japan. With four CDs out and a growing fan base, the group spreads awareness and generates funding for their fellows back in Uganda.
Jerry McQuay, a U.S. pastor who sponsored a performance from the group wrote, “The choir itself will steal your heart with their music, dance and stories, and when you hear the holistic approach that Gary and Marilyn Skinner are using, you’ll see how you can be a part of truly changing a nation.”
– Lydia Caswell
Sources: Watoto, This is Local London
Photo: Watoto
Sean Penn and Fellow Celebrities Help Haiti Home
Sean Penn is best known for portraying the cult character Spicoli in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” as well as his Academy Award winning roles in “Mystic River” and “Milk.” Penn has also been known for his humanitarian efforts, and over the years, he has yet to slow down.
Recently, Penn hosted the Help Haiti Home Gala in Beverly Hills’ Montage Hotel, where he helped raise $6 million for his charity, the J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Celebrities in attendance included Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, Anderson Cooper, Chris Hemsworth, Goldie Hawn and rumored girlfriend Charlize Theron.
Founding the origination in 2010, Penn acts as the Chief Executive Office Chairman of the Board of the J/P Haitian Relief Organization where he has conducted the Help Haiti Home Gala for its third annual year. J/P Haitian Relief Organization primary focus includes striving for improved medial aid, protection, and re-location of internally displaced persons (IDP) across the globe. The J/P Haitian Relief Organization has organized many camp management sites for thousands of IDP’s across the Haiti region.
The Help Haiti Home Gala also included a surprise guest appearance by U2 which saw Bono and his fellow band members perform such songs as “Vertigo” and “Desire” for the first time in four years. There were a plethora of various donations which were auctioned at the gala including a $1.4 million sculpture made out of discarded firearms which was purchased by CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin also donated to the cause by outbidding Charlize Theron for a $650,000 Banksy art piece.
Penn was in high spirits following the event where he told People Magazine, “This town has been very supportive of me and, more importantly, what our organization is doing in Haiti. I got a lot of gratitude and no complaints.”
Since the inception of the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, Penn and company have built a tent city on a golf course which has served as a temporary home to nearly 60,000 people. Of those people, nearly 80 percent of them have successfully returned homed, a primary goal of the organization. Penn’s organization has also provided educational, health, community development, and other economic opportunities for many Haitian citizens and continues to do so today.
– Jeffrey Scott Haley
Feature Writer
Sources: Haitian Relief Organization, M Starz, Crowdrise
Photo: The Accidental Activist
The United Kingdom’s Hidden Poor
The United Kingdom is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It boasts Europe’s second biggest economy after Germany. It also has a $2.313 trillion dollar GDP according to the CIA’s 2012 World Fact book website estimations. Given these statistics, the recent announcement that the U.K. suffers from almost untold amounts of deprivation in its society due to both financial and economic insecurities comes as a surprise.
The University of Bristol recently published a report which paints an extremely dark picture of life in the United Kingdom. According to the study, over half of the U.K.’s population is suffering from some type of financial trouble. The study also reported that about 5.5 million adults in the U.K. go without some types of essential clothing; in addition, four million children and adults are not fed properly by today’s standards.
The Trussell Trust, which is the largest provider of food banks in Great Britain, issued a report in which they said more than 350,000 people went to their various food banks for help in the past year, which, according to their figures, is almost triple the number of people that required food aid in 2012.
The Guardian published a report by a charity in the U.K. known as 4Children, which reported more than half of Britain’s poor children reside in homes that are cold or not heated. Also, more than 55 percent of the children surveyed stated that they felt embarrassment over the fact that their family was not well off, and 14 percent had experienced some sort of bullying as a result.
These types of numbers are indeed surprising from one of the richest and most well off countries in the world. The study by the University of Bristol also found that living conditions for the U.K.’s hidden poor have indeed slid backwards. The study showed that one-third of British households could not afford to adequately heat their homes in the winter of 2012 and that the number of homes that could not afford to adequately heat the living areas of their homes is at a record high of nine percent.
There was also an extreme lack of adequate food for children noted in the study. The study noted that over half a million children live in homes that cannot adequately feed them. The Guardian also reported that the “squeezed-middle” families with two children need to earn over $37,000 pounds per year in order to meet what the public deems as the lowest ordinary acceptable living standards.
Great Britain is one of the most wealthy, powerful, and influential countries in the world, but if it does not begin to seriously examine those families who fall through the cracks in the welfare system, the U.K. will begin to suffer the effects. These families are the ones who work but still are unable to make end meet at the end of the month. They are hidden because they do not fall into a definable category and thus get left behind by the welfare state.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: Bristol university, The Guardian Society Section, CIA, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Mirror
Poverty in Scotland
Poverty in Scotland is worse than it has been for the past 30 years. According to a Breadline Britain Poverty and Social Exclusion report, 29 percent of Scots are unable to afford three or more basic necessities for living (things like food, water, shelter, and clothing).
A spokeswoman for Glasgow University (which helped to fund the report) said: “For a significant and growing proportion of the population, living conditions and opportunities have been going backwards. Housing and heating conditions in particular have deteriorated rapidly.”
The report found that 8 percent of Scots could not afford to heat the living areas of their homes, and 16 percent of children in Scotland live in a home which is either damp or ineffectively heated. Commonly known as fuel poverty, those affected are unable to keep adequately warm at a reasonable price, and are often forced to spend more than ten percent of their household income on fuel for heating.
“These findings paint a very bleak picture of life for large numbers of people living in low- income households in Scotland today,” said Nick Bailey, a senior urban studies lecturer at Glasgow University.
It is such a crucial issue that the Scottish government has sworn to eradicate it by 2016, or else risk more citizens falling into lifestyles of poverty.
