Since its founding in India in 1965, Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) has been dedicated to implementing disaster relief and development solutions to impoverished communities around the world. Instead of a cookie cutter based approach where every community receives the same aid regardless of circumstance, AMURT strives to localize solutions based on each community’s unique needs. With relief teams now set up and helping in 34 countries, here are 4 crisis zones where AMURT is making a major difference.
1. Ghana – Safer Water & Healthier Villages
Through the Mafi-Zongo Area Water Project, surface water from a seasonal river is treated with a variety of filters to make it safe for drinking. It is then pumped down a mountain through 45 pipes. Ghanaians pay about 2 pennies for a 20 liter bucket of water, the cost of which goes towards water treatment staffing and running the generators. Because of AMURT’s project, 9,000 people now have access to disease-free water that is not contaminated by the Guinea worm which is very prevalent in the area.
2. Syria – Help for the Displaced
The current civil war in Syria has led to a humanitarian crisis where more than 2 million refugees are fleeing to surrounding countries. The number of people increases daily, yet supplies for the displaced are dwindling. AMURT is now in Lebanon distributing precious, basic items to Syrian refugees. These goods include stoves, bedding, medicine, and 40 kilograms of food. Though it may not seem like much, these basic items mean everything for the survival of refugees.
3. Kenya – HIV/AIDS Assistance
As part of an initiative to help people living with AIDS in Kenya, AMURT has created a home-based care provider program to improve lives through “nursing care, nutritional education, [and] counseling.” These local providers are trained through the country’s Ministry of Health, and they make routine visits to AIDS patients’ homes when they are too sick to move. With this program, over 100 care providers have already been trained who are making a difference in the lives of thousands of patients and their families.
4. Haiti – Earthquake Relief
In the time since the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, AMURT raised over $4.2 million to help with the social and structural redevelopment of the country. Their main project worked on restoring well-being to Haitian children’s lives through nutritional assistance, motivational activities, and various kinds of educational enrichment. Since its inception, the psycho-social support program has reached 4,000 impoverished youth. In addition, AMURT helped thousands of people in displacement camps throughout Port-au-Prince with water filtration, cholera prevention, and even microfinance projects.
AMURT has proven that one organization can help tackle any disaster by utilizing local solutions and long-term development ideas. To find out more about AMURT and their wide-array of relief projects around the globe, visit their website.
– Caylee Pugh
Sources: AMURT, Haiti Aid Map
Photo: Flikr
Poverty in Uruguay
18.6 % of the population is below the poverty line in Uruguay. Although the majority of this poverty in Uruguay is not extreme, it is still problematic. Like many of other South American countries, Uruguay struggles with alleviating extreme poverty for the poorest sections of its population. The country is also trying to prevent those who are only slightly below the poverty line from plummeting further into the category of the extreme poor.
The small South American nation experienced an economic boom in the early 1990’s followed by a damaging recession in 1995. This recession left a lasting impression on the economy, which to this day continues to suffer. The recession caused a widespread loss of jobs across the country and an increasingly wide income gap. The poverty is not debilitating, but it is significant enough to render notice from the international community. According to the World Bank’s 2001 report on Uruguay, “reduction in poverty is highly dependent on growth, and pockets of poverty and unemployment still exist and in recent years have shown some increase.”
Uruguay also struggles with the high number of children who are born into poverty. The World Bank reports that “children have become a significant portion of the poor with about 40% of Uruguay’s children born into poor families, pointing to a potentially serious problem of inter-generational poverty.” This threat of continuing, irreversible poverty is very concerning. The longer poverty continues to ravage Uruguay, the more entrenched it will become as it roots itself in disenfranchised communities.
The poverty problem in Uruguay is not the most dire in the world, but it requires confrontation. In order for the poverty problem in Uruguay to be eradicated, the economy must be fundamentally changed and social welfare programs must be instituted.
– Josh Forgét
Sources: The CIA World Factbook, The World Bank
Photo: Tico Times
Uniject: One Immunization, One Time, One Life
In a given year, USAID immunization programs have been able to save over 3 million lives. The potency of a single injection in preventing life threatening diseases like measles, malaria, hepatitis, and others has been proven time and time again. Yet, with such benefits come some seemingly unavoidable costs, particularly the spread of infection caused by reusing syringes.
