If a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom-tailored map which can be manipulated to display the interactions between multiple selected variables must be worth entire books. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides this power to the user who understand the language of the software, and this power is especially important to development and aid organizations seeking to maximize their impact.
Unlike conventional cartography, GIS software can exploit social, economic, political, and environmental data to create an image which can then be layered onto the topographic landscape in any way the user desires. The relations between layers, and between data within layers, can then be presented to the viewer in a way that draws attention to the important facts.
This differs fundamentally from the report by presenting information visually, without losing depth in the way that a chart or graph flattens the ethnographic depth of the actual survey informing it.
Geospatial analysis has been used primarily for military purposes in the past, but that situation is already evolving. USAID is deploying geo-analysts in almost every program to give its staff the most useful information possible, going so far as to institute its own geospatial arm, to ensure the best possible use of the existing technology. The United Nations is on a similar path.
A software which was once esoteric and difficult to manage – akin to prototypical PC operating systems – has been streamlined and aestheticized so that with less than a year’s training, anyone can masterfully manage multiple databases with thousands of streams of data into coherent maps.
As with any form of communication and representation, there is a danger of misrepresentation and error. Factors can be ignored or manipulated to produce maps that do not mirror reality, or that fail to bring attention to critical factors. Even if the map is sound, it can still be misused by those with ulterior motives or simple incompetence.
As with all analysis, GIS relies entirely on a substrate of reliable data from which to extrapolate conclusions. Unlike polls, however, GIS data does not require a ‘boots on the ground’ approach – though this can be useful. For many applications, remote sensing, satellite imagery, and tomography are sufficient, meaning that, in many situations, the difficulties of other analytical approaches are evaded.
What is more, with cloud computing becoming nearly universal, a global GIS network, shared by all development agencies, would perpetuate a system whereby an up-to-date cartographic representation of reality would be accessible to those seeking to capitalize on its wealth of information, thereby bridging the gap between those who are able and willing to help – but lack an idea of where to begin or what needs doing – and those who require assistance. GIS transcends language barriers, enabling global cooperation and understanding to tackle pressing issues. In that way, GIS is becoming the universal language of development.
– Alex Pusateri
Sources: Directions Mag, Esri
Gift Ideas that Help the Poor
As the holiday seasons quickly approaches everyone is starting to brows stores and write shopping lists for their friends and families. This year take a few moments to consider an alternative gift list for your loved ones. There are some innovative organizations that make donation gifts a lot more fun. Instead of giving classic material gifts like scarves or chocolates to your family you can help families struggling with hunger and poverty around the globe.
Heifer International Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty. When American Dan Heifer worked as an aid worker during the Spanish Civil War he realized that distributing cups of milk to the hungry was only a temporary solution. He thought to himself “why not give them a cow?” This is the philosophy that drives Heifer International.
Their holiday gift catalog titled “The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World” allows individuals the chance to give a very meaningful gift to those on their list. In the catalog you can chose from a variety of options including donating an animal, providing women with empowerment, supporting sustainable farming, or providing families with basic necessities. Here are some of the great gifts you can give:
1. Heifer – $500 (full) or $50 (share)
2. Sheep – $120 (full) or $10 (share)
3. Bountiful Harvest Basket – $72
4. Gift of Irrigation Pumps – $150
5. Launch a Small Business – $365
World Vision World Vision has a similar program called the “World Vision Gift Catalog” that allows people to give gifts that aid people living in poverty both in the United States and globally. They have a large assortment of gifts ranging from emergency aid to care for orphans and widows. Some of their most popular gifts are:
1. Goat and Two Chickens – $100
2. $350 Worth of Medicine – $35
3. Hope for Sexually exploited Girls – $35
4. $250 worth of necessities in the USA – $25
5. Share of a Deep Well – $100
Charity Choice If you would like to let your loved one chose a charity that will be particularly meaningful to them consider Charity Choice Gift Cards. Founded in 2004 by Mark Finkel, Charity Choice allows buyers to make a donation and receive either a paper card or eCard. This gift card entitles the recipient to select a charity for their gift to be donated to from an online list of over 250 charities.
