Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

3 Organizations Helping Entrepreneurs in Africa

entrepreneurs_in_africa
Economic development in Africa has been progressing at tremendous speeds over the last two decades, opening even the most rural entrepreneurs of the continent the chance to succeed in their endeavours. A number of nonprofits have made it their mission to help entrepreneurs in Africa succeed.

African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC)

Established in Rwanda in 2012, AEC now supports over 100 entrepreneurs as they develop and grow their businesses. Though many organizations focus on the initial establishment of new businesses, the AEC provides on-going support and consultation to fledgling entrepreneurs and helps them grow their businesses over time. The African Entrepreneur Collective has tailored their focus to a number of areas: business development, African Innovation Prize for students, low-cost funding, tech and SPRING, focused on innovations for girls.

The organization stated, “In order to create more jobs in Africa, we find the people who are already creating jobs, and help them do it better.”

Self Help Africa

Self Help Africa has been working for 30 years to help farmers in nine countries transition from subsistence farming to farming as a means of income. Self Help’s mission is to strengthen agricultural systems, improve access to goods and services and provide rural communities with market opportunities. In 2014 alone, the organization assisted 290,000 smallholder farmers and had 1.8 million beneficiaries. Some recently highlighted activities by the organization include hosting beekeeping training for a rural Ugandan village, funding a dress-making business in Tanzania and helping a goat farmer in Uganda expand his breeding stock.

WomensTrust

WomensTrust is a New Hampshire-based organization working to empower women in Ghana to break the cycle of poverty and build better lives for themselves and those around them. The organization focuses on three main aspects: microlending for business expansion, education and healthcare. To date, the organization has served over 2,300 clients and supplied more than $400,000 in loans to Ghanese women.

– Gina Lehner

Sources: Women’s Trust, Self Help Africa, African Entrerpreneur Collective
Photo: The Renegade Times

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Russian Healthcare Declines

In the winter of 2013-14, residents of Russia’s Pskov region were left waiting in the cold at their train stations due to alleged obstructions on the tracks. Oddly, neither snow nor ice had blocked paths of the trains; rather along the tracks lay the shivering bodies of numerous Russians in need of medical attention.

A lack of accessible health service or transportation options had compelled these ill residents to prostrate themselves on the cold steel in hopes of hitching a ride to metropolitan centers with hospitals.

Even in city centers like Moscow and St. Petersburg, the situation has become dire. Hunger strikes aimed at preventing the healthcare cuts have occurred in the past two years in both of these major metropolises.

Stories like these call attention to the increasingly desperate state of Russia’s healthcare system, which has experienced significant consolidation and downgrading. In response, many Russians, as these incidents indicate, are quite literally willing to die for better healthcare.

The fierce will for state-sponsored, universal healthcare coverage has persisted since the Soviet era, while the quality of Russian healthcare has not. According to The Moscow Times, “from 2005 to 2013 the number of health facilities in rural areas fell by 75 percent, from 8,249 to 2,085. That number includes a 95 percent drop in the number of district hospitals, from 2,631 to only 124, and a 65 percent decline in the number of local health clinics, from 7,404 to 2,561.” In March of 2015 leaked government reports claimed that over 10,000 medical professionals in the capital had been laid off after the closure of 28 clinics and hospitals. The reports outlined 14,000 further firings leading up to 2017.

Between the years of 2013-14, 90,000 medical workers lost their jobs despite reports of significant shortages of personnel across the country. That same year, The Audit Chamber, a government agency, had attributed the 3.7 percent spike in hospital deaths to spending cuts. In total, 18,000 Russians needlessly lost their lives.

This is all a part of the Russian Government’s recent ‘optimization’ which aims to eliminate inefficiency by consolidating healthcare resources in larger hospitals. Consequentially, it entails the closure of smaller more local treatment centers.

Putin and his administration are determined in their efforts. They seem to have ignored funding and personnel issues and have instead lauded the healthcare system during a meeting in April 2015. Contrary to their own government reports, they claimed an alleged increase in rural medical coverage and a $4 billion expansion of healthcare funding.

For the doctors that have survived ‘optimization’, life in the workplace has become chaotic. Bloomberg News reported on a female family doctor who had to increase her workday from eight hours to 12 hours. On top of this, she admitted to working three weekend shifts per month for the past year.