Enter Knowes Housing Association: a company that decided to help fight this growing problem. 350 homes at risk of fuel poverty in the city of Clydebank were supplied with solar PV installations by Edison Energy. Also known as photovoltaic systems, the devices use solar energy to supply usable electric power for a large amount of purposes.
Part of a £2 million energy improvement program for the housing association over the next two years, the solar arrays will generate a revenue stream for the housing association through the associated feed-in-tariff payments. Local installer Edison Energy plans to offer aftercare, financing and maintenance support during the lifetime of these payments.
“In a climate of escalating uncertainty over traditional energy supplies and concern about potential price hikes, it is important to emphasize the vital role that solar PV is already playing – and will continue to play – as part of the renewable energy mix, helping to stave off the threat of fuel poverty in areas hardest hit by the challenging economic circumstances of recent years,” said Richard Rushin, a sales manager for Trina Solar, a company that supplied 4,000 pieces of equipment for the project.
KHA, Edison Energy, and Trina Solar plan to continue working together to create and maintain high-quality projects like this one, in order to help those in danger of fuel poverty in the UK.
“Our relationship with Trina Solar has allowed us to develop a sustainable energy solution using market-leading solar technologies, resulting in lower operations and maintenance costs. It is critical to our business model that we have established relationships with our supply partners to ensure that we work together to deliver a consistently high-quality product, in terms of both system performance and maintenance,” said Fraser MacKenzie, Business Development Director at Edison Energy.
The improvements are expected to deliver annual energy bill savings of £70,000.
– Samantha Davis
Sources: Herald Scotland, Scotland.gov, Solar Power Portal
Photo: STV News
China’s Bird Flu on the Rise
Health officials have reported 73 cases of people infected with H7N9 in China this January, making the total in the country 221.The bird flu initially infected domestic chickens and ducks back in 2013 but has now caused 57 human deaths. There have been few reported cases of the virus spreading from person to person and a WHO official suggests that it mainly circulates due to the present cold winter.
So far, the virus has not mutated but the WHO remains cautious due to increased travel by the millions for the Chinese New Year. The virus has already spread a large distance, further south and east to the Guangdong province. A WHO official suggests that the virus might be seasonal or possibly linked to the increased exposure to poultry as the nation prepares for the New Year.
Approximately 3.6 billion trips are estimated to occur during this holiday and this is dangerous due to the millions who will be purchasing or receiving poultry as gifts.
Humans acquire the virus when they are in close proximity to infected poultry, so anyone could potentially contract it at the street markets or just as easily at home during food preparations. Billions of Chinese will be traveling in trains or buses alongside their chickens for the two week holiday, which could possibly lead to more outbreaks.
Several health officials are worried about H7N9 because this strain does not make infected birds sick, so both farmers and customers are unaware of the danger. Other flu strains lead to the virus being released in feces while H7N9 is breathed out by the infected birds. The first H7N9 cases first reported in Shanghai last March but since then another 200 people became infected.
Transmission has occurred by family clusters versus person to person and scientists have discovered that it is due to genetic markers that allow easier infection to mammals.
People who become infected have severe flu symptoms such as high fever and respiratory problems. Many also have shortness of breath, muscular pain, and even pneumonia. Currently, there is no evidence that suggests that this virus may mutate and spread around the globe since reports don’t suggest simple human to human transmission.
Chinese authorities are investigating more cases because several reports suggest contaminated environments can also infect humans. Fear remains until the holiday is over as increased travel could lead to the virus mutating and quickly pass between people. The WHO remains vigilant for any mutations and does not advise travel.
– Maybelline Martez
Sources: USA Today, BBC, ABC News
Photo: Once Upon a Time
#GlobalPOV
Everyone can help end global poverty, even Twitter. #GlobalPOV was created by the Blum Center for Developing Economies at University of California, Berkeley. The Global Poverty Project started by students working with the Blum Center thought of using a hashtag to trend topics surrounding global poverty. The students wanted to get people thinking, reading, and writing about concepts related to global poverty and what causes it as well as how it can be resolved.
Some hashtags are just fact or comments about the world’s poor. Some topics are news headlines about natural disasters and relief efforts across the globe. They include links to charities and organizations that are providing aid to victims of the disaster, and ways everyone can contribute.
#GlobalPOV can follow a post about an article detailing events in other countries related to politics and foreign aid. One tweet talks about social entrepreneurship ending global poverty with a link to Forbes Magazine cover photo of Bono and Bill Gates, two high profile charity donors. Another tweet links a YouTube video that describes how people become dependent on welfare in different societies.
The great thing about Twitter is that using the #GlobalPov phrase in the search bar connects audiences to a wealth of links and information that they can browse on their own time.
The best part of the Global Poverty Project, besides the impact it makes on the lives of poverty victims, is the convenience of spreading the word. One button can share the tweet with potential hundreds of followers. No one has to tediously search through different websites for the information since it is directly accessed via the link.
Richard C. Blum is the founder of the Blum Center at Berkeley. He is also the founder of the American Himalayan Foundation that helps provide food and education to people living in the Himalayas. Mister Bloom serves as a board member today and as the Honorary Consul of Nepal. His dream to help people has touched people all across the world. Starting the Blum Center at Berkeley University was intended as a place to bring together people of all different experiences and backgrounds to help those struggling with poverty.
Brainstorming, education, business, technology, and more are subjects that students working at the Blum Center use to help solve poverty across the globe. Their Global Poverty Project continues to grow with the hashtag #GlobalPOV, which can also be read as Global Point-of-View. This project challenges readers to act against widespread misconception and become educated about the issues facing people today.
Anyone can log onto Twitter.com right now and tweet about global poverty, or search for the hashtag and start reading.
– Kaitlin Sutherby
Photo: AIIA
Sources: Himalayan Foundation, Wall Street Journal