Sources: Heifer International, World Vision, Charity Choice
Children’s Books on Poverty
In America, we often tend to live inside of a bubble, a comfortable space in which we utilize blissful ignorance to the outside world and its problems.
But this bubble has a negative impact on what’s beyond it – the rest of the world. By choosing to live in ignorance, people who need help are unable to receive it. Where that problem begins is in the home – with children.
Being privileged to a comfortable lifestyle as a child, I grew up typically getting what I wanted for Christmas and birthdays. My sister was given an iPod when they first came out, while I eventually came to be the owner of a Gameboy Color, a Nintendo 64 and a GameCube. Then again, sometimes there were disappointments – things I had asked for that were not wrapped up in brightly colored packages under the tree.
It was important to my parents to make sure that my sister and I got gifts we would actually use, but even more important was the lesson that we wouldn’t always get what we want.
That lesson applies in a large scale to the problem of global poverty, and authors are now tackling it. Not only do these lessons come in large, adult books, but they are now being offered in the pages of children’s books.
The following books educate and reinforce principles regarding economic differences, while also validating the emotions of the poor readers. The refreshing part is that these books do not intend to preach; they teach the values of resourcefulness and gratefulness.
– Samantha Davis
Sources: Huffington Post, Scholastic
Photo: Georgina Public Libraries
Pizza Hut Donates to Philippines
It is almost impossible to watch a program on television without seeing an advertisement from one of America’s top pizza restaurants, Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. and is known for delivering more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in the world. The Pizza Hut name has come very far since its invention in Wichita, Kansas 55 years ago.
Pizza Hut is also a top partner of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest effort to fight hunger worldwide. Pizza Hut has been involved with WFP since 2007 and has donated over $10 million in the form of over 40 million meals to fight hunger in the United States. Pizza Hut also founded the Pizza Hut Harvest Program to independently donate meals to shelters in the United States.
Pizza Hut recently declared that a designated percentage of its World Hunger Relief donations will go to the Philippines. The recent typhoon in the Philippines has left 2.5 million survivors hungry and in need of food. Scott Bergren, President and CEO of Pizza Hut, emphasized the importance of aid to the survivors when he said “the purpose and intent of our partnership with the World Food Programme is to provide relief through food to those most in need, and nowhere is that need more urgent now than in the Philippines.” Bergren also took a moment to thank the WFP for allowing Pizza Hut and Yum! Brands to help so many people.
Other major companies such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, FedEx and Google have also donated to those in the Philippines in light of the recent tragedy.
– Lienna Feleke-Eshete
Sources: CNN Money, Market Watch
Photo: Entrepreneur
Ryan Gosling as an Advocate
The famous female-favorite movie star Ryan Gosling – notably known for films such as Drive and The Ides of March – is much more than just the typical Hollywood hunk. Over the past few years Gosling has proven to be quite a proactive and admirable advocate.
Gosling’s main advocacy passion is for animal rights: he has on numerous occasions spoken for maltreated farm animals. In the spring of this year, for instance, he learned of an atrocious practice about which he wrote a letter to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), urging them for immediate action. Apparently, farms across the nation would engage in extremely painful dehorning methods of cows. Using dangerous chemicals or simply amputating the appendages would leave a three-month healing time; only about a tenth of all farms use any kind of pain reliever for their animals. Ryan Gosling advocates that the simple solution here would be to breed hornless cows. The letter was publicized in its fullness on PETA’s website and quickly spread across the internet.
In 2011, Gosling appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show raising another important issue: the war in Congo and how we are fueling it by buying products – everyday electronics – which contain minerals obtained there. Advocating for human rights, Gosling states, “We want our products conflict free.” The star personally visited Congo prior to his appearance on the show, meeting with various organizations and actively advocating against the war. He urges viewers of Jimmy Kimmel to do the same by supporting Raise Hope for Congo – a campaign geared against the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.