One clinic has restricted the average appointment time between the doctor and patient to a mere 12 minutes. This gives the doctor just enough time to fill out paperwork.

Those unwilling to compromise effective treatment will defy these strict time limits. This comes at a cost, however, as many doctors have been forced to regularly work overtime in order to provide adequate care.

For patients, this entails excessive waiting times for treatment. With so few staff, they can expect to wait hours just to meet with a specialist. Those in need of ultrasounds often get put on a six week waiting list. Last year one could expect an ultrasound in a matter of days.

Tired of waiting, many Russians have sought better medical care by taking to the streets in protest. Several demonstrations challenging recent healthcare developments took place in Moscow during the fall and winter of last year.

With approval ratings for the country’s healthcare system under 20 percent according to a recent poll, Putin has also displayed some hesitation. During a conference in the fall of last year, he admitted that his administration had not yet considered everything. If protests continue it is perhaps possible even the notoriously headstrong Putin will alter the course of Russia’s healthcare.

– Andrew Logan

Sources: Bloomberg, The Moscow Times, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, The Washington Post

Photo: Bloomberg Business

Katniss Everdeen in Peru: Women Use Bows and Arrows

bows_and_arrowsGenerations of young girls were eager to shoot a bow and arrow after reading The Hunger Games. Of all the characters, none aimed as precisely and mortally as female protagonist Katniss Everdeen.

Although it is not a method for battle or hunting in America, shooting a bow and arrow is still the weapon of choice for Wachiperi people in the Peruvian Andes.

Traditionally, the bow was designated for male use. For centuries, men used bows to snag monkeys, other mammals, fish, and birds. While men hunted, women gathered medicinal plants and performed household chores. Boys began training in archery and hunting at age five, while girls learned to help their mothers with cleaning and cooking.

Today, however, the traditional practice is evolving because of modern-day influences. Women and girls do not want to rely on men for food, and therefore, want to learn the ancient art of archery.

For the most part, the Wachiperi community supports this decision.

Sergio Pacheco, a skilled Wachiperi archer says, “The world is modernizing, and women are starting to want to use the bow. They say ‘We are just women in the family, so what happens when our father dies? We need to learn this to be able to take care of our families.’”

Pacheco spoke at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in June 2015. A skilled archer and traditional doctor amongst Wachiperi people, he shared his cultural knowledge, skills, and wisdom with the audience.

Pacheco explained how hunting has become more difficult due to loggers and miners, who have destroyed the natural habitat of former prey. Men are typically gone for longer days in search of game.

He also described the jaguars that often threaten the Wachiperi community. Twice, he has used bows and arrows to kill the animals.

In addition to discussing hunting practices, Pacheco sang healing songs—called esuwas—for the crowd. He says, “Pills hurt your body because they are chemicals. When I’m sick, I cure myself with only plants.”

Despite his persistence that traditional medical practices are better, he does not question the younger generations—male or female—when they ask to learn archery.

Watch out Katniss Everdeen, you might have some competition coming from Peru!

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: Amazon Books, NPR, Smithsonian Institution
Photo: Smithsonian Institution

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How John Oliver Blends Activism and Comedy

John_Oliver“That dress is worth four dollars and ninety five cents. Think about that. That means you could take a five dollar bill, scotch tape it over your genitals, and you’d be wearing a more expensive piece of clothing.”

The audience bursts into laughter. However, while John Oliver is all about getting laughs on his show “Last Week Tonight,” when it comes to blending the comedian and the activist, he’s not joking around.

The above quote is from a segment on sweatshops in the clothing industry, particularly modern, cheaper retailers.

“It seems sweatshops aren’t one of those 90s problems we got rid of like Donnie Wahlberg,” Oliver said. “They’re more like one of those 90s problems we’re still dealing with, like Mark Wahlberg.”

Oliver’s use of his comedic platform as a springboard for his activism makes sense. Prior to his television show’s launch, Oliver was known for his role as a correspondent on “Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show,” and famously filled in for the beloved host in June of 2013, while Stewart was overseas filming his directorial debut.

The difference between Stewart and Oliver’s areas of focus is subtle but significant. Stewart focuses on news and current events, approaching them with a fresh spin, an important trait in a daily program. Oliver, on the other hand, focuses on issues. From food waste, which Oliver compares to Rascall Flatts in that “it can fill a surprising number of stadiums even though many people consider it complete garbage,” to tobacco giant Phillip Morris International threatening to sue Togo, a country with a GDP of just 4.3 billion dollars (“when your GDP is only a couple of billion more than the box office of Avatar, a protracted legal case is not really what you need.”) Oliver takes on major topics not just for laughs, but for information.

