Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Who Are the Bottom Billion?

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One billion of the poorest people on the planet embody an enormous obstacle for nations today. Countries suffering from extreme poverty, overlooked and undervalued, are examined thoroughly in Paul Collier’s book, The Bottom Billion. As a professor of economics at Oxford University, Mr. Collier is well versed in the financial implications of poverty on the world as whole. Everyone who has read a history book or seen the television show Game of Thrones knows that when societies lack a leader and structured laws, chaos ensues as the fight for ultimate power begins. This situation is mirrored in the corruption consuming countries all over the world, and they are highlighted in Collier’s book.

According to Paul Collier, the 8 industrialized nations, known as the G8, will have to make a priority out of developing laws to help these ‘bottom billion’ populations. This group consists of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, France, and Russia. Protecting endangered states against corruption, greed, power struggles, trade resources, and more will have to become a main focus for stabilized nations in order to help eradicate global poverty.

Claiming that there are four traps countries fall into that lead to a spot in the ‘bottom billion,’ Collier lists the culprits as natural resources, corrupt neighboring nations, negative governing, and violent conflicts. No country has the ability to generate more natural resources than it already has, so creating laws that govern trade policies is one of the only ways to help states in that situation.

One suggestion offered by the author to reverse the destitute situations of poor countries is military interference. He claims that foreign financial aid is not enough to help on its own. Military force and strict legislation on corrupt leaders and factions are required to pull countries out of expensive civil wars and violent day to day lives.

Main goals of the book include debunking popular myths about global poverty and explaining why the U.S. and other stable countries need to make aggressive changes to prevent unstable nations from ‘backsliding’, or getting deeper into a state of distress than they presently are. China and other societies are doing so well on reducing global poverty that more aid is offered because they seem like a more appealing investment that is likely to succeed. Less stable countries do not look like a good fit for aid and are shortchanged by potential donors.

Simultaneously educational and inspiring, Paul Collier’s book was first published in 2007. Collier has spoken at local and national forums about the importance of forming a solution to these ‘bottom billion’ people that is as complex as the problem. Spreading awareness and correcting misconceptions the general public may have about poverty is the first step in attempting to fix it. Outlining how these countries become part of the ‘bottom’ in the first place helps clarify the intricate situation that has been created and how the way to save these people must be equally intricate. The Bottom Billion can be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or wherever books are sold.

– Kaitlin Sutherby

Sources: TED, Amazon, The Guardian, Oxford University Press, AusAID
Photo: Bahai Forums

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Overpopulation and Public Health

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There is much debate whether overpopulation poses public health risks. Some believe it is the cause of hunger and poverty throughout the world while others feel that it has never been a problem.  It is important to shed light on this fear of overpopulation as its consequences are said to be evident in all developing countries.

Several reports about Africa’s growing population has been connected to the starvation of millions of people. Every year 32.5 percent of children in developing countries suffer from malnutrition. Sustainable population advocates have pointed to the approximate 200 million hunger-related deaths in the past twenty years. Deterioration in global biodiversity has also been linked to overpopulation. Substantial data of species loss has been presented by countries such as China, Brazil and Mexico. Human settlements that are gradually increasing according to the rate of population is said to ruin the benefits of nature and destroy habitats. The consequences of overpopulation is also suggested in access to education, primarily in Africa. In African classrooms, children are unable to learn due to overcrowding.  Access to water, medical care and housing are all diminished when there are more people that require aid. Data from the United Nations further suggests that by 2050, 10 percent to 15 percent of land that is farmed today will not be available. This could potentially lead to a food crisis as the current population increases at a faster rate.

Those supporting a sustainable population see hope in public policies being employed in countries such as Bangladesh, Iran and Thailand. Results from securing social services to women and families indicate a large decrease in undernourished people in Asia, from 23.7 percent to 13.9 percent. This downward trend from simply giving access to birth control and adopting policies that give aid to small families suggests that overpopulation is an issue that can be solved.  Policies that provide family planning to those in remote, rural areas in Asia has led to stability in undernourishment over time. By merely shifting the focus on public policy these countries quickly witnessed better health standards, quality of education and housing availability, all of which offer hope to the remaining developing nations.

