Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Exploring a Fun, Medieval Charity in Portugal

charity in portugalIn Obidos, Portugal, an annual event brings the community together through the celebration of history, good times and charity.

Over the course of the past week, I have had the pleasure of exploring the beautiful country of Portugal. From the vast beaches to the incredible countryside to the upbeat city of Lisbon, there is so much to do and experience. As my family and I ventured through the country, we came across one particular event that seemed to be getting a lot of attention.

In the old countryside town of Obidos stands a beautiful medieval castle that has been restored and maintained over the years. As you enter the castle, as in many medieval-themed towns and cities throughout Europe, there are plenty of people dressed up for the occasion as well as vendors and artisans selling their handmade foods and goods.

Although this may seem like many other festivals and markets around the world, this one was unique because of the charitable aspect that tied into it. As you enter the market, you pay a small fee depending on the experience you wish to have, which can include things like walking around the castle, seeing parades, watching reenactments of battles and having an authentic medieval meal. Most things are very reasonably priced and the people are very friendly; many of them get into the spirit and dress up as well!

When my family and I were dining, we spoke to some of the vendors and realized that the majority of the people working at the festival were volunteers. Each food stand, for example, had a particular charity in Portugal that they were raising money for, and all the proceeds would go towards that charity of their choosing. Although not all of the vendors were volunteers, many of them were.

Thus, the fun and entertaining experience was not only for good times and a lesson in the country’s history, but was also for helping out a good cause! It was wonderful to see how people came together and used an event such as this to do some good for the community. The festival ends on August 2; however, it is an annual event that lasts for a few weeks, from July through early August.

To learn more about this event and the different charities that it benefits, visit their website.

– Alexandrea Jacinto

Sources: Obidos Mercado Medieval
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Natural Disaster in Myanmar Displaces Thousands

natural_disaster_in_Myanmar
Flooding and extremely heavy rains have accounted for about 150,000 displaced people in Myanmar and the death of 27 people thus far. These extreme conditions were initially attributed to Cyclone Komen, which hit the region of southeast Asia, followed by intense rain.

These rains have lead to flooding, landslides and other disasters, which have completely destroyed specific regions in Myanmar. Heavy rains that have plagued the region in past weeks are unfortunately expected to continue over the next few weeks, furthering the disaster and mess that fills the region. There are images and videos of people using rafts and boats to maneuver through city streets, where cars were meant to be driven.

This is an issue of security for the government of Myanmar as well as private actors that are trying to assist displaced people in the region. Though the disaster occurred a few days ago, both government officials and members of other organizations such as the Red Cross predict that they will not able to reach any people caught in the disaster for days. Because the flooding and landslides are so intense and extreme, it is difficult for anyone on the outside to make their way into the disaster efficiently or safely. This also means it is near impossible for those stuck in the floods to make their way out to safety.

The extent of damage varies throughout the region. Not only have homes been washed away and roads completely submerged in water, but even bridges have been washed away and large buildings have collapsed. The United Nations has said there are about 140,000 people left from the flood and disaster currently living in camps in the region’s capital after managing to escape the horrible conditions.

These floods will have a detrimental long-term impact as well. Numerous crop fields, including about half a million rice paddy fields, have been flooded and destroyed. The economic toll of such destruction has yet to be determined.

There is hope that the extreme weather conditions will ease soon, thus making relief aid more readily available and able to enter the region to help those who are trapped.

– Alexandrea Jacinto

Sources: CNN, BBC
Photo: BBC

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Kyoto’s Homeless: Hidden or “Passing”


The streets of Kyoto are immaculate, decorated by vending machines every 100 feet or so. There are no trashcans, or at least the trashcans are incredibly hard to find. The majority of people walking along the road or biking all appear to be wearing clothes bought in the past year. When I grumbled about the lack of a trashcan while carrying around an empty bottle and a piece of paper that had once wrapped a steamed bun, my dad simply said that even at tea ceremonies, the Japanese are expected to take care of their own trash.

In all of this cleanliness, and apparent economic comfort, it appears that the poor do not exist. When in fact, the truth is that they are hidden.

Kyoto has no homeless shelters, or at least none that the homeless do not make themselves.