In a separate letter to the Globe and Mail, Ryan Gosling advocates for maltreated pigs by drawing a parallel between them and his beloved dog, George. Intelligent and curiously close to humans in plentiful ways, pigs are being kept in solitary confinement for weeks by the pork industry, leading to the deterioration of both mind and muscle. Gosling means that he could never imagine doing that to his four-legged companion; actually, could any Canadian (or sensible person in general)?
Ryan Gosling as an advocate is a true knight in shining armor for the world of the weak and the voiceless. The characters he portrays in his films are often troubled yet highly likable. Using that same charisma outside of the big screen is Gosling’s advocacy wild card. Decidedly down-to-earth and concerned with making the world a better place, he manages to seamlessly intertwine his career with his passion for aiding those in need. Instead of putting on glamorous events or the likes, he often chooses the more subtle, yet efficient approach of going straight to the source. As individuals stumble upon these letters he’s taken the time to personally write, they may stop and think for an extra moment, and feel more motivated to act themselves. Because, let’s be frank: few can resist the inspiring, mysterious, yet heartwarming appeal of Ryan Gosling.
– Natalia Isaeva
Sources: IMDB, PETA, Ecorazzi, Raise Hope for Congo, Buzzfeed, The Globe and Mail
Photo: Mirror UK
UN Foundation Gives Children a Shot@Life
Every 20 seconds, a child dies from mundane diseases that have faded from first world concerns like nothing but a nightmare. But 1.5 million children die every from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and polio—all diseases that are preventable with the vaccines one might find at a routine clinic. For children living in impoverished regions, these diseases are an all too prevalent reality caused by the lack of access to vaccines.
United Nations Foundation-sponsored Shot@Life is the latest movement in garnering support and advocacy in humanitarian efforts to provide vaccines to children in need. The movement stresses the importance of Americans to reach out to Congress to make vaccinating children around the world a political priority. Shot@Life emphasizes the dire consequences of slashing global health funding and other forms of foreign aid, that Americans can no longer remain complacent in informing their government of children under five in peril of seemingly antiquated diseases like polio and measles.
The routine life-saving shots one normally receives at Kindergarten are denied to 2.5 million at-risk children.
U.S. paralympian Dennis Ogbe, an advocate for polio eradication, is a living testament to the ever-present threat of the disease. Raised in Nigeria, the track-and-field athlete contracted polio at the age of 3 and was confined to a wheelchair whilst his friends were allowed to run and play. Through force of will and support from his father, Ogbe miraculous regained mobility in one leg—one leg that would scale him to a place high amongst Olympians.
Though now 99% eliminated worldwide, polio still remains a presence—one that might continue grow and resurface as a more serious threat through complacency. There are still 200 cases per year with remaining polio epidemics in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Permanent polio teams have been established in hard-to-reach provinces in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Nigeria has employed satellite technology in order to best reach out to children in need of vaccines.
Funding shortages in global partnerships have hampered efforts to completely eradicate polio; it is reported that nearly $1 billion is needed to fully rid the world of polio. The projected benefits and returns in investing in polio eradication are impressive: by 2035, the world’s poorest countries will receive benefits of up to $50 billion. Furthermore, investing in channels of dispersing polio vaccines would in turn open up cost-effective channels to deliver more vaccines and thereby prevent more types of diseases, such as measles and rotaviruses, in regions of extreme risk and poverty.
It is time to construct a world in which all children of all countries are protected from all preventable diseases and given an equal shot at living. UN Foundation’s Shot@Life is a call for Americans to their part in the name of global health equality.