– Maybelline Martez

Sources: Scientific American, Huffington Post, World Hunger

Why the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy May be Right For You

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Picture yourself: you are walking among a beautiful collection of distinguished brick buildings.  Snow covers the ground as you gaze upon the seemingly endless trees that dot the walkway.  You breathe a sigh of satisfaction and say to yourself “this is the perfect place to fight poverty.”

Welcome to the University of Michigan and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.  Located in Ann Arbor, MI (known affectionately as Tree Town, USA), U of M is one of the nation’s premiere public universities.  Many are familiar with the Michigan Wolverines football team, and their stadium, the “Big House,” that holds over 109,000 screaming fans.  However, one of the universities true gems is the Ford School.

Named in honor of former U.S. President Gerald Ford, a Michigan alumnus, the Ford School offers a B.A. in Public Policy for undergraduates in addition to a Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration for graduate students.  The school also has over 16 joint M.A. and PhD programs with other graduate programs in the university, including Economics, Political Science, and Sociology.

A stated strength of the Ford School is in combating poverty.  The National Poverty Center is housed in the Ford School and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The National Poverty Center trains students in poverty research, publishes briefs and analyses to be used in government forums, and runs national seminars to discuss issues of poverty.

In addition to poverty research, the Ford School is devoted to global development.  Students pursuing an M.P.P. spend the summer between their first and second year pursuing an internship directly related to policy issues.  27% of students complete their internships abroad, while 30% work in Washington D.C. for an internationally related program.  Additionally, the School houses the International Policy Center, which promotes interdisciplinary research in various global issues.

If you are interested in honing your skills in fighting global poverty, the Ford School of Public Policy may be the place for you.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: Ford School of Public Policy, National Poverty Center
Britannica

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Africa’s Philanthropic Billionaires

When it comes to international aid programs, everyone has heard of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Warren Buffett’s astronomical donation track record, with last year’s donations reaching $1.87 billion. However, outside of the American audience, African billionaires are also stepping up and contributing to causes they care about. Here is a list of African philanthropic billionaires that lead programs in their own countries.

The wealthiest African, Aliko Dangote, worth an estimated $20.2 billion, donates millions of his wealth to education, health and social causes. Last year Dangote took part in the first ever Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, where he discussed the benefits of donating, listing Gates and Buffett as inspirations.

Nathan Kirsh, a South African native, earned his $3.6 billion wealth by monopolizing the small goods market in New York City. According to Forbes, his philanthropic efforts focus on Swaziland, where he supplied approximately 10,000 people with starter capital for small businesses. Kirsh states that 70 percent of his recipients are women with a 70 percent success rate for his program overall. He also hopes to make Swazi schools the first in Africa to boast guaranteed computer literacy for all graduates.

Folorunsho Alakija hails from Lagos, Nigeria and is Africa’s richest woman thanks to her very profitable ownership of an oil block in the 1990’s. Since then, Alakija has expanded her $7.3 billion enterprise to real estate around the world, notably $200 million worth in the United Kingdom alone. With her money, Alakija founded the Rose of Sharon Foundation in 2008 which aids orphans and widows in her native country of Nigeria.

Mohamed Mansour has an estimated $2.3 billion fortune from his investment company the Mansour Group, which owns Egypt’s largest grocery store Metro and Egypt’s McDonald’s franchises, among other businesses. Mansour founded the Lead Foundation, a nonprofit that has provided over 1.3 million loans to small business endeavors and under-privileged women in Egypt. Mansour also chairs the Mansour Foundation for Development, which strives to eliminate illiteracy, poverty, and disease in order to expedite the development of Egyptian society.

– Emily Bajet

Sources: Daily Mail, Forbes, Rose of Sharon Foundation, Mansour Foundation For Development

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How MP3s Promote Education in Africa

For many high school teachers, the explosion of the iPod represented another way for their students to become distracted in the classroom.  It turns out that instead of using those MP3 players to blast music, they are being used to promote literacy and education all across Africa.