To find the homeless, one cannot simply walk on the streets, for in Kyoto they live under the bridges or in Internet cafés. Underneath the bridges of the Kamo River are small homes made of cardboard, plastic and cloth. Walking under these bridges is the only way that you would ever know that anyone in Kyoto is homeless.

The rest of Kyoto’s homeless is much more invisible. I talked to a boy in Kyoto who mentioned sleeping in an Internet café in passing, but I did not know what he meant at the time. Japan Talk comments, “there are a considerable number of Japanese youth who are living on the edge−sleeping in Internet cafés and working temporary or part-time jobs.”

The Internet cafés stay open 24 hours and sometimes offer rooms for $15 to $25 a night. They serve free drinks and are a good option for those who do not have much money. Alternatively, some of Japan’s poor live in the 6.5-by- 5 foot capsule hotels. According to Tofugu, even though the capsule hotels were meant for drunk salary men, when the hotel owners realized that people were living in the capsules, “they gave people discounts for paying for a month at a time, and the government even gave the okay to use these hotels as physical addresses, which helps the jobless living here land interviews.”

Because these cheap “housing” options exist, it is easy for Japan to present a much smaller homeless problem than it really has. Japan’s homeless are hidden in cafés and under bridges. The ones in the cafés almost pass as part of the middle class population, since they walk among them and are working some sort of job.

It is much harder to deal with a problem if it cannot be seen. Japan treats its homeless well in terms of human rights. According to Japan Talk, Japanese “courts ruled that homeless tents on public land can’t be arbitrarily dismantled by police. Police must follow the same due process as an eviction from a regular rental apartment.” On the other hand, the courts are not doing much to make fewer Japanese homeless in the first place.

A few small efforts are starting in Kyoto to help the homeless, like the X Café. In addition, the photojournalist Shiho Fukada is doing work to document the lives and existence of the homeless in Japan. Perhaps if journalists continue to give Japan’s poor a face, story, and acknowledgement, then more will be done to help them.

– Clare Holtzman

Sources: Christo Geoghegan, Flickr, Japan Talk, Kyoto Journal, Life in Kyoto, Ten Thousand Things
Photo: Japan Crush

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Lights in the Darkness: Ordinary People Doing Good

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“There is a light in this world… more powerful than any darkness we may encounter…. [This] spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.”

Mother Teresa, who would not be considered an “ordinary” person, said this once, and there are people who are proving her point every day, serving as lights in the darkness. Even in the midst of devastating circumstances, there are individuals who shine like beacons of light with the efforts they make to make their little corner of the world better. In the fight against global poverty, resources like resilience and joy are all too often underestimated.

For example, 67-year-old Gangadhara Katnam has been filling potholes in Hyderabad, the Indian city where he lives. His effort to tidy up the streets does not only keep clothes from getting ruined–it can save lives. People in cars, on bicycles and on foot all have been seriously injured due to driving or falling into these massive potholes. Katnam says that if he and his peers wanted such problems to get better, they would have to step up and do it themselves. And so he took the initiative to make his sphere of the world a better place and help those around him.

Another one of the lights in the darkness is McArthur Krishna, a volunteer for the Krishna Kumar Charitable Foundation (KKCF). She works to provide employment opportunities and education for young women, which is no small task to take on in the Indian culture of dowries and strict gender roles. As Krishna states plainly, “these girls have one option. They are going to get married to someone, and what they bring to that marriage will determine how the rest of their life goes.” The opportunity for women to take on responsibilities expands their horizons as they find personal fulfillment and their communities watch them succeed. The opportunity to contribute increases self-worth and the way young women are valued by others.

In Ban Naphia, a village in Laos, a man called Phet Napia melts down metal that he collects from ammunition shells and unexploded bombs that litter the countryside and then molds them into key rings and eating utensils. Laos is climbing out of poverty—it was ravaged by bombings during the Vietnam War, which is why this scrap metal is so plentiful. Phet Napia is a testament to the resilience of the country’s population, making something useful and beautiful out of something that was originally harmful and ugly.

It is simple, but all too often forgotten: there is so much good being done in the world. Sometimes the goodness comes in massive strides, as in the successful implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Sometimes it comes in inspiring milestones, as on July 24, 2015, which marked one year of Nigeria being polio-free. And sometimes, the most influential acts of goodness shine through in a retiree filling potholes or a young woman being given a sense of purpose or in a villager’s resourceful spoon engineering. And for a pedestrian who avoided a pothole, a young woman who finally feels valued or a man making lemonade out of lemons, perhaps this is the sort of goodness that has the biggest impact.

– Emily Dieckman

Sources: Gates Foundation, GB Tribune, KKCF, National Geographic, NPR, UN
Photo: Scoop Whoop

TechnoServe: Serving Promising Agri-business

TechnoServe
TechnoServe works in places that are low in conflict and high in potential.

To be on TechnoServe’s radar, local market systems must have a specific unmet demand for a product or service, a potential for inclusive growth that promotes positive development for poor populations and a potential for significant impact.

Since TechnoServe works in high-potential places, it avoids regions prone to conflict, where market systems are at a point of nonexistence and, subsequently, of little promise for change.

The international nonprofit is a “catalyst” for improving competitive markets beyond current capacities.

In partnership with local entrepreneurs and businesses, TechnoServe identifies poor market behaviors both internally and externally. More specifically, it addresses weaknesses in “skills, technologies, availability of information, market linkages, access to finance, infrastructure and governance or policies.”

Furthermore, its target goals are to develop capacity, strengthen market connections and improve the business environment of self-sustaining economic progress. This three-piece system leads to a “cycle of development that helps people lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.”

In order to create a successful market system, there needs to be a network of mutually cooperative buyers and sellers. The TechnoServe website lists the participants needed: direct market plays like producers, buyers and consumers; suppliers that provide the tradable goods and services; and entities that mold the business environment, such as regulatory agencies, infrastructure providers and business associations.

In 2014 alone, TechnoServe reached 1.7 million people across 29 countries. Projects aimed at improving farms, businesses and industries.

To be more precise, 325,200 farmers were helped by TechnoServe, amounting to a $37.9 million increase in farmer revenues. Likewise, 3,000 businesses were reached, amounting to a $16.5 million increase in business revenues. TechnoServe also created 5,610 new jobs, leading to a $7 million increase in wages paid. TechnoServe impacted approximately 1.7 million total men, women and children with its good work.

By 2017, TechnoServe hopes to double its impact. To achieve this goal, it set goals to be accomplished within five years. Staring in 2013, TechnoServe began to reach one million people with an entrepreneurial drive to improve their surroundings. Of these one million, approximately 35% will be women.

Goal two is to generate $500 million in net financial worth by adopting efficient farming and business practices. The expected results are widespread and significant wage increases as well as lasting economic growth.

With its partners, TechnoServe develops projects around the globe. In Nicaragua, the Ganadería Empresarial Project supports livestock production by reinforcing producer organizations and introducing local agri-markets to higher-value markets.

Similarly, the cotton trade in Uganda, dairy trade in East Africa and coffee trade in Eastern Guatemala receive developmental assistance from TechnoServe.

The Haiti Hope Project alone enrolled 27,000 new farmers into the agricultural sector, 47% of which were women. It also produced a market where 43% of business advisers were women, and of the 269 new producer business groups made, 31% of the leadership roles were held by women. Of the $2.3 million in loans disbursed, a majority 52% of loans issued were given to women.

TechnoServe promotes self-sufficient business development in places of greatest impact. The company’s training programs cover how to create and compete in planning businesses and how to become a successful entrepreneur. In the developing world, these skills are often overlooked, so TechnoServe develops responsible business environments that, in effect, help other developing regions rise out of poverty too.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: Technoserve 1, Technoserve 2, Technoserve 3, Technoserve 4, Bloomberg
Photo: Technoserve

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Do Bilinguals Have Increased Executive Control Skills?

Learning to be Smarter: How Bilinguals Have a Cognition (and Communication) Advantage
Charlemagne once said, “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” Learning a language is something most of us strive to do. Whether it’s travel, business, new friends or even literature, learning a new language is something that appeals to people for a wide variety of reasons. At its core, language learning is kind of like finding a key that unlocks new countries, cultures, and people.

However, recent studies have shown that there’s an advantage to being bilingual beyond the ability to immerse oneself in new places. Researchers have found that those who learn a second (or third, or fourth) language have more gray matter in the “executive control areas” of their brains in the frontal and parietal regions. This extra tissue supports memory management, reasoning, planning and problem-solving. The cognitive control required to determine which language is spoken in what context requires increased tissue growth that leads to better control over other brain functions as well.

The study, led by Dr. Olumide Olulade, found that this advantage was only present in individuals who spoke both languages out loud. English-American Sign Language bilinguals did not have increased brain matter while English-Spanish bilinguals did. Communication, the greatest part of language learning, is key to increased development.

Beyond enforced executive control skills, people who speak more than one language have been shown to have improved listening skills, multi-tasking abilities, attention spans and vocabulary in their mother tongue. Beyond this, they learn to perceive the world in a whole different way and come into contact on a deeper level with a greater number of people.

And the fastest, easiest way to learn a new language? Visit a new country. Live amongst new people, visit local haunts, read books in the new language. Fully immerse yourself not only in a new language, but a new way of life. That way, when you become proficient enough to speak to your new friends, you’ll be a true inhabitant of this new place. Becoming a global citizen not only means being able to interact with people from around the world, but also sharing their mindsets, cultural references and perspectives. Global citizens are knowledgeable and, more importantly, compassionate about people in all corners of the world.

– Jenny Wheeler

Sources: PsyBlog 1, PsyBlog 2
Photo: ZDNet

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Vital Voices: Projecting the Voices of Notable Women

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Vital Voices aims to foster growth in the developing world. How? They partner with prominent women leaders in places such as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. According to the organization, women leaders have helped and educated more than 500,000 other women and girls in their communities with the knowledge that they gained during their partnership.

A Unique Approach

Vital Voices invests in leaders. These women know what they need and what their communities need. The organization encourages their fellows to help their communities and other women leaders in their communities.

The organization focuses on three key aspects: human rights, economic development and political participation. Through these areas of focus, women can obtain fellowships, education and influence.

Human Rights

According to UNICEF, there were 3.7 million victims of human trafficking in Africa in 2014. Vital Voices wants to improve the justice system’s responses and victim protection responses. Partnering with legal and criminal justice experts in Cameroon and Uganda, the organization desires to combat this issue.

In Uganda, Voices partners with AEquitas and Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda. In Cameroon, Vital Voices partners with AEquitas and Vital Voices network members.

Economic Development

Women business owners face disadvantages that male business owners do not. Voices provides fellowships in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Women can learn how to grow their businesses and help their communities.

The fellowships allow businesswomen to learn more about leadership, finances and networking. This not only helps the businesswoman, but it also helps foster economic growth in her community.

Political Participation

According to Vital Voices, women only hold 19% of government positions internationally.

The organization is trying to strengthen women’s representation in the Pacific Islands. Partnering with New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and AusAID PLP, Voices empowers women to influence policy change that would increase women’s presence in the workforce.

The Impact

According to U.N. Women, an increase in women in the labor force increases overall economic growth. Vital Voices wants to help women help themselves. In addition, the organization realizes that women have a great impact on the growth of developing countries. Women’s empowerment is now recognized as a way to decrease global poverty.

– Ella Cady

Sources: UNICEF, UN Women, Vital Voices
Photo: Pop Sugar

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Potential to Cure Parkinson’s Disease Found in Existing Drug

Potential to Cure Parkinson’s Disease Found in Existing Drug

In a recent report, researchers found that the current drugs Chloroquine and Amodiaquine, two common anti-malaria drugs, could also provide treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease itself is a disease caused by a loss of cells in a part of the brain called the subtantia nigra. This loss of cells causes the reduction of the neurotransmitter called dopamine, or the chemical in the brain that regulates movement and mood.

One of the study’s authors, Dr. Yoon Ho Sup, stated, “Our discovery brings hope for the millions of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, as the drugs that we have found to have worked in the laboratory tests have already been used to treat malaria in patients for decades.”

Dr. Sup continued, “Our research also shows that existing drugs can be repurposed to treat other diseases and once several potential drugs are found, we can redesign them to be more effective in combating their targeted diseases while reducing the side effects.”

This monumental breakthrough could lead to an inexpensive alternative treatment to many individuals who suffer from Parkinson’s on a daily basis. Creating the new treatment would be beneficial not only from a financial standpoint but also because many of the current treatments involve a varied concoction of many drugs and surgery.

Another of the study’s authors, Professor Kwang-Soo Kim stated, “…[existing] pharmacological and surgical treatments address the patient’s symptoms, such as to improve mobility functions in the early stages of the disease, but the treatments cannot slow down or stop the disease process.”

With the current research and backing of scientific evidence, these drugs are seen to be a potential drug target to treat Parkinson’s itself.

The researchers hope that the drugs can be further modified to continue to better treat Parkinson’s and hopefully slow and stop the process.

– Alysha Biemolt

Sources: Spring, WHO, PNAS
Photo: Medical Press

Olive Oil Without Borders Uses Cooperation for Reconciliation

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Olive oil: in a salad, it brings together flavors and nutrients with healthy and delicious results. In the Middle East, it brings together farmers in Israel and Palestine to change a narrative typically consumed by violence and hatred.

Olive Oil Without Borders is a project of the Near East Foundation, which has spent the past 100 years promoting reconciliation and development in the region. So far the project, which ended its first iteration in 2014, has brought more than $20 million into the Palestinian economy and involved more than 3,000 Palestinian farmers.

The project, which is also supported by USAID, was started due to production surpluses in Palestinian olive oil and production deficits in Israeli olive oil. This means that Palestinian producers were creating more oil than they could sell, while Israeli producers were having trouble meeting a heavy demand. Through this problem, a solution was born—something that could unite those pitted against each other by a troubling political situation.

Thus, in 2005, Olive Oil Without Borders was founded. Objectives of the project include economic empowerment and cooperation, as well as cooperation to promote reconciliation in an area torn apart by conflict and blame.

This is done through mutual training and education, with the knowledge and techniques of farmers of both nations being used to support advancement in the industry. According to olive farmer Muhammad Hamudi, the program brings about cooperation simply through the fact that it is mutually beneficial. “We have things to teach, they have things to teach. They use modern techniques, we have experience and knowledge.” Often times, working together can be brought about not by desire, but by necessity.

The second edition of the project launched in January. This project has the potential to bring more money into the Palestinian economy, advance production techniques in the olive oil industry and bring about lasting reconciliation to a long-lasting conflict, one olive at a time.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Global Citizen, Good Magazine, Olive Oil Without Borders, Olive Oil Times
Photo: Good Magazine

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The BOMA Project Mentors Kenyans in Running Successful Businesses

The BOMA Project Mentors Kenyans in Running Successful Businesses

The BOMA Project works with women living in Kenya and other arid and drought-prone regions in helping them receive the resources, training and funds they need to start up their own businesses. Another aspect of the BOMA Project also helps Kenyan women pay for school, food and healthcare. Since 2009, 8,481 women have enrolled with the BOMA Project to successfully launch 2,651 businesses. In total, women who have enrolled with the BOMA Project have been able to provide care for over 42,250 dependent children.

The BOMA Project was started by Kathleen Colson after she was invited by a local elected official, with whom she attended Saint Lawrence University, to visit Northern Kenya. After many years of working as president of African Safari Planners and leading many excursions through Africa, she came to the conclusion something needed to be done to help those affected by drought.

When drought strikes, livestock die in herds, leaving families with no source of income, which in turn hinders them from being able to buy the food and supplies that they need to survive. After drought occurs, the men of the family leave the women and children at home to go find suitable grazing land. Oftentimes, women are left with no means for food or aid for up to six months. The BOMA Project works to train these women to find other sources of income from starting up their own businesses.

During her many trips to Northern Kenya, Colson met with village elders, faith leaders, local residents and community development workers to gain a true understanding of life in Kenya. While she spent lots of her time there listening to these people, she also focused on hearing what the women of Kenya had to say about life there. Her compassion was piqued by the struggles, challenges and failing solutions about which the Kenyan women spoke.

Colson and Kura Omar, her guide and translator, concluded training women to start and maintain their own businesses would help best alleviate poverty during droughts. Through the BOMA Project, they enacted the Rural Entrepreneur Aspect Project (REAP), which provides women with a two-year poverty graduation program that gives them a cash grant, training in the business and sustainability field and training from local mentors.

Once the businesses are earning profits, usually after six months, members of REAP work with BOMA representatives in establishing savings accounts to prepare for droughts in the future. The BOMA Project has successfully helped over 50,000 women and children in surviving drought season. By 2018, the BOMA Project hopes to double that to over 100,000.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: BOMA Project, Aid for Africa, Dining for Women
Photo: BOMANomad