– Malika Gumpangkum
Sources: Shot@Life, AAP Global, CNN, CNN
DJ David Guetta: a Humanitarian Campaign for Love
David Guetta is a Grammy Award winning international DJ who is best known for his electro-house dance club hits and has worked with the likes of acts such as Akon, Usher, Lady Gaga, Tegan and Sara, and Jay-Z. Recently, the 46-year-old French producer teamed up with the United Nations for “The World Needs More” campaign which integrates social media messaging and sponsored humanitarian campaign donations. Launched in support of World Humanitarian Day, “The World Needs More” campaign encourages fans to hashtag a Sponsored word on Twitter or Facebook which will unlock a $1 donation of that sponsors choosing. Fans are also allowed to donate via text message.
Whether that word is #Empowerment supported by Intel or #Strength promoted by Gucci, all sponsored words that are sent in with in company of the hashtag #TheWorldNeedsMore, will be turned into aid which will go towards specific humanitarian efforts around the world. Considering Guetta included the term Love in the title of his debut album, “Just a Little More Love,” and one of his most popular singles, “When Love Takes Over,” it comes as no surprise which word he’s sponsoring. “There’s been a lot of my songs about love and that’s the kind of person that I am, the biggest energy in the world. Universal love. Have a little bit of compassion and love for each other.”
Joining Guetta’s campaign are various countries and organizations including the UN Foundation, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Council of Volunatry Agencies (ICVA), and advertising agency Leo Burnett New York. The campaign was initially launched in August, though it was recently rebuffed at the knowledge of the costly devastations occurring in the Philippines at the hands of Typhoon Haiyan. Additionally money raised by Guetta will provide much needed food relief to those suffering from shortages in all parts of the world.
Guetta was also inspired to create an exclusive song to go along with his #Love campaign which he titled, “One Voice” featuring Mikky Ekko. His recent interest in global matters spurned his decision to create a song with a deeper meaning, “I’ve never had songs that are like this kind of subject, so I’m really excited about this. It’s a big change lyrically, but also sonically. Just, you know, growing up, trying to do something bigger than myself. It’s a big stretch from Sexy Chick.”
The visuals for the song were projected onto the face of the United Nations Secretariat Building in New York on November 22, 2013. Succeeding the broadcast of “One Voice,” the building was used as a backdrop for an interactive twitter wall which displayed tweets from across the world. This event was the first promotion of its kind and was hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who began his week with a visit to an Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Mr. Ban praised Guetta for his “courage to change and create a new future for us all.”
– Jeffrey Scott Haley
Feature Writer
Sources: Rolling Stone, Lubbock Online, UN, World Humanitarian Day
Photo: Radio
Krochet Kids International Fights Poverty
While still a high school kid, Kohl Crecelius never thought about that a small hobby could eventually make a big difference on many others’ lives.
Crecelius is the CEO and co-founder of the Krochet Kids International (KKI), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people to rise above poverty. When he was in high school, he loved sports on the mountain, like surfing, and was passionate about crocheting unique headwear for himself. Later on, to fund high school dances, he started his crochet business, a small crocheted hat company.
During summer breaks, Crecelius volunteered in various developing nations and saw people tired of living solely on the operating bodies for their every need. “They wanted to work and provide for their own families,” he said.
Not until that moment did he have an idea of helping these people break the cycle of poverty by teaching them crocheting. Crecelius believes high-quality, handmade products can serve as a vehicle for social change.
“The simplicity of crocheting is its most profound quality,” Crecelius said. “With hook and yarn people could make amazing products.Being paid a fair wage to do so would allow for them, for the first time, to provide for their families and begin planning for the future. By teaching these people to crochet, we would be empowering them to rise above poverty.”
Along with some close friends, Crecelius established the KKI in 2008 and began working with women in impoverished communities in Northern Uganda and Peru. By teaching those women, most are mothers and heads of households, how to crochet products, this organization has created an innovative approach to help the poor through job creation and education.
“Our goal is to poverty alleviation,” Crecelius said. “We are trying to empower women and families living in poverty to be in charge of the responsibilities to break that circle of poverty for them and forever.”
Currently, over150 people in Uganda and Peru are working and receiving education. The collaboration of KKI staff and beneficiaries around the world has created a sustainable cycle of employment and empowerment.