What is also unique about Oliver is how he encourages his audience to get involved. In his segment on the tobacco industry, for instance, Oliver christened “Jeff the diseased lung in a cowboy hat” as the new face of Marlboro. Oliver spread t-shirts of the diseased lung in Togo and billboards in Uruguay. Oliver also encouraged his audience to support the new icon, which mocked the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics, particularly in the developing world. It is through this type of culture jamming that Oliver achieves the power of comedy as a medium that influences social change.

Ultimately, “Last Week Tonight” could have been another late night television show, perhaps made a bit edgier due to its placement on HBO. But due to John Oliver’s social activism and experience gained while working with the great Jon Stewart, the show has become an informative springboard for activism, something with great impact on both its audience and the world at large.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Last Week Tonight: Fashion, Last Week Tonight: Food Waste, Last Week Tonight: Tobacco, Splitsider
Photo: HBO – Last Week Tonight

Native Crops: The Solution to Africa’s Food Crisis?

africas_food_crisisGenetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are often touted as the solution to Africa’s food crisis. However, some argue that the solution has been there all along, in the form of native plants.

A 2010 study recently highlighted in Nature found that, in most cases, indigenous plants contained much higher concentrations of key nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, than non-native varieties. In the case of the native Moringa tree, its leaves pack three times more vitamin A than carrots and seven times more vitamin C than oranges.

While some modified non-native crops do contain much higher percentages of certain nutrients, such as the well-known “Golden Rice” which was created to combat vitamin A deficiency, the harsh climate in much of Africa makes growing non-native crops much more challenging. In addition to having considerable nutritional content, indigenous crops are hardier and faster growing than their exotic counterparts.

With predictions of global climate change causing weather patterns to become more erratic, with sudden rains and long periods of drought, native plants that have spent thousands of years adapting to Africa’s already intense climate could offer a much more reliable food source in the face of such dramatic changes. “Most of the traditional varieties are ready for harvest much faster than non-native crops, so they could be promising options if the rainy seasons become more erratic—one of the predicted outcomes of global warming,” wrote Cernansky, author of the Nature article.

Despite their advantages, native crops make up only a tiny fraction of total agricultural sales. In Kenya, native plants only account for roughly 6 percent of the market, despite the country seeing a 25 percent increase in the land area dedicated to native plants from 2011 to 2013. Much of the lag is due to poor or unreliable infrastructure restricting access to market opportunities. According to Lusike Wasilwa, assistant director of horticulture at Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation, more research is needed to address the issues of production, storage and marketing of native plants.

While it is clear that native plants will not be able to solve Africa’s food crisis overnight, they may offer a cheap and elegant solution in the future.

– Gina Lehner

Sources: SciDev.net, Mother Jones
Photo: SciDev.net

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Coffeed Chain Helps Charities

coffeedCoffeed, a New York City based coffee shop chain, is dedicated to supporting various local charities. Their mission is to become one of the most charitable companies in the world. They aim to serve quality coffee and food at affordable prices, and each location donates between 3-10 percent of their gross revenue to charity.

Coffeed’s CEO and founder, Frank “Turtle” Raffaele, was a stock trader on Wall Street before the 2008 stock market crash. After the crash, he decided to pursue a new path and started Coffeed along with three other former traders. The flagship café opened in 2012 in Long Island City. Currently, there are six Coffeed stores in New York City, and, to take the company international, a seventh café is planned for Seoul. Each location is partnered with a different local nonprofit, such as Community Mainstreaming Associates or the Refugee and Immigrant Fund.

One shop is located in Chelsea at the headquarters of the Foundling organization, a nonprofit that provides foster care and adoption services. Coffeed donates to Foundling in exchange for reduced rent in this busy location. They also dedicate a portion of the café to displaying information about Foundling’s work and issues related to poverty and inequality. Furthermore, they employ some of Foundling’s clients, including developmentally disabled adults and teenaged foster children.

Coffeed’s flagship café partners with Brooklyn Grange, a small farm located on their rooftop. They source most of their produce from this farm and support the City Growers organization, which educates the community about sustainability and agriculture.