That is where Uniject comes to the fore. The product of a 20-year-long effort, Uniject has already been widely embraced as a mechanism of safeguarding the lives of this and coming generations. With funding from the United Agency for International Aid and Development (USAID), PATH, a Seattle based non-profit organization working to better global health through innovation, has developed the innovative “Uniject autodisable injection system.” From contraceptives to vaccines, Uniject has made medicine safer and more accessible to millions. It takes the medicines that save lives and then apportions them into individual sized packages, each carrying the medicine that could save one life.
The genius of this model lies in its one-time use. Indeed, reusing syringes has posed a serious threat in the global fight against preventable disease. In 2009, 20 million immunizations were given using syringes contaminated with the blood of HIV-infected patients. In the developing world, the average person receives an unsafe injection such as this about once a year—with grave consequences. Research has shown that reusing a syringe, even indirectly, can spread HIV from one patient to four others.
Autodisable systems, like Uniject, have done a great deal in alleviating this dilemma. In 2010, the use of autodisable syringes brought down the average hospital stay in Tanzania from seven days to three days. Similar results have been achieved across the developing world where Uniject has been distributed. Learn more at https://www.path.org/projects/uniject.php.
– Lina Saud
Sources: PATH, Safe Point Trust, The Borgen Project
Open Data for Africa
After being deployment in 14 different African countries, the Open Data for Africa Platform has now been officially “rolled out to all 54 countries across the [African] continent,” announced the African Development Bank (AfDB), which launched the project.
Open Data for Africa is “part of the worldwide effort to strengthen statistical capacity” in order to “foster evidence-based decision-making, public accountability and good governance.”
Open Data for Africa directly resulted from global and regional initiatives aimed at boosting the availability of data necessary for the management and monitoring of development results and programs throughout Africa, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The African Development Bank defines Open Data for Africa as “a user-friendly tool for extracting data, creating, and sharing customized reports, and visualizing data across themes, sectors and countries through tables, charts, and maps.” Thus, this unique platform provides reliable and timely data on Africa, through the use of development indicators, statistics and graphs.
Open Data for Africa will enable African governments and policymakers to more easily participate in the international community while facilitating dialogue between informed users across the globe. “This is because the platform is part of the AfDB’s ‘Africa Information Highway’ initiative which saw the establishment of live data links between the AfDB, National Statistical Offices, Central Banks and … ministries in all 54 countries.”
Ultimately, there are hopes attached to Open Data for Africa. The transparency of results of development programs and statistics is expected to encourage good governance and greater accountability of African leaders. Public awareness of funding and programs could spur development, especially given the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, as The Next Web notes.
– Lauren Yeh
Sources: AfDB, The Next Web, Open Data for Africa
4 Crises Where AMURT Makes an Impact
Since its founding in India in 1965, Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) has been dedicated to implementing disaster relief and development solutions to impoverished communities around the world. Instead of a cookie cutter based approach where every community receives the same aid regardless of circumstance, AMURT strives to localize solutions based on each community’s unique needs. With relief teams now set up and helping in 34 countries, here are 4 crisis zones where AMURT is making a major difference.
1. Ghana – Safer Water & Healthier Villages
Through the Mafi-Zongo Area Water Project, surface water from a seasonal river is treated with a variety of filters to make it safe for drinking. It is then pumped down a mountain through 45 pipes. Ghanaians pay about 2 pennies for a 20 liter bucket of water, the cost of which goes towards water treatment staffing and running the generators. Because of AMURT’s project, 9,000 people now have access to disease-free water that is not contaminated by the Guinea worm which is very prevalent in the area.
2. Syria – Help for the Displaced
The current civil war in Syria has led to a humanitarian crisis where more than 2 million refugees are fleeing to surrounding countries. The number of people increases daily, yet supplies for the displaced are dwindling. AMURT is now in Lebanon distributing precious, basic items to Syrian refugees. These goods include stoves, bedding, medicine, and 40 kilograms of food. Though it may not seem like much, these basic items mean everything for the survival of refugees.
3. Kenya – HIV/AIDS Assistance
As part of an initiative to help people living with AIDS in Kenya, AMURT has created a home-based care provider program to improve lives through “nursing care, nutritional education, [and] counseling.” These local providers are trained through the country’s Ministry of Health, and they make routine visits to AIDS patients’ homes when they are too sick to move. With this program, over 100 care providers have already been trained who are making a difference in the lives of thousands of patients and their families.
4. Haiti – Earthquake Relief
In the time since the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, AMURT raised over $4.2 million to help with the social and structural redevelopment of the country. Their main project worked on restoring well-being to Haitian children’s lives through nutritional assistance, motivational activities, and various kinds of educational enrichment. Since its inception, the psycho-social support program has reached 4,000 impoverished youth. In addition, AMURT helped thousands of people in displacement camps throughout Port-au-Prince with water filtration, cholera prevention, and even microfinance projects.
AMURT has proven that one organization can help tackle any disaster by utilizing local solutions and long-term development ideas. To find out more about AMURT and their wide-array of relief projects around the globe, visit their website.
– Caylee Pugh
Sources: AMURT, Haiti Aid Map
Photo: Flikr
YouTube Star Builds School in Africa
It started with a few funny homemade videos posted onto YouTube by a teenager in high school. However, overnight, YouTuber Kevin Wu’s videos shot up half a million views. From then, Wu, known by his YouTube name Kevjumba, would become one of YouTube’s leading cyber-celebrities. His comedy videos gathered millions of views. Today, 4 million people are subscribed to Kevjumba’s channel. His subscribers are roughly equal to the population of New Zealand.
Despite enormous success and fame, Wu has been using his influence for helping those in need, namely by helping to build a school in Kenya. Wu’s involvement in school’s construction began when a The Supply, a non-profit organization, posted a video of students in Nairobi challenging Kevjumba to teach one of their classes. Wu then received a flood of tweets urging him to go to Kenya. Soon enough, this American YouTube star was on his way to Africa.
According to Wu, his trip to Nairobi was life-changing because he learned from The Supply about the 1 billion people living in slums today and witnessed children living in the slums around Nairobi. Wu decided that he would partner with The Supply and commit to aiding the friends he made in Kenya. Wu had already created a charity YouTube channel called Jumbafund where views were generating ad revenue that Wu would donate to charities. Wu decided that he would direct all the funds from his charity channel to The Supply to help fund education for students in Kenya.
After uploading videos about his experience in Nairobi, which generated over 2 million views, Wu was able begin a project to raise funds for The Supply to build a school in Lenana, Kenya. When Wu turned 21, he and partners launched a campaign to urge people to donate 21 dollars to the construction of the school. With $50,000 raised, funding for the school’s construction is now complete. Kevjumba High School is the first secondary school in Lenana, Kenya. It now serves many of the students that Wu met while visiting Kenya.
Kevjumba has revolutionized charity by using YouTube as a platform to truly aid those who need it. This is because Kevjumba’s viewers play a key part in generating the funds to build the school. Each click and each view plays a part in sustaining the school and providing opportunities for children in poverty to have an education. Furthermore, Kevjumba’s popular videos encourage viewers to donate directly. Kevjumba proves that with just a viral video and a compelling cause, anybody can make a difference in the world.
– Grace Zhao
Sources: The Huffington Post, Forbes, Kevjumba.com, PR Newser
Photo: KevJumba
Afghan Civilian Casualties Increase as Forces Withdraw
The UN reports that Afghan civilian casualties are on the rise as international forces are phase out their military presence. This year, the war has caused 1,319 civilian deaths with 2,533 injured, which is a 23% increase in civilian violence compared to last year. Women and children have been affected disproportionately, with 38% more casualties this year.
The primary cause of civilian casualties continues to be IEDs, which have indiscriminately killed more children than any other demographic – 53% more than last year. Insurgents were responsible for 74% of all casualties this year, who are targeting civilians believed to be working in alignment with the government, and 12% of the casualties were incurred in fighting on the ground with 207 civilians counted dead in crossfire.
Foreign troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan next year, leaving the Afghan army to assume control of the countries security. In places where international troops have withdrawn, insurgent attacks are on the rise. The reported increase in civilian casualties is being weighed by decision makers, who must consider how the Afghan troops can assume control of continuing the fight against extremists while protecting innocents from unnecessary violence.
– Jennifer Bills
Sources: Al Jazeera, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Photo: Anti War
Who is Elsie Kanza?
As one of Forbe’s 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa, Elsie Kanza is not to be overlooked. Born in Kenya to Tanzanian parents, she obtained an education in the United States and in Kenya. She received her BA in International Business Administration from the United States International University – Africa, her Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Strathclyde and her Masters of Arts in Development Economics from Williams College.
Kanza then went on to become an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow in 2008 and a World Economic Forum World Leader in 2011. Until recently, Kanza served as a personal assistant and economic advisor to the Republic of Tanzania president, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, making her an extremely influential political figure in Africa. Now, she serves as perhaps her most important role yet: director for Africa at the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit organization that works to convene global leaders in business, academics, and politics to engage in shaping global agendas.
Through this position, Kanza’s team has been focusing on addressing important issues in Africa including climate change, food security, infrastructure development, and resources management. Kanza works specifically on connecting senior government officials in sub-Saharan Africa with leasers at the World Economic Forum to facilitate collaboration. In an interview with In2EastAfrica, Kanza said that the new job is essentially an extension of her last job as an advisor because she is working so closely with government officials. She develops partnerships that will help her team achieve their broader development goals.
This year’s World Economic Forum conference on Africa was held in May in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 1,000 people participated from 80 different countries. The conference focused heavily on economic grown and competitiveness in Africa as well as infrastructure development. In an interview with Forbes, Kanza said, “There’s a real optimism in Africa at the moment, but also caution: Africa’s leaders know that although they have a unique development opportunity, growth is by no means guaranteed. We dedicated a number of sessions to discussing how Africa can diversify its economic base, create more and better jobs and improve competitiveness through further reform.”
As a powerful young leader, Kanza is also dedicated to promoting youth leadership in Africa as well. She particularly focuses on helping the World Economic Forum’s “Shapers” community which consists of 20-30 year olds working on development projects across Africa.
– Emma McKay
Sources: Forbes
Photo: Youtube
The Solution to Food Security: Eat More Bugs?
Insects have been eaten by humans for centuries. Little do most people know that pound for pound, insects pack more protein than regular beef or chicken. Today, one start up company plans to reclaim bugs as a source protein to improve food security and protect the environment.
Exo is a new company started by Brown University graduates Greg Sewitz and Gabi Lewis. Exo produces protein bars that are made with a very special ingredient: cricket flour. The crickets are slow roasted and milled into a fine powder. The cricket flour is then combined with organic ingredients such as raw cacao, dates, almond butter, and coconut. The result is a high protein, low sugar, nutritionally packed protein bar. The bar boasts a high content of omega 3 fatty acids, iron, and calcium. The bars are also gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and have no artificial preserves or processed ingredients.
Why eat crickets? Crickets are extremely nutritious. They are made up of a majority of protein by dry weight. They also contain all the essential amino acids. Compared to beef, 100 grams of cricket powder contains 69% protein while 100 grams of dried beef contains only 45% protein. Sirloin steak has even less at 29% per 100 grams. Cricket powder also contains nearly as much calcium as cow’s milk.
Cricket protein presents a solution to the global food and environmental crisis. Crickets need 12 times less feed than cattle and 4 times less than sheep. They require very little water and very little space. High densities of crickets also require significantly less space for storage and transportation, making this insect protein highly sustainable. Furthermore, harvesting insects such as crickets is far less environmentally destructive as raising traditional livestock. The average cow produces 132 pounds of methane that is released into the atmosphere. Crickets produce 80 times less.
By creating these protein bars, Exo hopes to convert the world’s food eating patterns into more sustainable ones. Despite the many benefits of consuming insects, most people are still hesitant to do so, especially in the United States. However in reality, 80% of the world already does so. Additionally, Exo has worked with expert chefs and conducted taste tests to produce a protein bar that is both wholesome and enjoyable.