Meet the Lifeplayer MP3.  A solar-powered radio, recorder and MP3 player, the Lifeplayer is manufactured by Lifeline Technologies to give rural African communities greater access to education.  The Lifeplayer comes with reading and writing lesson plans already pre-loaded.  Since it is solar-powered, rural communities without access to electricity can now enjoy this technological wonder without worrying about access to electrical outlets for recharging.

The company currently runs initiatives in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia.  In Ethiopia, Lifeline has partnered with the British Council to promote English language education to over 50,000 school children.  Kristine Pearson, the CEO of Lifeline, traveled to South Sudan to deliver 15,000 Lifeplayers to educators.

Pearson instructed trainers and teachers on how to use the technologically-advanced device in the hopes of reversing the discouraging education trends in the country.

“Nearly three-quarters of the population can neither read nor write,” states Pearson.  “According to the Overseas Development Index (ODI), less than 2% of the population have completed a primary education and even less completed secondary school.”

In addition to the Lifeplayer MP3, the company also produces two other solar-powered marvels: the Prime Radio, an analogue radio with an LCD display, and the Solarstor, a portable charging station for cell phones.

The Prime Radio has been especially beneficial in Rwanda, where the company spearheads an initiative called Project Muraho.  Partnering with organizations such as UNICEF, the initiative has provided 13,000 radios and power sources to families ravaged by the effects of the Rwandan genocide and the continued devastation of HIV/AIDS.

Although access to education has improved worldwide in the past decade, there are still great disparities in rural areas and communities without power and electricity.  The Lifeplayer MP3 is a wonderful invention to help push education in these struggling communities.

– Taylor Diamond 

Sources: World Economic Forum, Lifeline Energy: Technology, Lifeline Energy: Projects
Photo: Texarkana Gazette

Education in Latin America

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There are many challenges facing education in Latin America.  Many schools are not properly equipped with current textbooks or any lab equipment.  Even worse, some schools do not even have proper infrastructure, and students are forced to attend a schoolhouse with a leaky roof or holes in the wall.

These physical problems are directly responsible to the startling statistics about students in the region of Latin America.  According to the Inter-American Development Bank, only 10% of the region’s poorest students are performing at their grade level.  Only 40% percent of students graduate from secondary school, and according to the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education, international comparisons have Latin America ranked near the bottom in education.

What is being done to combat these trends?

One method of change to education in Latin America are initiatives to upgrade outdated curriculum models.  Docente al Dia is an online platform that seeks to give teachers access to new curriculums and lesson plans.  It also acts as a social media community, a Facebook for teachers.  This will allow Latin American educators to collaborate on ideas, and connect the education system in a way not previously possible.

The Central America Foundation for Rural Education Development (CAFRED) is an organization that identifies rural communities lacking proper schooling facilities and builds healthy, safe, and sustainable schoolhouses.  CAFRED also sponsors a variety of education initiatives to create an environment of learning often denied to rural communities in Latin America.  One example is the “Professional Teacher Development Program” which provides much needed professional development for rural teachers by giving lessons in sensitivity and Individual Education Programs.

A positive statistic for Latin American students is that by 2015, 30 million students should have access to an electronic device to support learning.  This is one of the many projects and topics championed by the Inter-American Development Bank.  The Bank endorses five ‘dimensions of success’ in education: high expectations for student learning, students should enter the system ready to learn, all students having access to effective teachers, schools having adequate resources, and all graduates having the skills necessary to contribute to the labor market.

Access toeducation is a necessary component for producing global citizens and engaged consumers.  Stimulating education in Latin America should therefore be a top priority for world leaders.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: Inter-American Development Bank, Brookings Institution

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Global Education Motivators

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What do Mr. Rogers, Jane Goodall, and the United Nations all have in common?  They are all close supporters of Global Education Motivators (GEM) one of the oldest initiatives for advocating the importance of global education in American schools.

Founded in 1981, GEM has worked tirelessly to promote global issues in the American classroom through engagement with UN educational programs, leadership conferences, and workshops. One of the initiative’s foremost programs is “United Nations Day,” where young students work together, mock UN style, to provide solutions for issues such as human rights, environmental sustainability, education, and food security.