Raffaele operates Coffeed on a number of important principles. They serve only Fair Trade coffee and try to keep business local by sourcing high quality ingredients from local vendors and supporting local charities. The cafes are meant to be safe, comfortable spaces for customers where they can enjoy food and coffee at reasonable prices. They work to promote sustainability by engaging in environmental practices such as composting. They regularly refine their coffee roasting and prep procedures. Staff members are carefully selected and work to educate consumers about their products. But the guiding principle for this company is putting charity first.

Raffaele hopes to open 15 to 20 locations in the next five years by connecting with fundraisers and investors. One of his main objectives for Coffeed is to prove that business can be both charitable and profitable. The model has been successful so far and could inspire more businesses to follow suit as the chain goes international.

– Jane Harkness

Sources: Coffeed, Huffington Post, Inc., Small Business Trends, The Times Ledger
Photo: Daily Coffee News

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Good Books Gives Retail Profit to Oxfam

International Good Books Gives Retail Profit to OxfamThe tangible gift of a book gives the intangible gift of learning. When one gives The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird, a young person learns about race relations in the United States. Or maybe a child’s imagination can expand through classics such as The Chronicles of Narnia. What if you could give that gift to a loved one and at the same time help the education of someone in poverty?

It’s possible through the Auckland, New Zealand based company, Good Books. Just by shopping for books on their website, one can directly help the world’s poor through an automatic donation to Oxfam New Zealand, a partner of the general Oxfam family.

This is possible through a business plan by Good Books, which includes several partners that can donate their time or services to make the operation have zero operating costs.

For example, all the workers directly associated with Good Books are unpaid. The organization’s book distributor, Paperback Shop UK, handles the actual moving of the merchandise and supplies the website and management services. Also, the organization is able to build the company’s brand through media support and customers spreading the word.

But this specific labor is for a great cause since all retail profits are sent to Oxfam, an organization that works on many fronts trying to end global poverty.

Oxfam’s work is varied; the Oxfam America website specifically says the following about their work which is indicative of the organization’s work as a whole:

“No one should go hungry.”

“We all have the right to clean water.”

“All people deserve to live safely.”

“Women and girls are crucial to reducing poverty.”

“We all deserve the opportunity to earn a decent living.”

“People have a right to participate in decisions that affect their lives.”

“We must help poor communities cope with climate change.”

“Poverty is not inevitable.”

“People have the power to end poverty.”

While the purchase/donation cannot be earmarked through the Good Books’ website, purchasing the books matches well with the statements, “women and girls are crucial to reducing poverty,” and “we all deserve the opportunity to earn a decent living.” Both of those ideas hinge on education for the masses to move people out of poverty.

Oxfam New Zealand says that “every extra year a girl spends in school could reduce child mortality by ten percent.” So, much of their good work is built around education initiatives to help the community.

Oxfam and their partners have helped rebuild schools in Pakistan, get clean water for students in Nairobi, teach about women’s rights in Guatemala, and even giving goats to families in Ethiopia where the selling of offspring and goods provides money to send daughters of poor families to school.

By buying books from Good Books, consumers can use their purchasing power to help all the areas listed above. Specifically though, one can use their money to directly aid the fight against poverty while also reading a book that can change the mental attitudes for those in developed countries. Awareness and change concerning poverty can be worked on in two very distinct ways through the purchase of books.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: Good Books, Oxfam America, Oxfam New Zealand
Photo: Oxfaminternation

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Can the Infectious Disease Yaws Be Eradicated?

Can the Infectious Disease, Yaws, be Eradicated SoonYaws is a relatively unknown disease in the developed world, but in poor tropical areas of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Western Pacific, it is common and can lead to disfigurement and disability.

Yaws is the most common endemic treponematoses, a group of bacterial infections that also includes nonvenereal syphilis and pinta. All of these infections are transmitted through non-sexual contact with an infected person. They can cause skin lesions, bone pain, bone lesions, nose deformities and the thickening or cracking of a person’s hands and soles of the feet. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 75% of infected people are under 15 years of age, with most cases seen in children aged 6 to 10. Gender is not a determining factor of infection.

Yaws is spread through skin-to-skin contact, usually after a small injury occurs, something common when children play. Yet, WHO states that “overcrowding, poor hygiene and socioeconomic conditions facilitate the spread of the yaws.”