Crecelius noted the biggest difference between the KKI and other businesses with missions to provide aid to developing countries.Instead of providing one thing such as water, clothing or education and trying to help a broad range of people, KKI focuses on individuals, helps them with the skills they will need to address their circumstances and assists them to make a difference.
“We try to leverage the tools of business to launch the entrepreneurship and to make the best impact on people,” Crecelius said.
– Liying Qian
Sources: KTLA, Kochet Kids International
Photo: Onboard Mag
The History of Polio
Polio is a virus that causes paralysis of the lungs and spine and in severe cases death. It is suspected that polio has been around for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian paintings portray priests with deformed limbs reminiscent of the disease. It was not until the industrial age however that major polio epidemics occurred first in Europe and then in the United States.
The first documented outbreak of Polio in the U.S. occurred in 1884 in Rutland Country, Vermont. Eighteen deaths and 132 cases of infantile paralysis were documented. However British physician Dr. Michael Underwood had written a clinical description of the disease almost 100 years earlier, calling it “debility of the lower extremities”. In 1840 German physician Dr. Jacob von Heine conducted a systematic investigation of the disease and hypothesized that it might be contagious. In 1905 after a series of epidemics in Sweden, Dr. Ivar Wickman published that a report suggesting that polio was contagious and seemed to involve the spine. In 1907 he characterized different types of polio noting that polio could occur in milder forms, which he called “abortive”.
Throughout the 19th century known as “Infantile Paralysis” but in 1908 Austrian physicians Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper announced that the disease was viral and it was named poliovirus. They made this discovery by withdrawing spinal fluid from a patient who had died from the disease and putting it through a bacterial filter. They then inserted the fluid into the spines of monkeys, who then developed the disease. As viral particles are smaller than bacterial particles they concluded that the disease was viral.
In 1916 the first major polio epidemic occurred in the U.S there were 27, 000 cases and 6000 deaths. In New York City alone there were 9000 cases and 2343 deaths. Polio was most common in children however it also affected adults; between 1949 and 1954 35% of the cases were adults. In 1921 Franklin D. Roosevelt contracted the poliovirus at the age of 39. In 1927 he formed the Warms Spring Foundation for polio rehabilitation in Georgia. He then founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938. The organization still exists today as the March of Dimes, a fundraising organization focused on polio research.
During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s Dr. Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburg began developing a vaccine for polio and in 1955 he developed the first effective vaccine against polio, the inactive (killed) injectable vaccine. Between 1955 and 1957 the incidence of polio in the U.S. fell by almost 90%. Around the same time Dr. Albert Sabin developed and tested a “live” vaccine. He had to test the vaccine in Russia due to Salk’s monopolization of the U.S. This became the vaccine of choice world wide due to its easier oral administration and cheaper cost. However as of 1999 the US began using Salk’s inactive virus because of the risk that the active virus could be too strong and lead to the development of polio. Both of these doctors were instrumental to the eradication of polio in North America and Europe.
By 1988 the virus had been completely eradicated in North America, Australia and Western Europe, however it still remained endemic in 125 countries. In 1988 the World Health Organization announced a plan to vaccinate all children in underdeveloped countries. As of 2012, polio is officially endemic in only four countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and India.
– Lisa Toole
Sources: History of Vaccines, Global Polio Eradication, NMAH, BBC, Polio Today
Photo: Terrierman’s Daily Dose
The Diary of a Poor Woman
On an average blog, an average post managed to make headlines. With over 3 million views, Linda Tirado’s blog post, “Why I Make Terrible Decisions, or, poverty thoughts,” has shed new light on poverty in America. Tirado is a wife, mother, student and employee. Her family lives below the poverty line and faces daily struggles to make ends meet.
Tirado articulates a widespread feeling that persists among families in poverty. She explains that stress, uncertainty and depression come along with financial woes. Tired of being misunderstood, Tirado took to her blog to respond to society’s misconceptions about poverty.
With cuts to food stamps occurring at the beginning of November, the welfare debate in the U.S. has recently been a hot topic. Many assume that people who are in poverty are responsible for their own bleak situation. The reality is, and Tirado makes sure to point this out, that those living in poverty were born into it and are never given the resources or the tools to get out.
Tirado’s post is written as a slightly unorganized stream of thoughts which she explains are constantly occurring in the back of her mind. She describes her average day of school, two jobs, and domestic responsibilities, while trying to keep her depression and exhaustion from getting in the way of her duties. Without knowing what will happen tomorrow, Tirado smokes a cigarette, puts her children to bed and fights on.
Tirado has received a lot of backlash because of this post. Anonymous commenters have urged her to stop having children, to not smoke cigarettes which are destroying her health, and to get a real job. It is because of these insensitive and uninformed responses that Tirado wrote her post in the first place. She explains that she had children because she had no access to affordable birth control, she smokes because she cannot afford depression and anxiety medication, and she is often turned down from jobs because she does not fit the company’s image.
There have also been positive responses to Tirado’s post. She has started a “go fund me” site and has received more than her annual salary in donations. Her post has opened doors for her to write a book and be a professional speaker. All this positive reinforcement has encouraged Tirado, and other families living in poverty, to continue searching for a light in the face of hopelessness.
The importance of Tirado’s post goes beyond her newfound opportunities. Her raw words have opened the public’s eye to the true nature of poverty. Often misconstrued as the plight of lazy and uneducated people, poverty is the result of systemic and social failure. Tirado has granted other families in poverty a platform on which they can be heard.
– Alessandra Luppi
Sources: KillerMartinis, The Huffington Post, Huff Post Live
Photo: The Equity Factor
GIS: The Universal Language of Development
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom-tailored map which can be manipulated to display the interactions between multiple selected variables must be worth entire books. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides this power to the user who understand the language of the software, and this power is especially important to development and aid organizations seeking to maximize their impact.
Unlike conventional cartography, GIS software can exploit social, economic, political, and environmental data to create an image which can then be layered onto the topographic landscape in any way the user desires. The relations between layers, and between data within layers, can then be presented to the viewer in a way that draws attention to the important facts.
This differs fundamentally from the report by presenting information visually, without losing depth in the way that a chart or graph flattens the ethnographic depth of the actual survey informing it.
Geospatial analysis has been used primarily for military purposes in the past, but that situation is already evolving. USAID is deploying geo-analysts in almost every program to give its staff the most useful information possible, going so far as to institute its own geospatial arm, to ensure the best possible use of the existing technology. The United Nations is on a similar path.
A software which was once esoteric and difficult to manage – akin to prototypical PC operating systems – has been streamlined and aestheticized so that with less than a year’s training, anyone can masterfully manage multiple databases with thousands of streams of data into coherent maps.
As with any form of communication and representation, there is a danger of misrepresentation and error. Factors can be ignored or manipulated to produce maps that do not mirror reality, or that fail to bring attention to critical factors. Even if the map is sound, it can still be misused by those with ulterior motives or simple incompetence.
As with all analysis, GIS relies entirely on a substrate of reliable data from which to extrapolate conclusions. Unlike polls, however, GIS data does not require a ‘boots on the ground’ approach – though this can be useful. For many applications, remote sensing, satellite imagery, and tomography are sufficient, meaning that, in many situations, the difficulties of other analytical approaches are evaded.
What is more, with cloud computing becoming nearly universal, a global GIS network, shared by all development agencies, would perpetuate a system whereby an up-to-date cartographic representation of reality would be accessible to those seeking to capitalize on its wealth of information, thereby bridging the gap between those who are able and willing to help – but lack an idea of where to begin or what needs doing – and those who require assistance. GIS transcends language barriers, enabling global cooperation and understanding to tackle pressing issues. In that way, GIS is becoming the universal language of development.
– Alex Pusateri
Sources: Directions Mag, Esri