“Believing that international communication exchange is the key to future world peace, the inclusion of cross cultural perspectives has become an integral part of GEM’s global learning programs,” according to GEM’s mission statement.  “Global awareness is closely tied to global responsibility.”  This commitment to cross cultural perspectives is evident in the initiative’s distance learning courses. These courses are geared for K-12 students. African Folk Tales, Conflict in Sudan and Nuclear Awareness are some of the highlights of the courses available.

GEM also boasts partnerships with the African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the project for Nuclear Awareness. Additionally, the group has a presence with the United Nations’ education initiative, UN Academic Impact.  At UN Academic Impact’s Third Annual Conference, youth members of GEM presented about the program and the importance of empowering other youth to stand up for global issues through community involvement, arts and education.

While the organization most certainly embraces the mantra of “think global,” acting local is just as important for GEM. Based out of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, GEM is a close partner with local Philadelphia schools and Philadelphia-based programs, like the Greater Philadelphia Global Education Network. Involving local communities and schools with issues of global development is an important part of inspiring larger movements for global education.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: United Nations, Global Education Motivators
Photo: Dreamstime

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4 Children’s Books on Global Issues

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Children are the future. Today, our youngest generation has the ability to learn about global issues through reading. Check out the educational books below:

1. Clean Water for Elirose by Ariah Fine

This book tells the story of Maria and her friends who love all kinds of different drinks. When they learn about a girl their age who doesn’t have clean water to drink they set out to help her find access to what she lacks. Literature review site goodreads.com describes it as a “[…] children’s picture book about the lack of clean drinking water in the world and how we can help.” All profits from this book go to support clean water projects.

2. Little Things Make Big Differences: A Story About Malaria by John Nunes and Monique Nunes

Little Things Make Big Differences: A Story about Malaria, is a story about a young Tanzanian girl named Rehema. The story focuses on Rehema’s battle with one of the world’s most fatal diseases, malaria. When she was a baby, Rehema was infected with the disease but survived because her parents were able to get treatment for her. In the book, Rehema describes what children in rich countries can do to help fight malaria.

3. The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

This book depicts how poverty affects families, with a focus on kids. Rawlings’ children’s book tells the story of a girl poet named Calpurnia and her family who worry that they will go hungry because there are no fish left in the river. Luckily, Calpurnia meets a medicine woman in the forest who helps her find the way to a secret river, teeming with catfish, which appears only when desperately needed and disappears when the heart and belly are full. The ending teaches kids that there is always a way to help aid those in need.

4. The Can Man by Laura E. Williams

Laura E. Williams provides a sweet but direct lesson about poverty in today’s society. Williams tells the story of a young boy named Tim who fantasizes about getting the skateboard of his dreams. But Tim’s parents can’t afford to buy him the skateboard for his birthday, so he puts on rubber gloves and starts collecting cans in a quest for cash. Soon he finds himself racing a homeless can collector to gain access to the best spots in the neighborhood for cans. As he gets to know “The Can Man,” Tim learns there are things in life more valuable than any object.

– Stephanie Olaya

Sources: Good Reads: Clean Water for Elirose, Good Reads: Global Issues for Kids, One, Huffington Post
Photo: Clean Water for Elirose

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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.