The disease is not life-threatening, which is likely why it became a neglected disease in the scope of global disease work. But if left untreated, a person can become permanently disfigured and disabled. Such a diagnosis is bad for anyone infected with the disease, but since mostly children suffer from yaws, it becomes a life-long issue if not resolved quickly. When a child contracts yaws, their ability to go to school is jeopardized. If left untreated, absenteeism rises among children and their future employment, especially feeding their families through farming, is impacted.

It has long since been thought that yaws could be a disease that can have complete eradication since humans are the only carriers of the disease. Previously, initiatives to eradicate yaws were undertaken with almost complete success. But the mass effort was prematurely lifted and the disease returned, though not quite on the same scale as before.

Recently, the idea of complete eradication has come back up. The two most effective antibiotics to treat yaws are azithromycin and benzathine penicillin, both of which can be given with relative ease. Even though no vaccine is available for yaws, if early diagnosis is achieved, treatment with the antibiotics can occur and sanitation can be improved to help stop the spread of the disease. With the steps, the end of yaws is in sight.

There have already been cases of previously endemic countries achieving complete eradication, including India. The Yaws Eradication Programme (YEP) was launched in India in 1996 with the goal to have complete eradication in the country. In 1997, 735 cases of yaws were reported; in 2004, the country was considered to have achieved “Zero Case.” Because not all cases of yaws are reported, only time will tell if complete eradication can be sustained, but right now all signs are pointing to success.

With great things already happening in India and a plan in place to achieve more success globally, yaws should be eradicated from remaining endemic countries by 2020.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: PubMed.gov, WHO 1, WHO 2
Photo: Chacha

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Ultimate Frisbee Encourages Prosperity in Chennai

Ultimate Frisbee Encouraging Prosperity in Chennai - TBPUltimate frisbee has been adopted in the slums of India as a team-building exercise to encourage unity and prosperity. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored the Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge in 2015, which gave immediate attention to “175 Grams,” a movie about ultimate frisbee and the team united by the sport.

Sports have rules and require dexterity. Ultimate frisbee gives players the freedom to set their rules without referees. It is a leisure sport in the United States, where teams wear matching uniforms and have decorated discs. Often times, events are scheduled at parks, where participants plan day-long activities.

The challenge by Sundance asked for submissions of videos or fictional narratives featuring positive stories about individuals or groups who are beating poverty. There were 90 countries that participated, but a moviemaker in India named Mirle won the competition with his documentary of teens in India’s slums who play ultimate frisbee.

Of the 1.1 billion residents in India, approximately 231,631,442 have been recorded as living in poverty, as of 2010. In coastal areas, fishermen live in depleted conditions. The environment deteriorates because it is vulnerable to natural disasters.

Manu Karan spent time in Boulder, Colorado and returned to Chennai, a city on the coast, in 2007 to complete his MBA program. He had learned how to play ultimate frisbee while in Colorado and brought the game back with him, becoming the founder and president of Chennai Ultimate Frisbee.

The city has 300 players and is home to most of India’s participants in the sport. Children of fishermen, ragpickers and shopkeepers watch other players and eventually join the fun.

Ultimate frisbee cut into bad habits adopted by teens, bringing purpose to lives that had previously felt directionless. These adolescents would often steal mangoes and get into fights on the streets. But all, even those who didn’t have shoes, televisions or enough money to play other sports, were welcome to play ultimate frisbee.

This sport can lift people out of poverty and halt repetitive bad habits. A code of ethics is passed on to both participant and bystander. “175 Grams,” the film created for the Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge, features a team called Fly Wild, where a certain player is determined to continue schooling and maintain a humble reputation.

Teams contain a mixture of social divisions. Many players have different backgrounds, speak different languages, follow different religions and have different amounts of wealth. Men and women are mixed together in teams. There are usually three women for every four men.

Because of this sport, teenagers are learning how to respect others and dress professionally. Nongovernmental organizations such as Pudiyador and IndiCorps are using the sport to educate youth about leadership practices, the importance of unity and gender equality.

Facing separate creeds used to be intimidating, but ultimate frisbee essentially forces others to interact or reconcile, ignoring these differences for the sake of sport. People from the slums and people from upper-middle class families inspire each other. The poor aspire to learn English and desire higher education and opportunity.

Dan Rule, the coach of Australian ultimate players, helped to develop low-cost ways to keep Chennai’s under-23 team players in shape since they do not have access to a gymnasium or other basic equipment. The players of the Australian ultimate team also donated cleats to the players.

It has been seven years since the game was introduced to Chennai. The players of India’s first under-23 team are scheduled to fly to London in mid-July for an opportunity to compete for the World Championship. They have already won 11th place in competition for the World Championship in Dubai.

There are approximately five million people enjoying the sport in the United States. Ultimate frisbee creates family ties, inspires children and gives adults the opportunity to share their excitement for the game.

Fly Wild and U23 are responsible for shaping lives. People in impoverished India are encouraged to rise out of poverty. Teams are inspiring and uniting the youth of their communities through the sport.

– Katie Groe

Sources: Global Post, Fast Company, Rural Poverty Portal, Huffington Post
Photo: Global Post

Wealth and Violence Collide in Buenaventura, Colombia

buenaventura_colombiaBuenaventura, Colombia, home to approximately 300,000 residents, has consistently been ranked one of Colombia’s (and South America’s) deadliest cities. It is home to the nation’s highest homicide rate at 144 murders per 100,000 people—more than seven times the rate of the nation’s capital, Bogota. In this seaside port town, fishermen and gang members have lived together in a fatal balance for years, contributing to the town’s notorious reputation. In recent months, however, the level of violence has exploded, leading many residents to leave the city in search of a safer life elsewhere.

Colombia has been described by some as a country with two faces: one face is the Colombia of the elite and wealthy, while the other is a Colombia marked by violence, gang lords and a vicious drug trade. Once considered too dangerous for visitors due to a brutal civil war between various factions of the government and paramilitary groups, which began in 1964, Colombia has since cleaned itself up, with major cities like Bogota and Medellin now considered hot-spots for tourism. Despite massive improvements that have benefitted the country in recent years, as of 2013 an astonishing 30.6 percent of the population was living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. Colombia also remains the world’s largest cocaine producer, supplying 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States.

Buenaventura, a port town located on the Pacific Coast, is a perfect example of the way in which these “two faces” can collide.

On the one hand, Buenaventura struggles with a legacy of violence that continues to characterize the culture of the city today. During the 1980s, the city was a battleground between leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC, and right-wing paramilitary groups. When the FARC were driven out, paramilitary groups established themselves and began to engage in gang activity, helping to carve the city into rival gang territories and the port into an important regional focal point for the export of cocaine. According to a Human Rights Watch report, these groups have taken the lives of many Buenaventura residents, who are often dismembered in so-called “chop houses” for unwittingly crossing between gang territories.

On the other hand, due to its strategic location on the coast, Buenaventura has recently become the centerpiece of a government strategy to increase Colombian trade with Asian and Western countries on the Pacific, such as the United States, Chile, Mexico and Peru. To achieve this goal, the central government in Bogota has invested millions in development projects, such as the construction of a container port and industrial park, as well as the construction of a major waterfront development project that authorities hope will help attract tourism.

Residents, however, have argued that there is a link between the recent rise of violence in the city and the development projects. Locals, for instance, point to the fact that much of the violence has been concentrated in and has affected locals living in areas along the port. Residential habitation of the area obstructs government plans to turn the area into a tourist destination.

In response to protracted levels of violence in the town, which has recently received increased media attention, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos finally intervened last year, sending in an emergency infusion of cash as well as police officers from the capital.

According to Colonel Marcelo Russi, the police commander in Buenaventura, the added law enforcement has helped to dramatically reduce the murder rate and number of disappearances in the city. Alexander Micolta, the executive president of the Buenaventura Chamber of Commerce, however, has stated that not enough is being done to effectively eradicate violence from the city. “Here, everything that has to do with the port advances. But the city doesn’t advance,” Micolta said.

In order to save Buenaventura, it is evident that money invested in the city needs to be focused on protecting the people who actually live there instead of in efforts to attract foreign investment and tourist capital. Otherwise, the city’s long history of violence and gang activity will continue to perpetuate itself and invade every corner of the city once the police presence leaves. If that happens, then Colombia’s “two faces” will persist to rear their ugly heads in tandem in the country’s small, sea-side city of Buenaventura.

– Ana Powell

Sources: New York Times 1, New York Times 2, World Bank
Photo: War on Want