Both Gabi and Greg of Exo hope to see their company expand to include a variety of insect based foods. Ultimately their goal is to “feed the world without destroying the planet.” By tapping into insects as a source of protein, Exo stands to make a real difference in the food industry.
– Grace Zhao
Sources: Forbes, Kickstarter
Photo: The World
How Fruits and Veggies Can Make Safe Drinking Water
Access to clean drinking water is a worldwide problem. One billion people, or roughly 1 in 7 persons across the globe, lack access to safe water. Without potable water, these millions of people are exposed to waterborne pathogens that can cause sickness and death. Each year, waterborne pathogens make tens of millions of people sick and lead to 1.8 million deaths. And all of these are preventable.
Researchers are working on cheap and practical ways to provide safe drinking water across the globe. Ramakrishna Mallampati, an investigator at the National University of Singapore, has devised a new way to purify dirty water. By using the peels of fruits and vegetables, Mallampati believes that he can effectively and economically filter out impurities from water to make it safe to drink.
The fruits and vegetables are used to purify dirty water by drawing out toxic ions and organic pollutants from liquid. Tomato peels effectively remove “dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals, dyes and pesticides, and…can also be used in large scare applications.” Tomatoes are the second most consumed vegetable in the world. With the vegetable’s widespread availability, using tomato peels to purify water could prove to be a convenient, easy, and cheap way to purify drinking water.
Like tomato peels, apple peels are also able to draw out a number of pollutants from dirty water. The peels can extract anions such as “phosphate, arsenate, arsenite, and chromate ions from aqueous solutions.” While the apple peels must first be treated with a zirconium oxide before they can effectively remove impurities from water, the wide prevalence of the fruit throughout the world means that it could also be used to treat drinking water on a large scale.
The newly designed water purification methods could prove revolutionary in the developing world. Many large scale treatment processes used in developed nations are simply inaccessible to the impoverished across the globe due to a lack of the financial capital needed to implement them. The process of purifying water by using tomato and apple peels mitigates the financial obstacle that prevents many in the developed world from having clean drinking water. Ramakrishna Mallampati hopes that by using his new purification process, those living in developing areas will be able to live healthier and more productive lives.
– Jordan Kline
Sources: ScienceDaily, Care2, National Academy of Sciences
Photo: She Knows
MAC Viva Glam Makes Over More than Just Faces
While Canadian cosmetic company MAC has developed a cult following for its make up products, it has made over the lives of millions without make up since the company established the MAC AIDS Foundation (MAF) in 1994. Throughout the course of nearly 2 decades, MAC has raised $270 million for HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment and support by contributing 100 percent of proceeds from Viva Glam sales to MAF.
In 2010, MAC Viva Glam enlisted songbirds Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper to represent its From Our Lips campaign, which worked to raise awareness about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections among females – which is especially disproportionate in developing nations. In sub-Saharan Africa, women comprised nearly 60% of those living with HIV/AIDS. Conversely, it has been estimated that 75% of all women with HIV/AIDS live in the region.
A number of reasons factor into this unequal distribution. Studies have shown that women are twice as likely to contract HIV from unprotected intercourse as men, suggesting that women have a greater susceptibility to the virus. Widespread instances of gender based violence and rape in sub-Saharan Africa further compound the prevalence rate. Armed conflict and patriarchy make for a lethal combination because many women who are coerced or forced into sexual acts are not given a choice on whether or not to use a condom.
Infected mothers, moreover, can potentially pass on the virus to their offspring – thereby perpetuating the cycle of HIV/AIDS and the havoc it wreaks upon lives. MAF seeks to address these issues by working with partner organizations to prevent sexual assault closely linked with HIV/AIDS epidemics. Through From Our Lips, MAF provided the National Network to End Domestic Violence with a $100,000 grant to educate advocates on the correlation between sexual violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Through Viva Glam and MAF, MAC and its celebrity endorsers have transcended superficiality to put a spotlight on the inner beauty of compassion – emphasizing everyone’s right to lead a happy and healthy life, regardless of gender or health.
– Melrose Huang
Sources: MAC Aids Fund, NNEDV, AVERT, Forbes, MTV
Photo: LadyLux