  • The Can Man by Laura E. Williams, illustrated by Craig Orback: Tim’s parents can’t afford the skateboard he dreams of for his birthday, so he puts on rubber gloves and starts collecting cans in a quest for cash. Soon he finds himself racing a homeless can collector to the best spots in the neighborhood for cans. As he gets to know “The Can Man,” Tim learns there are things in life more valuable than any object.
  • Lucky Beans by Becky Birtha, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell: Marshall Loman is sick of beans because he has had to eat them every night since his father lost his job. In this Depression-era story, a bean counting contest at a local shop and one boy’s math-savvy help a family get back on their feet again.
  • The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, is a classic story about a Polish immigrant girl who is teased for saying she has one hundred dresses, when she wears the same faded old dress every day. It is told from the perspective of the teaser’s friend. I read this story aloud over the course of a week, engaging the children during and after each reading in a philosophical discussion about the ethical dilemma of being a silent bystander.
  • Si, Se Puede! by Diana Cohn, is a bilingual story about the Service Employees International Union organizing drive and janitors’ strike in Los Angeles. It is useful to discuss why and how workers form unions, what a strike is, the importance of community support, and connections between the story of the janitors’ organizing drive and local labor struggles.
  • The Streets Are Free by Karusa, is a bilingual story about children in a Venezuelan barrio who organize and protest about the lack of a playground in their neighborhood and the eventual community action which builds it. Children can retell and then make captioned drawings to illustrate a story of community organizing told by a “guest activist” visitor to the classroom. These can be displayed, then bound into a class book.
  • Shingebiss by Nancy Van Lann, is an Ojibwe legend about a merganser duck who demonstrates the values of persistence, conservation and resourcefulness in order to survive the northern winter. This is a favorite of my students and my own children. Shingebiss is an excellent role model to refer to when the going gets rough. I am often impressed by hearing my students exhort each other to be persistent or praise each other for being resourceful in their problem solving. I start to proudly think, “Wow! Did I teach them that vocabulary?” and then humbly remind myself, “no, they learned it from a duck.”
  • Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen, is about a boy in a financially stressed family who really wants a pet dog. Told from the child’s perspective, it describes the boy’s spontaneous adoption of a stray kitten against the backdrop of the father’s anger at his sudden job loss. Children can easily make text-to-self connections with the story as they discuss how a sudden change of circumstances can affect everyone in a family.
  • The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern, is about two children who notice and then befriend a homeless woman living in their neighborhood.
  • Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting, is about a homeless boy and his father who live at an airport. I use both this book and The Lady in the Box to help children see beyond the “shopping bag lady” stereotype of homelessness, to recognize that people of all ages and circumstances can become homeless for a brief or longer period of time, for a variety of reasons, and that shelters are not solutions in themselves.

– Samantha Davis

Sources: Huffington Post, Scholastic
Photo: Georgina Public Libraries

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Baseball Field or Public Education?

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In the summer of 1996 as an eight year old boy, I was privileged to venture into downtown Atlanta during the Summer Olympic Games. I was amazed at my firsthand sight of the many sporting arenas, housing for international athletes, hotels and other buildings that were built in anticipation for the summer games. At that time I was not aware of the amount of money that was being spent for construction, security, planning and promotions by the city of Atlanta and other private enterprises to stage this worldwide event.

In anticipation for the Games, the city of Atlanta spent $209 million alone on the building of Olympic Stadium, an 85,000 seat stadium that held track and field events and the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. At the conclusion of the Olympics about 30,000 seats were removed from the stadium so that it could be converted into a baseball field, which was a more viable use of the venue. The renovated baseball stadium was renamed Turner Field and became the new home of the Atlanta Braves for the start of the 1997 season.

Since its completion, Turner Field has hosted 81 games each summer for the relatively successful Atlanta Braves and their passionate fan base. At only 17 years old, Turner Field is still newer than 14 of the other 29 ball parks used in Major League Baseball. It is still fully operational and relatively new but the Atlanta Braves are not pleased with the venue. On November 11 of this year, the Atlanta Braves announced that they had partnered with nearby Cobb County, Georgia for the building of a new baseball stadium, set to cost $672 million, of which $450 million is to be publicly financed by the county.

Atlanta’s stadium saga is just one example of municipalities that face the debate of the benefits of publicly financed stadiums. Proponents of them promise an increase in public revenue for the city in the form conventions, sporting events, jobs and retail shopping, but years of outside research has proven to be inconclusive on the economic impact of such projects. In 2017, 20 years after the completion of the once-proud stadium, the city of Atlanta will demolish Turner Field and use the land for another project.

Publicly Financed Stadiums are a risky bet for municipalities that could use the same funds for other more noble investments such as infrastructure improvements and education. Ironically Cobb County is the same county that is currently facing a $78 million deficit in its school system but is willing to fund $450 million on a baseball field. Time will tell if the diversion of funds for education towards a new stadium will be a wise investment for the community of Cobb County.

– Travis Whinery
Sources: ESPN, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, USA TODAY, THE MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL