Roon's Reflections

Messing With My Mind

2010-09-29T02:58:00.000+03:30

So this video clip makes the book seem all warm and fuzzy as Shane Claiborne raises simple, basic questions to "think about." Well, that was not my experience at ALL! Man, this book messed with my mind! In a good way...

While the book's title may conjure up images of "Christian dominion," that is not at all what it is about. This book is somewhat written to a US audience, but just as applicable to us, since all nations share in the world system. In it he challenges the reader on a number of themes:

- What it means to love
- What it means to be set apart
- What it means to be community
- What it means to be free of empire (world systems)
- What it means to be a disciple of Jesus
- What it means to be baptized
- What it means to take Jesus as our model

Sounds simple enough, right?

He does wrestles with these questions from a perspective free of worldly obligations, nationalism, or reliance on government (empire) provision. He proposes living in community that embodies economic and social justice, free from materialism and exploitation of others. Like he says, "We may live in the best Babylon in the world, but it's still Babylon." His conclusions are radical, hard to swallow, uncomfortable to think about doing, but he makes some pretty valid arguments based on the bible and the life of Jesus.

They involve living differently than the world system promotes, conspiring to spread the vision of 'loving God, loving People, and following Jesus' in our neighborhoods and in our world. He concludes that living like Jesus is subversive to the "world system" not reforming.

I had heard about Shane before, since Sarah had read this book over a year ago. But since I was busy with school work, I didn't have time to read it with her. Now all of the challenging questions she was asking at the time make sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, uncomfortableness and all. Now I need to take the things that challenged me to God and see how they are to be worked out in my life. So, if you see me wearing home-made clothes next Saturday, and I ride my bike instead of driving, then you know, I am on my way :) Just kidding...kind of...

Like I said, this book is messing with my mind.

Siddharth Kara, author of Sex Trafficking

2009-11-26T09:22:00.006+03:30

Here is a video of Siddharth Kara and a synopsis of his book below. I haven't had a chance to read his work yet, but I just finished listening to a podcast he did with the Carnegie Council. It was encouraging to hear about this man putting his talent to work helping the helpless. It was terrible to hear about the horrid events that are taking place all over the world at this time.

Kara, a former investment banker and executive, uses theoretical economics and business analysis to propose measures that could eradicate sex trafficking by undermining the profitability of the illegal activities associated with the crime. At considerable personal risk and expense — he is nearly attacked by a gang of pimps in Mumbai — the author penetrates seedy underworlds and forced labor markets to meet the women and children in the dungeon of human disgrace in Asia, Europe and the U.S. He highlights ubiquitous and disturbing trends — the heavy involvement of law enforcement agencies and personnel in trafficking and slavery. His evidence indicates the urgent need for action — a woman or child is trafficked for sexual exploitation every 60 seconds.

According to Kara, there are some key components of the sex trade:
-economic deprivation makes individuals vulnerable to exploitation
-victims are quickly broken down by physical and psychological torture
-trafficking victims often endure a cycle of exploitation, and even if they do manage to escape, they are thrown back into the same conditions that led to their initial enslavement.

Kara identified two principal drivers of the sex trade industry as high profitability and extremely low risk. Worldwide sex trafficking brought in $35.7 billion in 2007, making it the most profitable illicit industry next to the drug trade. In India, profits of approximately $12,900 per slave per year can be generated by exploiting sex slaves, while the only criminal penalty for the practice is a $44 fine for owning a brothel.

Even when stiff penalties are written into law, levels of prosecution and conviction of sex slave exploiters tend to be minor, due to corruption, poor witness protection programs, insufficient evidence gathering, a lack of cross-border cooperation, and other factors.

The best near-term solution to the illicit sex trade, according to Kara, is to reduce aggregate demand by attacking the industry's profitability. Commercial sex is a highly elastic product, so as price increases, consumer demand decreases. In order to attack profitability, Kara recommends elevating risk.

Kara outlines seven tactics to reduce demand, elevate risk, and shorten the duration of enslavement:
-the creation of an international slavery and trafficking inspection force similar to United Nations weapons inspectors
-community vigilance committees trained to report signs of potential slavery to local police or trafficking inspection force
-targeted, proactive raids on establishments suspected of slave-like exploitation
-increased funding for salaries to police, border patrol, prosecutors, and judges to decreased risk of corruption
-special fast-track courts to prosecute crimes, with international observers and judicial review
-fully funded witness protection for slaves
-increased financial penalties associated with sex-slave crimes

Perichoresis

2009-11-17T20:57:00.004+03:30

Perichoresis:

Genuine acceptance removes fear and hiding, and creates freedom to know and be known. In this freedom arises a fellowship and sharing so honest and open and real that the persons involved dwell in one another. There is union without loss of individual identity. When one weeps, the other tastes salt. It is only in the Triune relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit that personal relationship of this order exists, and the early Church used the word "perichoresis" to describe it. The good news is that Jesus Christ has drawn us within this relationship, and its fullness and life are to be played out in each of us and in all creation.

From God Is For Us, by C. Baxter Kruger.

"One" video by Matisyahu

2009-11-15T04:34:00.002+03:30

Musician Matisyahu is the personification of harmony. He is a Hasidic Jewish musician from New York City known for blending traditional Jewish themes with reggae, rock, and hip-hop sounds. He pushes musical boundaries by incorporating a variety of genres to create unique sounds with deep messages that aim to unite and uplift. Matisyahu once said, "All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings that inspire me. I want my music to have meaning, to be able to touch people and make them think. Chasidism teaches that music is 'the quill of the soul.' Music taps into a very deep place and speaks to us in a way that regular words can't." Listen to one of his latest songs 'One Day', which he created as an anthem for hope and a source of inspiration for people struggling to open their hearts and stay positive.

Laughing With God

2009-07-22T07:07:00.003+04:30

Here is a random gem that I came across on the ride to work. I don't know much about Regina Spektor or her music, but so far I like it :)

Laughing With

In solidarity

2009-06-24T01:26:00.001+04:30

If anyone is on twitter, set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians' access to the internet down. Cut & paste & please pass it on.

D-day

2009-06-06T08:47:00.000+04:30

I have watched this show numerous times, and it repeatedly manages to hold my attention. The acting is fantastic. The story is compelling. The challenge of dealing with a world at war... thought provoking.

Band of Brothers is a 2001 ten-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. It was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the Academy Award-winning World War II film Saving Private Ryan. The episodes first aired in 2001 on HBO.

The narrative centers on the experiences of E Company ("Easy Company") of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, from Easy's basic training at Toccoa, Georgia, through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and on to the end of the war.

The events portrayed are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. A large amount of literary license was taken with the episodes, and other reference books will highlight the differences between recorded history and the film version. All of the characters portrayed are based on actual members of Easy Company; some of them can be seen in prerecorded interviews as a prelude to each episode (their identities, however, are not revealed until the close of the finale)

The human aspect of this story puts it in a league of its own. Setting it a part from other war stories such as Saving Private Ryan and Flags of Our Fathers (the latter being a fantastic book, but not movie).

Anyways, with the anniversary of D-Day, it got me thinking of this show.

20 years on: Memories of Tiananmen

2009-06-04T08:33:00.000+04:30

On 3-4 June 1989, hundreds - possibly thousands - of Chinese protesters were killed when their call for democracy on Beijing's Tiananmen Square was brutally crushed.

I remember watching these events unfold on TV...safe...at home. I was too young to comprehend what was taking place. I distinctly remember thinking (about the above photo) that guy is going to get squished! I couldn't comprehend his bravery.

Years later, still mostly unaware of what took place there, I randomly met a man that would change all of that. I was in Italy walking through some ancient ruins when a stranger and I started to talk. He was a nice guy, full of life, yet very alone. Over the course of the day I got to know him. We went for lunch, coffee, and just hung out. As it turned out, he was one of the student protesters in Tiananmen square. He shared with me the events he experienced during that time and afterward when he fled the country. It was an amazing encounter, and one that I cherish.

One of the last things he said about those days was, if he had to do it again, he would not have protested, which led to bloodshed. He would have joined the party and promoted change from the inside out. Then he smiled at me and said, "That is what my friends I left behind are doing right now."

Reflections on North Korea

2009-05-31T08:19:00.000+04:30

I have been thinking a lot about the situation in North Korea. Since China is a very influential force in NK, at first I found it hard to believe that they were sitting by letting NK fire off missiles and detonate a nuclear bomb. I found it hard to believe, knowing that these actions would only anger the US and push Japan towards militarization; two things that would only serve to interfere with China's economic pursuits. Then I read on the BBC a quote by Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of China's People's Liberation Army.

"Our stand on the issue is consistent. We are resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation."

"Our view is that the Korean peninsula should move towards denuclearisation," Mr Ma told the summit.

"Our hope is that all parties concerned will remain cool-headed and take measures to address the problem."

It was the second sentence that really caught my attention. What if China was allowing (or even promoting) NK to nuclearize in order to gain an advantage in the 6 party talks. This advantage might strengthen the Chinese position of "denuclearization" by forcing the US to withdraw their own arsenal in order to put an end to the NK nuclear program. I have no evidence of this, just thinking out loud here :)

Twitter

2009-05-30T09:51:00.000+04:30

Boredom maybe just got the best of me, but I just signed up with Twitter. I always criticized Twitter, feeling that random short updates on my life were boring, trivial, and who cares? So I thought I would see what Twitter had to say about their product. Here is why Twitter thinks I should use their service:

Why? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
Partying? Your friends may want to join you.

Nope, mum does not care if I am eating soup.
Nope, my coworker is my wife. Therefore, if I am running late for work so is she.
Nope, I haven't "partied" in over a decade (literally).

Hmmm... maybe Twitter really isn't for me.

Surprised by Hope

2009-05-30T09:32:00.000+04:30

So I have just started Surprised by Hope. My wife read this one a while back while I was working on my thesis, and I wanted to join her but couldn't for lack of time. Now that I have some time, I thought I would dive in and see why she liked it so much. So far, I am really enjoying it. Here is an excerpt that really got me thinking:

Karl Marx famously spoke of religion as the opium of the people. He supposed that oppressive rulers would use the promise of a joyful future life to try to stop the masses from rising in revolt. That has indeed often been the case. But my impression is that religion is an 'opium' when the religion in question includes the Platonic downgrading of bodies and of the created order in general, regarding them as the "vain shadows" of earth, which we happily leave behind at death. Why try to improve the present prison if release is at hand? Why oil the wheels of a machine that will soon plunge over a cliff? That is precisely the effect created to this day by some devout Christians who genuinely believe that "salvation" has nothing to do with the way the present world is ordered.

Free Time

2009-05-23T08:38:00.000+04:30

Well, with my thesis handed in for the second review I am finding myself with an amount of free time that I haven't experienced in two years... and I am gorging! All of the reading, documentaries, and videos that I have put on the shelf over the last two years are now being consumed. Currently, I am reading Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, by Jeffrey D. Sachs. One paragraph on forging cooperation really got me thinking. Sachs states,

"The forging of nationwide commitments was hardest in societies like the US, which are divided by race, religion, ethnicity, and class, and the native born versus immigrants. Social-welfare systems proved to be most effective and popular in ethnically homogeneous societies, such as Scandinavia, where people believed that their tax payments were "helping their own." The US, racially and ethnically the most divided of all the high-income countries, is also the only high-income country without national health insurance. Even within the national borders of divided societies, human beings have a hard time believing that they share responsibilities and fates with those across the income, religious, and perhaps especially, racial divide" (p. 5).

I guess what really struck me about this paragraph is that I had never thought about it being an issue of "otherness" when it came to social safety networks. Speaking as a Canadian, whose society is just as diverse, I wouldn't have thought of this as being a factor. Maybe it is, what do you think?

Premiere: "War/No More Trouble" Playing for Change

2009-04-30T08:06:00.000+04:30

This is the fourth Song Around The World video released from the CD/DVD Playing For Change: Songs Around The World and the follow up to the classics "Stand By Me," "One Love" and "Don't Worry." This unforgettable track was performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe.

Order the CD/DVD Playing For Change Songs Around The World" now at amazon.com!

It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?

2009-04-19T08:15:00.000+04:30

Here is an excerpt from an interesting Op-Ed in the NY Times written by Bono:

Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty-four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us.

Click here for the full text.

Human Rights Quotes

2009-04-15T00:09:00.000+04:30

When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

Dom Helder Camara:

Growth Quote

2009-04-14T00:05:00.000+04:30

... the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.

Alex Carey: Australian social scientist,
quoted by Noam Chomsky in
World Orders Old and New

Crossing

2009-04-11T04:30:00.000+04:30

Yong-soo is an ex-soccer player who lives in a small coalmining village in North Korea with his wife and young son, Joon. Despite living in extreme poverty, like many in North Korea, Yong-soo’s family is just happy to be together.

But Yong-soo’s pregnant wife becomes critically ill and proper medicine, let alone sufficient food, is hard to find in North Korea. So he decides to secretly cross the border into China, hoping to find medicine for her. Before leaving, he tells young Joon to take care of his mother, promising to return with food and medicine in just ten days.

After many life-threatening moments in China, Yong-soo is transported to South Korea, becoming a refugee prohibited to return to his family. Meanwhile, his wife passes away leaving young Joon alone and destitute. With no one to turn to, Joon soon meets up with an old friend and they try to escape into China as well.

Following his father, Joon attempts to cross the river into China. But they are captured near the border by North Korean guards and sent to a youth detention camp where they are severely mistreated as traitors.

Meanwhile in South Korea, Young-soo desperately searches for a way to bring his son safely into freedom.

Taken from a number of true stories of North Korean refugees, Crossing is the first film to accurately depict the trials and hardships faced every day by the North Korean people.

Playing for Change

2009-04-09T19:56:00.000+04:30

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. This video is a collaboration, made possible through modern technology, of buskers all over the world singing "Stand By Me." For more on this, check out Playing for Change.

Cyber homeless

2009-03-19T19:51:00.000+03:30

Here is an excerpt from Matt Frei's article on Japan's Recession.

On the floor, pairs of slippers have been carefully placed in front of tiny booths.

When you turn down the piped jazz, you can hear snoring.

Of the 68 coffin-sized, airless, windowless booths, 60 are permanent homes.

Peek over the top and you can see washing hanging up to dry, teddy bears and family photographs.

The tenants are commonly referred to as "cyber homeless".

Most of them are unemployed or partially employed, but manage to scrape together the $500 (£358) a month it costs to live in one of the booths, a fraction of what they would pay for even the cheapest hotel room in a place like Tokyo and preferable to sleeping rough.

They can use the address of the cybercafe when applying for jobs, thus escaping the stigma of being homeless.

It is a clever idea, but this is still a place of quiet despair, intense loneliness and the personal shame of collective economic failure.

It is just one of the many Japanese responses to a global crisis.

The Crisis of Credit

2009-02-22T01:32:00.000+03:30

A nice little explanation for all the banking woes going on. Now he just needs to follow up with a bail out video explaining all of that as well.

Part 1

Part 2

Do you know your biblical references?

2009-02-17T19:36:00.000+03:30

Here is a quick little quiz on Biblical references at the BBC.

From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, literary greats have borrowed heavily from the Bible. Now, Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has raised concerns that students of English literature are struggling because they don't understand Biblical references. Is he right to worry? Test your knowledge with this quiz from the Bible Society.

I scored 5/10... They said I passed, "By the skin of [my] teeth"

Simplicity

2009-02-11T01:00:00.000+03:30

I don't know why this picture struck me so funny this morning. Maybe I was sleepy, but I found it very humorous. Plus there is a measure of truth here. As I grow older, I find that the boxes we like to put things (people, ideas, etc.) in don't work well with dynamic or fluid substances. I find this especially true while doing my thesis work. I find the further I delve into the challenge of failed and fragile states, the more complex and difficult things seem to be.

Connectivity and Human Capital

2009-02-05T09:42:00.000+03:30

I was listening to Ashraf Ghani on a podcast the other day and he mentioned something that peaked my interest. He was speaking at Columbia University about fixing failed states. A great book and podcast for that matter. But back to his statement. He mentioned that while he was on his speaking tour in the States, he was pressing universities to accept Afghani students as a way of helping rebuild Afghanistan.

And although it was a sub-point it got me thinking about human capital. Human capital, in a nutshell, is knowledge, skills, and abilities of the citizenry to add value to the society at large.

So I was thinking, America... a land with a lot of human capital. Would it be possible to connect our universities (online possibly) with developing nations (failed, fragile, or developing states) and use our human capital to directly help nations leaders. Not just the president, but leaders in every field. This could be graduate work, PhD work, etc. where students are put in "problem-pods" (groups that are focused on one problem posed to them by a developing nations leader), which would allow the leader to draw upon this human capital (which in most cases is lacking in their own country) to benefit the leader's country. This would not only give grad students a wealth of experience, but it would allow the developing country to by-pass consultants. Not that consultants are bad, it's just they are very expensive.

Just a thought...

Captured by a Quote...

2009-02-04T09:57:00.000+03:30

"Failure is hard, but success is far more
dangerous. If you're successful at the
wrong thing, the mix of praise and
money and opportunity can lock
you in forever."

~Po Bronson~

Here was my inspirational quote of the day. I really enjoyed it. It probably means I need some therapy since it got me thinking so deeply.

Thank you Starbucks for putting that on my coffee cup today ;)

Maryland Police and Their Weird War on 'T*rror'

2009-01-13T01:07:00.000+03:30

When fear becomes our friend, and we hand over civil liberties to a non-accountable bureaucracy...

By Neil Macdonald CBC News

Terrorism has become a rather elastic, overused term, especially since George W. Bush declared his global war seven and a half years ago.

After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration applied the term wholesale to a handful of foreign countries and what appeared to be entire populations. Recognizing an opening, other governments eagerly latched on, sometimes brandishing the word as a weapon against political opponents.

Under surveillance: death penalty opponents pray as they protest Maryland's death penalty in 2005. (Chris Gardner/Associated Press)

But few entities, it might be said, jumped in with the enthusiasm of the Maryland State Police.

The vigilant troopers didn't even need to look overseas for their targets. They found their terrorists right here, in the Quaker halls, churches, campuses, community centres and neighborhood gathering spots of the most prosperous state in the union.

Click here to continue reading.

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I found this article facinating/freaky. Now that the tables are somewhat turned, I wonder if people will start questioning the government they so dearly trusted.

North Korean Boarder Crossers

2009-01-03T20:30:00.000+03:30

From Human Rights Watch

by Kay Seok

"China hopes to see the DPRK [North Korea], our neighbor, enjoy economic and social progress with its people living happily," said Qin Gang, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, at a recent press briefing. Qin's aspirations for North Korea sound like those of many others who wish to alleviate the suffering of some of the world's most brutalized people.

But it is hard to see how China's behavior has done much to secure improvements for ordinary North Koreans. In fact, China actively contributes to the misery of North Koreans by arresting and forcibly repatriating the tens or hundreds of thousands of them - no one knows how many for sure - who live in hiding in China. In North Korea they face abuse, mistreatment, torture, incarceration and sometimes even death. These include women, some with children, who are in de facto marriages with Chinese men.

Click here to continue reading.

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On a more optimisitc note, BBC reported that the North Korean New Year's address contained no open threats to the US, which has been interpreted as a hopeful sign that they are willing to reach out to an Obama presidency in a more peaceful manner.

Berlitz Ad

2009-01-02T20:57:00.000+03:30

Ahhh this is a classic ESL commercial.

Happy New Year: 2009

2009-01-01T23:33:00.000+03:30

Hopeful
Happy
Thankful
Curious

Korean Adulterer Faces Jail Term

2008-12-08T21:30:00.000+03:30

Ms Ok said the law violated her right to chose her relationship

From the BBC:

South Korean prosecutors have demanded an 18-month jail term for a popular actress who admitted breaking the country's strict laws on adultery.

Ok So-ri had sought to overturn the 50-year old legislation, which carries a maximum jail sentence of two years.

She said it was an infringement of human rights and amounted to revenge.

But in October the constitutional court ruled for the fourth time that adultery must remain a crime, saying it was damaging to social order.

Ms Ok has admitted having an affair with a well-known pop singer and her husband, Park Chul, is said to be seeking "a severe sentence".

...............

Adultery aside, if we are going to discus "damaging social order" now is a perfect time for women in Korea to intellectually rise up and start asking questions about sexism in their society.

For instance, how is it that men in Korea are permitted to go to sex clubs (come on, lets call them what they really are) and drink with co-workers and their bosses, yet face no consequences? How is it that Seoul has a red light district? I suppose, just single men and foreigners go there, right? How is it that every night cities are plastered with sex club, prostitution, and erotic advertisements. I'll tell you right now, that it is not the women of Korea patronizing these businesses. How is it that men can divorce their wives if they physically suspect on the wedding night (I won't go into further detail) that the woman has had pre-marital intercourse? How can that standard be applied to men? Well, it can't.

I hope that this case will be a catylist for intellectual discussion on other aspects of "damaging social order," but we will see...

Buy Nothing Day: November 28th

2008-11-26T20:30:00.000+03:30

This Friday, November 28th is Buy Nothing Day. Hmmm... tough sell in some areas of the world, especially on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. :)

But, I'm in. I like the idea of lower consumption rates and I really like the idea of consumer power. Since we live in a market economy, it is important to let business know that our pocket books run the show. That is my motivation. Here is what Adbusters thinks:

Suddenly, we ran out of money and, to avoid collapse, we quickly pumped liquidity back into the system. But behind our financial crisis a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature… fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low?

There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

It will take a massive mindshift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th. Then celebrate Christmas differently this year, and make a New Year’s resolution to change your lifestyle in 2009.

Malaria No More

2008-11-25T20:30:00.000+03:30

I received this email today, and was happy to hear some good news :)

I have been supporting Malaria No More for a while because of the great work that they are doing fighting malaria. First of all, it is outrageous that a child dies every 30 seconds due to malaria. And second of all, I experienced the fear first hand when I was in Uganda. I took pills and slept under a net, but I still felt very paranoid every time I heard a mosquito fly by. I can't imagine living without protection, and I especially can't imagine my daughter being at risk.

..............

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths. We make high-yield investments of time and capital to speed progress, unlock resources, mobilize new assets and spur the world toward reaching this goal. We are working to cover every man, woman and child at risk in Africa with a mosquito net by the end of 2010, with a goal of ending malaria deaths there by 2015.

Since December 2006, when Malaria No More was launched at the White House Summit on Malaria, we have made game-changing progress.

Some highlights:

We distributed mosquito nets in countries across Africa and our direct investments have helped mobilize 15 million nets to protect 30 million African mothers and children from malaria.

African countries are beginning to see tremendous success: Ethiopia, Rwanda and Eritrea have reduced malaria deaths by more than 50% by using proven interventions; the Islands of Zanzibar have nearly eliminated deaths; and Tanzania is kicking off a campaign to cover every child under five with a mosquito net by the end of next year.

Along with our partners,we convened world leaders in health, government and business to announce a common global plan to tackle malaria and more than $3 billion in new commitments to fight the disease at the 2008 Millennium Development Goals Malaria Summit in September.

We launched the Malaria No More Policy Center, which works with the newly-founded Congressional Malaria Caucus to support malaria legislation on Capitol Hill. The Center also provided educational information to members of Congress during the debate surrounding the reauthorization of the PEPFAR legislation, a bill that includes $5 billion in funding to fight malaria over the next five years.

High profile malaria awareness projects were launched by Malaria No More with partners including FC Barcelona, American Idol, National Geographic Kids, Nickelodeon's Backyardigans, and Fox’s "24".

While we are proud of our accomplishments to date, we will be working even harder in 2009 and look forward to sharing our accomplishments with our supporters in the coming year.

Manufactured Landscapes

2008-11-25T00:07:00.000+03:30

From Amazon:
Manufactured Landscapes works triple-time as a documentary portrait, a tone poem, and a work of protest. The title comes from Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's 2003 book of the same name. His large-scale images depict the ways industrialization has transformed the environment. Locations include quarries, slag heaps, and dumping grounds. Director Jennifer Baichwal (The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia) introduces photographs focusing on China and Bangladesh, and then presents Burtynsky in the process of creating them. He adds a few words here and there, but Baichwal mostly lets the people behind his prints--and the devastation that surrounds them--do the talking. Of the sites they visit, China's monumental Three Gorges Dam is the most impressive... and depressing. At the same time the construction has created much-needed jobs, the world's largest engineering project has also displaced 13 cities of over 1.3 million people. To paraphrase Burtynsky, Baichwal's film "searches for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion." With its ominous soundtrack and stately pace--cinematographer Peter Mettler's opening pan through a vast manufacturing plant lasts eight minutes--Manufactured Landscapes is about as far from conventional as a non-fiction film can get. Like Koyanisqaatsi, Rivers and Tides, and Darwin's Nightmare, Baichwal leaves the charts and graphs behind to make one irrefutable point: We're in trouble.
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You can also watch Burtynsky talk about this film and the background on TED Talks.

NIC 2025 Project

2008-11-23T20:30:00.000+03:30

What? All bad news? Did they take into account Obama's message of Hope and Change? :)
I think that the National Intelligence Council's analysts might be products of Robert Kaplan's The Coming Anarchy*, given all the doom and gloom foretold here. Although, I shouldn't react too harshly here since I have only read the preliminary findings. I'll have to dive into a more in-depth read and find the possible "futures" that are better off than the ones listed below.

*Which, for the record, scared me to death the first time I read it.
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GLOBAL TRENDS 2025:
THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL'S
2025 PROJECT

From the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council

"Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" is the fourth unclassified report prepared by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in recent years that takes a long-term view of the future. It offers a fresh look at how key global trends might develop over the next 15 years to influence world events. Our report is not meant to be an exercise in prediction or crystal ball-gazing. Mindful that there are many possible "futures," we offer a range of possibilities and potential discontinuities, as a way of opening our minds to developments we might otherwise miss.

Some of our preliminary assessments are highlighted below:

The whole international system—as constructed following WWII—will be revolutionized. Not only will new players—Brazil, Russia, India and China— have a seat at the international high table, they will bring new stakes and rules of the game.
The unprecedented transfer of wealth roughly from West to East now under way will continue for the foreseeable future.
Unprecedented economic growth, coupled with 1.5 billion more people, will put pressure on resources—particularly energy, food, and water—raising the specter of scarcities emerging as demand outstrips supply.
The potential for conflict will increase owing partly to political turbulence in parts of the greater Middle East.

As with the earlier NIC efforts—such as Mapping The Global Future 2020—the project's primary goal is to provide US policymakers with a view of how world developments could evolve, identifying opportunities and potentially negative developments that might warrant policy action. We also hope this paper stimulates a broader discussion of value to educational and policy institutions at home and abroad.

Everychild

2008-11-22T20:30:00.000+03:30

Going from here to there on the internet, and one thing led to another and I ended up at Everychild. What a great focus for international development.
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EveryChild: what we do

EveryChild is an international development charity. We protect the most vulnerable and excluded children and give them the chance to grow up in loving families with a safe and secure future.

Our projects give children the tools they need to shape their own futures. In order to do this we listen to what the communities tell us, and design each project to meet their specific needs.

The children we work with

We work with children who are, or risk being, separated from their families:

Children living in institutional care, and those at risk of being placed in institutional care.
Children living and working on the streets, including those who are in or likely to come into conflict with the law.
Child workers, particularly those who are exploited in domestic labour.
Trafficked children, including commercially sexually exploited children.

How we help

We give children the chance to grow up in loving families and communities.
We protect children from abuse, discrimination and exploitation.
We empower children, their families and communities to create opportunities for a better life.
We innovate to bring about lasting, positive change in partnership with communities and governments.

What happened in Pyongyang on Sep. 9?

2008-11-21T21:30:00.000+03:30

I had an interesting article emailed to me yesterday concerning anti-government propaganda in North Korea. This isn't something that is normal there, since society is so tightly controlled. Here is an excerpt from the email:
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Rumor on what happened in Pyongyang on Sep. 9, “Anti-gov’t graffiti and leaflets found"

Recently, among the North Korean public, a rumor about anti-government graffiti and leaflets found in Pyongyang on the morning of 9/9 National Foundation Day is spreading widely. Park, a fifty-two year old female resident in Sinuiju, said in an interview that she heard from a businessman from Pyongyang about “graffiti and leaflets found near Chungsung Bridge on Tongil Street” in which a phrase ‘Let’s overthrow Kim Jong Il’ was inscribed.

Park said, “There are eight pillars for the Chungsung Bridge, and the phrase was found on one of the pillars, causing The North Korean Security Agency to go on alert.” The one who did it was not found yet, according to Park.

“It requires one to go to the pillar on boat, so some suspect people selling sand on the riverside, but it’s not sure,” added Park.

Also, Park said of leaflets in which phrases like ‘What is socialism?’ ‘How can officials eat well while people are starving’ and ‘Let’s end Kim Jong Il era’ are written. The leaflets were not handwritten but printed, so digital photographers who earn money for printing pictures were searched with no avail, according to Park. “Most of the citizens in Pyongyang know about this, and government propaganda is telling the people that this was done by South Korean CIA.”
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Interesting, unverifiable, but interesting none-the-less. I am still hoping to see the movie Deface. It is hard to find though.

Solar Power Commercial

2008-11-21T00:19:00.000+03:30

I thought this was very creative, and entertaining for that matter :)

Reflections on Korean Unification

2008-11-15T22:30:00.000+03:30

An interesting article on Korean Unification issues at the Economist online. It presents some sobering details that make unification of the Korean peninsula a serious uncertainty. In fact, when you take into consideration the geopolitical aspect of this division, it becomes really hard (at times) to imagine how unification can take place.
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AT THE heart of North-East Asia sits a failed state with the worst human-rights record on Earth. The regime maintains its grip by putting one in 20 of its population in military uniform. One in 40 has spent time in the gulag. Mobile phones and the internet are forbidden, except for the elite, and radio and television sets are made to tune only to government stations. Unauthorised travel within the country is banned, at least in principle. Food shortages are chronic, and a decade ago the regime’s malign neglect created a famine that killed between 600,000 and 1m people. The famine still casts a long shadow, and not just through malnutrition and stunted growth; recent studies of refugees have pieced together a picture of a population that, in wide swathes, remains traumatised—and there are fears that famine conditions might be returning.

Click here to continue reading.

Malaria No More

2008-11-14T20:30:00.000+03:30

Good news in the battle to eradicate malaria.

"24" STAR KIEFER SUTHERLAND TAKES ON MALARIA

Jack Bauer Takes on a New Killer

Want to meet Kiefer Sutherland and be the first to see "24: REDEMPTION"? Kiefer Sutherland and the Fox drama "24" have joined Malaria No More's fight. The exciting new prequel "24: REDEMPTION" will feature a special Kiefer Sutherland video calling on his fans to support Malaria No More.

And, between now and November 12, fans can bid on special VIP tickets to the world premiere of "24: Redemption" in New York City on November 19th. The VIP tickets include a special meet and greet with Kiefer Sutherland... 100% of auction proceeds benefit Malaria No More!

Bidding starts at $50 for two tickets. Bid on tickets now!

President-Elect Obama Endorses Goal to Eliminate Malaria Deaths by 2015

When President-elect Barack Obama moves into the White House on January 20th, the global malaria community will once again have a strong advocate in the battle against malaria. The new President has pledged to not only build on President Bush's solid commitment to malaria, he has endorsed the goal of the Global Malaria Action Plan to end malaria deaths by 2015.

On the day after the election, Malaria No More Chairman Peter Chernin and CEO Scott Case issued a statement congratulating President-elect Obama and the new Congress and encouraging our elected officials to fulfill the pledges they made to defeat malaria.

Canada’s Role in Stopping Cluster Bombs

2008-11-13T21:00:00.000+03:30

What is a cluster bomb?
Cluster bombs are weapon systems that include cargo containers and bomblets (aka submunitions). The cargo containers are fired, launched or dropped by aircraft or land-based artillery. After being dropped or fired, the canister opens in mid-air and ejects its cargo of hundreds to thousands of bomblets, which scatter over the target area and are designed to explode on impact. Designed to attack dispersed, moving or unseen targets by having a wide area of effect or “footprint”, cluster bombs cause harm to civilians both when they are initially used and long after a conflict has ended.

Impact:
Undeniable evidence of civilian casualties caused by cluster bombs both during and after the conflicts in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan has created a further sense of urgency among civil society and governments to take action on stopping the predictable suffering caused by this weapon.

Today’s battlefields are often in built up or heavily populated areas, where civilians are interspersed with combatants. The wide area-effect design and inaccuracy of cluster bombs on deployment puts civilians at inherent risk. While the delivery vehicle of a cluster weapon may be guided, the bomblets are not. This means that a weapon aimed at a specific target will, in fact, affect an area of up to 1 km2 with no differentiation between military targets or civilians.

Nor does the threat to civilians end when combat does. Cluster bombs used in the past have proven to have a significant number of “duds”, submunitions that fail to explode on deployment, remain after a strike, acting like de facto landmines. These unexploded submunitions can explode when children pick them up and play with them or they can explode when people hit them with a tool while farming. With some weapons experiencing failure rates up to 30 per cent, the result is potentially millions of duds left over after a conflict. According to the UN, in 2006 during the conflict with Hezbollah, Israeli-fired cluster munitions released up to four million submunitions over southern Lebanon. An estimated one million duds remain. At least 360 million submunitions have been dropped since cluster bombs were first used. It is estimated that at least 33 million remain as “duds” on the ground.

The Opportunity:
There are far too few times in history when the international community has the chance for action in preventing a humanitarian crisis, rather than simply reacting to one. Right now, on the issue of cluster bombs, we still have that chance.

In February 2007, 49 nations met in Oslo, Norway and 46 declared their support for a new treaty prohibiting the use, transfer and production of cluster bombs to be concluded in 2008. A further 30 countries declared their support following a meeting in Lima, Peru in May, bringing the total of countries in support of a new treaty to 76! The Oslo Declaration outlines a process very similar to the Canadian-led Ottawa Process of 1996-1997 that culminated in the Landmine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Treaty.

So what is Canada doing to support this historic new initiative? The truth is, not enough. Canada was present at the Oslo Conference and has supported the Oslo Declaration, an important step. But there is so much more Canada, the nation that spearheaded the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty and a country seen as a leader on humanitarian issues, could be doing. All that is required is political will and leadership.

In order to galvanize that will, Mines Action Canada (MAC) is collecting signatures on a petition calling on the Government of Canada to actively engage and be a leader in the negotiation of new international law on clusters.

MAC’s petition calls on Canada to show more leadership on the movement to ban clusters nationally and internationally such as declaring an immediate moratorium on the use, production, transfer and procurement of cluster munitions until this treaty is in place. Canadian support speaks volumes to countries still sitting on the fence.

These are not difficult things for Canada to do. They require no new resources, or radical changes in policy. A declared moratorium, until the treaty is completed, would simply be putting official language to what Canada is doing anyway; we have never used cluster munitions in combat, and are already destroying our stockpiles. Moreover, it is consistent with Canadian values that Canada takes a strong moral and legal stance towards preventing predictable humanitarian harm to civilians.

The evidence is irrefutable and the time is now. If we act urgently, we can avert a new humanitarian crisis. It is time for Canadians to speak up, for ordinary people to once again have extraordinary impact, like we did with landmines in 1997.

The petition can be found online at www.minesactioncanada.org . The petition will be handed over on December 3rd, 2007, the 10th anniversary of when the world came to Ottawa to sign the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty. What better way to celebrate 10 years of history in the making than by doing it again!

Civil society changed the world once when we pushed the world’s countries to ban landmines and we are close to doing it again!

Speak up and be heard, sign the petition here. The time is now.

Why is this post solely directed at a Canadian audience? Unfortunately, the U.S. government, has refused to take part in the negotiations. It has been reported that the U.S. is pushing allies like Canada, Britain, France, Germany, and Australia to oppose or try to water down the treaty.

China, India, Russia, Israel, and Pakistan - countries that produce and stockpile the weapons - have, like the U.S., refused to participate in the talks.

Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know

2008-11-12T21:00:00.000+03:30

Fifty things you might not know about Barack Obama.*This is a curious fact list from the Telegraph.uk not an "Obama is the anti-Christ" list from Hannity. Just a pre-warning for those who stumbled upon this post :)

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili

• His favourite meal is his wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

• He has read every Harry Potter book

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books

• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach, and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• His house in Chicago has four fire places

• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)

• His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire

• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers

• He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His speciality as a cook is chilli

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"

• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Rememberance Day.

2008-11-11T20:30:00.000+03:30

I am very interested in military history. That probably explains my BA in military history :)

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the armistice that ended the "War to end all wars."

If only that were the case.

I was thinking about WWI the other day, wondering what it was like for that generation to live through, or fight in, such a massive conflict. Not only were the ideas of military engagement dramatically changed from anything the world had ever seen, but the political, economic, and social change that came with it was equally as dramatic. I also wonder what it was like for that same generation to be faced with another, yet even larger, conflict 20 short years later.

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In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

2008-11-11T08:31:00.001+03:30

Today marks 39 years of Sesame Street. It is hard to believe that it has been going strong for so long. I wouldn't know, or care for that matter, if it wasn't for my daughter. At 2 years old, Sesame Street, or as she calls it "Street," is pretty cool.

Jason Upton Lyrics

2008-11-10T21:00:00.000+03:30

By far, the number one reason people stumble across this blog is when they are looking for Jason Upton's lyrics. So I thought I would help expedite the search for all those Jason Upton lovers and give you some lyric links:

ST lyrics
Lyrics Download
Lyrics Mode
Metro Lyrics
For more: Google Search

Here is Jason's site. He used to have lyrics there with the songs, but since the last two times the site has been updated, the song lyrics have not been included in the links. Also, you can also find plenty of Jason Upton videos by searching Google Video. If you are looking to purchase his music, you can buy directly through his site or at iTunes or Amazon.

Let me know if this helps.

Challenging Questions

2008-11-09T23:45:00.001+03:30

Here are a set of questions I received from a good friend of mine:

Do you believe that George W. Bush (or for that matter, John McCain or Barack Obama) are Christians?
Where are the world's top reserves of oil located?
Who NOW controls the oil reserves in Iraq? Who WILL continue to control the oil reserves in Iraq?
What is the main business of President Bush and family, VP Cheney, Sec State Condi Rice?
What main company (recipient of the major govt contracts) has made the most profit in Iraq and which political figures are connected with that company?
What happened to the "weapons of mass destruction"? What happened to alleged Al Qaeda connection w/ Saddam?
At this time of crashing economies and markets, what is the one business which is not only thriving but showing the greatest profits on record?
Which major business sector failed horrendously then was "bailed out" by taxpayers to the tune of over $70 billion?
Who is in control of the world economy?
Has your pastor ever ask these questions?

Peace,
Dr. Joe Ozawa

Fuel

2008-11-07T09:02:00.000+03:30

Top 10 Things You Can Do Now:

10) Alter Your Transportation

Take the bus or carpool,

Bike and walk,

Inflate your tires,

Get an electric car or hybrid,

Get a diesel car and run it on sustainable fuel.

9) Switch Your School Buses

Lobby your principal, PTA and school to switch to sustainable biodiesel.

8) Buy Wind

Get a wind turbine, invest in wind energy or switch your electricity provider to a

company with wind power.

7) Get Solar

Put solar panels on your house, invest in solar energy or switch your electricity provider

to a company with solar energy.

6) Invest In Algae

Put your money into sustainable algae companies to build algae ponds in deserts and

also from wastewater or carbon sequestration.

5) Grow Food and Trees - Locally

Start a community garden, plant trees, and learn about organic, biodynamic &

sustainable farming.

4) Go Carbon Neutral

3) Conserve Energy and Increase Efficiency

Buy and use energy efficient devices, turn off lights and unused appliances and retrofit

your house or apartment.

2) Dig Beneath the Headlines - Educate Yourself

Fact check and qualify the source, especially when it involves corporate profits.

1) Vote For “Non-Fossil” Politicians

Vote for leaders who are not owned by oil, coal and nuclear interests.

Tapping the Vortex for Green Energy

2008-11-06T10:58:00.001+03:30

A bane of Big Oil's offshore rigs could become a boon for renewable energy.

By tapping the natural motion of slow-moving water, a new hydrokinetic generator could open vast new swaths of the ocean for energy production. Click here to continue reading.

An over-my-head read from Wired Magazine. Who knows if it will work, but I appreciate hearing about people thinking outside of the box to make a difference.

Starbucks Says, "Time to Vote!"

2008-11-04T00:08:00.000+03:30

Two of my favorite pastimes meet! Coffee and the US election.

If you vote tomorrow, Starbucks will give you a free coffee. Why? Because, according to their video, they care, and so should you.

Psssst, Starbucks, you need to care too, not just about the election, but about fair trade and working conditions of your coffee growers (just a side note)

Ah the day has finally arrived. Tomorrow, the US will vote. Not us here in Washington State however, we all do ours via absentee vote, but for the rest of you... Get out and vote, please :)

Somali Pirates

2008-10-22T10:45:00.000+03:30

Reading through the online papers, I was taken aback by an article that BBC had on Somali pirates. Normally, I would think of Somali pirates as bad guys, doing bad things for money. But this BBC interview of a group of pirates changed all that. They claim that they are not just out there robbing to enrich themselves, but they are trying to get enough money to clean up all of the toxic waste that the international community has been dumping off the coast of Somalia.

"Many pirates claim to be coastguards, protecting waters against illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste."

Interesting perspective, and not one commonly heard in the west. The pirates claim that during the tsunami, it became evident what the international community was doing when tons of toxic, medical, and biological waste washed ashore.

Canadian Elections

2008-10-14T07:17:00.000+03:30

If it is not one election it is another! Although the US election has consumed much of my time, it is time to go home and vote tomorrow. I wonder who will win? I wonder if it is even possible for any one party to gain a majority of seats with all of the parties that we have? Tomorrow we will find out :)

Death and Taxes

2008-10-09T09:47:00.000+03:30

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
~ Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) ~

So, since for most of us, the time and place of our death is unknown, what is to be said about the other half of this equation? Here is a neat little map that I stumbled upon while researching the history of US elections that lets us know. Darn US elections! You keep sucking me in.
Click on the title of this post to redirect to the original site where you can zoom in on the maps details.

Mi Sun: A North Korean Refugee

2008-10-03T20:30:00.000+03:30

PlayPump Water System

2008-10-01T20:30:00.001+03:30

The Water Problem
Access to clean drinking water is critical for human survival and is an essential ingredient for improving the lives of those living in poverty in developing countries. And yet:

More than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water.
Water-related diseases are the leading cause of death in the world, taking the lives of 6,000 people a day, and are responsible for 80 percent of all sickness in the world.
40 billion hours are lost annually to hauling water, a chore primarily undertaken by women and girls.

All this can change
A life-changing and life-saving invention – the PlayPump® water system -- can provide easy access to clean drinking water, bring joy to children, and lead to improvements in health, education, gender equality, and economic development.

The PlayPump systems are innovative, sustainable, patented water pumps powered by children at play. Installed near schools, the PlayPump system doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children.

The PlayPump system also provides one of the only ways to reach rural and peri-urban communities with potentially life saving public health messages.

How the System Works

While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground.

A simple tap (5) makes it easy for adults and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6).

The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.

The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum.

Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

Want to help? Click here.

Call + Response

2008-09-29T20:30:00.000+03:30

"Justice is what love looks like in public" - Cornel West

Global Giving

2008-09-28T07:40:00.000+03:30

I came across Global Giving while researching another post that I am working on. What is interesting about this site is that it is similar to Kiva, (which I am a huge fan of) but where Kiva is about loans, this site is about giving. It would be interesting to study the different approaches and evaluate effectiveness of micro loans versus straight out giving.

Global Giving:

Our Vision

Unleash the potential of people around the world to make positive change happen.

Our Mission

Build an efficient, open, thriving marketplace that connects people who have community and world-changing ideas with people who can support them.

About GlobalGiving

All donations go through the GlobalGiving Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 organization, which receives a nominal 10% fee. This helps cover the cost of operating the marketplace - finding and researching projects, attracting donors, and building our website.

We also provide businesses and other organizations with custom giving services and help them with their specific giving needs. Some of our corporate partners include eBay, Ford, the Gap, HP, Nike, and Yahoo!

Why give through GlobalGiving?

GlobalGiving is changing the way people give, offering donors a transparent, high-impact giving experience. You choose where you want your money to go, and we get it there, quickly and efficiently. Locally-run projects with creative ideas that would never be funded through traditional structures also have access to new sources of funds. And finally, we make sure donors get feedback about how their contributions have been put to work and the results achieved - with satisfaction guaranteed through the GlobalGiving Guarantee.

The projects on GlobalGiving go through a rigorous due diligence review, satisfy IRS guidelines for international grant-making and tax deductibility, and follow national guidelines for anti-terrorism.

Listing projects on GlobalGiving

Projects are referred to GlobalGiving through our network of project sponsors, reputable organizations that vet projects for eligibility and provide references for their work. In addition, GlobalGiving periodically offers competitive opportunities for anyone to submit their projects for consideration.

Our history

In 1997, World Bank executives Mari Kuraishi and Dennis Whittle were asked to develop innovative ways to combat poverty. They created the Bank's Development Marketplace, a first-of-its-kind event where people from around the world competed for World Bank funds. The event's success unveiled the enormous potential of a global marketplace for philanthropy, and participants asked for a real marketplace that was open year round and operated virtually. Mari and Dennis saw the brilliance of this idea, left the World Bank and launched GlobalGiving.

GlobalGiving is a unique collaboration between two entities, a US 501(c)3 registered non-profit and a social enterprise, ManyFutures, Inc.

Water for Farming: Running Dry

2008-09-25T04:30:00.000+03:30

Sep 18th 2008

From The Economist print edition

The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage

MOST people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains. So as the world’s population grows and incomes rise, farmers will—if they use today’s methods—need a great deal more water to keep everyone fed: 2,000 more cubic kilometres a year by 2030, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a research centre, or over a quarter more than they use today. Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer as global warming worsens. The world is facing not so much a food crisis as a water crisis, argues Colin Chartres, IWMI’s director-general. Click here to continue reading.

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This article, although brief, touches some major "hot-button" topics such as: global warming, water scarcity, (over) consumption, farming subsidies, and more. The most stunning fact that I took away from this article was, "As much as 70% of water used by farmers never gets to crops, perhaps lost through leaky irrigation channels or by draining into rivers or groundwater." I'm not sure how much you have looked into water and the future of water, but I know that many corporations and nations are taking water-shortage very seriously. Some commentators have gone as far as to say it will be the commodity war of this century.

Pay Attention to the Children in Crisis

2008-09-23T23:22:00.000+03:30

By Denzel Washington
Special to CNN

"With the political season in full swing, much is at stake for America. The economy is in a downward spiral. We have an energy crisis. Our jobless rate is on the rise.

These are the subjects that generate headlines and much debate among the candidates.

But there is an underlying problem that we as a nation have not addressed, a situation that should concern any American with an eye on the future, regardless of party affiliation. It is the crisis affecting our children:" Click here to continue reading.

..............

Washington makes some valid critiques of relying on our political leaders to solve all our problems for us. Although government has its role to play, I agree with his assessment that regular people need to get involved in being change themselves as well.

A Measure of Hope

2008-09-22T21:39:00.000+03:30

A snippet of an interesting Op-Ed in yesterday's NY Times:

By Paul Collier
"Hope makes a difference in people’s ability to tolerate poverty; parents are willing to sacrifice as long as their children have a future. Our top priority should be to provide credible hope where it has been lacking. The African countries in the bottom billion have missed out on the prolonged period of global growth that the rest of the world has experienced. The United Nations’ goal should not be to help the poor in fast-growing and middle-income countries; it should do its utmost to help the bottom billion to catch up. Anti-poverty efforts should be focused on the 60 or so countries — most of them in Africa — that are both poor and persistently slow-growing."

Dr. Collier puts forth some interesting proposals on tax codes, the Millennium Development Goals, and international organizations. I am glad to see someone dialoguing on this, especially in an open forum. The only part I didn't agree with (vehemently) was that of being pro genetically modified seeds, but I digress.

What do you think?

US Presidential Debates: One Campaign

2008-09-19T09:30:00.000+04:30

It was just brought to my attention by Traveller, that there is a petition circulating concerning the upcoming presidential debates. I encourage all to join in signing it and getting presidential candidate's perspectives on international poverty. I, like others out there, would like to see more substantial issues being disscussed. About the campaign:

Just ONE Question

Only two questions about global poverty have been asked in the history of modern presidential debates - a shockingly low figure. In 2008, voters need to know what Barack Obama and John McCain will do to end the most extreme suffering in our increasingly interconnected world.

You can help make sure that changes, by signing our petition to debate moderator Jim Lehrer urging him to ask "Just ONE Question" on global poverty at the first presidential debate, September 26th in Oxford, Mississippi.

About ONE

ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life - united as ONE - to help make poverty history. We are a campaign of over 2.4 million people and growing from all 50 states and over 100 of America's most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. As ONE, we are raising public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world's poorest countries. As ONE, we are asking our leaders to do more to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries.

ONE is nonpartisan; there's only one side in the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty. Working on the ground in communities, colleges and churches across the United States, ONE members both educate and ask America's leaders to increase efforts to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty, from the U.S. budget and presidential elections to specific legislation on debt cancellation, increasing effective international assistance, making trade fair, and fighting corruption. Everyone can join the fight. The goal of ending poverty may seem lofty, but it is within our reach if we take action together as one. You can start now by joining ONE and pledging your voice to the fight against extreme poverty and global AIDS.

About The ONE Campaign

The ONE Campaign seeks to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in developing countries. In furtherance of these purposes, the ONE Campaign will:

Mobilize people from all 50 states and America's leading non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations to expand awareness of these issues
Publish educational information about the impact of overseas development assistance and reformation of unfair international trade regimes on global poverty, hunger and disease
Raise awareness about and promote the framework of the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty and improve public health and education

Nothing But Nets

2008-09-18T09:30:00.000+04:30

So I was just minding my own business watching the Colbert Report on Hulu (which is a fantastic site for watching TV online by the way) and I was surprised by the level of encouragement I received. No not from Stephen Colbert (he does makes me laugh though), but from one of his guests named Rick Reilly. Rick was on the Report talking about how he learned about malaria and wanted to make a difference. He then challenged his readers (he is a columnist for Sports Illistrated) to join him in giving $10 to buy bednets to protect people in malaria zones from getting the dissease. I was so encouraged to hear about people giving and how much this has impacted people's lives. Down below is the synopsis...

About the Campaign

Nothing But Nets is a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. While the UN Foundation has been working with the UN to fight malaria for years, it was a column that Rick Reilly wrote about malaria in Sports Illustrated, challenging each of his readers to donate at least $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed nets -- and the incredible response from thousands of Americans across the country -- that led to the creation the Nothing But Nets campaign.

The reaction to Reilly's 815 words made clear that thousands of people were ready to help the million children dying unnecessarily each year of malaria. Within a few short months, Nothing But Nets raised over 1 million dollars. And so Nothing But Nets was born.

The UN Foundation has now partnered with groups as diverse as National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church and Sports Illustrated to bring Nothing But Nets to the American public. These Founding Partners are joined by corporate, multi-media and financial partners to make a significant impact by raising awareness and funds to purchase and distribute bed nets and save lives.

Now, we're asking you to help spread the word about Nothing But Nets, and how easy it is to protect children from malaria with bed nets.

You can save a family. Your church, school, or team can save a village.

Together, we can cover Africa with life-saving bed nets.

How it works

Nothing But Nets is powered by your passion; it works because you do! Create a community for your church, school, team, or family and friends. Together, you can spread the word, raise funds, and share your stories.

With the money you raise, the UN Foundation and its partners work with the Measles Initiative – one of the most successful vaccination efforts ever undertaken – to purchase bed nets and distribute them in countries and communities in greatest need.

Using its proven distribution system – which in just five years has vaccinated nearly a quarter billion children – the Measles Initiative will distribute bed nets along with measles vaccinations and other medicines to at-risk countries. It’s an effective and cost-efficient way to get the nets to the people who need them.

Getting Involved

At NothingButNets.net you will find resources on malaria, toolkits that you can download to help you raise awareness and organize fundraising events, and the ability to create or join a Netraiser team.

Sign up as a Netraiser Team Captain to recruit your friends, family and co-workers to help support you in raising money for bed nets to prevent malaria in Africa. As a Team Captain, you can invite people to join your team so they too can ask their friends to sponsor them within your team or simply ask for sponsors.

And, check out the success of our first-ever World Malaria Day!

Working together, we can cover Africa with lifesaving bed nets.

New Songdo City, South Korea

2008-09-15T08:00:00.000+04:30

I was looking around the random magazines that have found their way into our house lately for an article on a solar convention that is coming up in California. I didn't find that ad yet, but I did come across this little gem under Urban Planing: Done Right. A city developed and inspired by classic cities such as Paris, Boston, and New York, but with a futuristic feel.

Songdo will be built on a man-made island, 40 miles east of Seoul at the site of General MacArthur's 1950 landing, It will be the first "new" city in the world designed and planned as an international business district.

Built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land and soon to be connected to Incheon International Airport via a new bridge, Songdo is the most ambitious undertaking of its kind. Currently under construction (you can go to their site to watch the building take place through a webcam), this planned city aims to provide an "unsurpassed quality of life" - including a 100-acre Central Park, International School, International Hospital, Ecotarium, Museum, and Shopping Center amongst its many amenities.

The city's plan includes fifty million square feet of office space - including the landmark 65-story Northeast Asia Trade Tower and Convention Center, thirty million square feet of residential space, ten million square feet of retail, five million square feet of hotel space and ten million square feet of green space. Because of its central location within the Yellow Sea Economic Basin - which comprises an economically active population of more than 200 million with a GDP of USD 1.3 trillion - Songdo wants to be the business hub for multinational companies in Northeast Asia.

Aims:
New Songdo City is a city designed around one thing: the people who will live and work here. People who will experience an unparalleled quality of life as technology (each house has built-in computers), resources and innovation all come together. The project brings together the top industry leaders to enrich and build the world's most beautiful, functional and environmentally friendly city.

What is really cool is the environmental aspect. They are designing in foot paths, bike trails, public transit, ubiquitous wireless internet, and they are going to include free shared bicycles and 10,000 electric Smart Cars.

What is really freaky is that everything done here is based in RFID technology.

Mediocrity

2008-09-10T21:30:00.000+04:30

So my wife gave me a scathing review today of my recent posts.

Let me back up a bit before I go on...

A couple of weeks ago, I came across her reviewing her Google Reader and noticed that she hadn't been to my blog in a while. There were approximately 7 unread posts, maybe more. So, all in fun, I gave her a hard time for not reading my blog. Especially, when later that day she started talking to me about something that I had already blogged on.

So, little did I know that she would not only read my posts, but also have critical feedback on the "lack" of clarity in my communication. My only choice, especially once she showed me specifics, was to humbly receive this feedback and acknowledge that I do post without much editing. I guess I just drop my ideas and run. So, my apologies to those who have been silently aware of my shortcomings :)

60 years of North Korea

2008-09-09T23:40:00.000+04:30

N Korea defies critics as it turns 60

By John Sudworth
BBC News, Seoul

Authoritarian regimes love having people walk in step. There is nothing more hypnotic than watching this. It's like water in a stream, only militant and aggressive :)

If North Korea has just one thing to celebrate upon reaching its 60th birthday, then perhaps it is survival itself. Click here to continue reading.

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I read an interesting article on North Korea in the BBC yesterday, as they reported on the "celebrations" in Pyongyang that marked the country's 60th birthday.

What I really found interesting were the two perspectives that they quoted concerning the longevity of the Kim regime. The first perspective placed blame on the US stating, "The continued US military presence in South Korea has not so much undermined the regime in the North as strengthened it." The second perspective put more of the onus on the international community stating, "North Korea has proven so resilient because the international community does not really want it to fail. The outside is terrified of collapse, so no-one is pushing North Korea hard enough,"

An interesting read. Too bad there is not more attention paid to the human cost that the average North Korean has had to pay over the last 60 years.

1 Billion for Georgia?

2008-09-09T21:30:00.000+04:30

Really?...Really?... did I read that right when I read it on the front page of NY Times, BBC, CNN, and VOM? Did the Bush administration really promise that???.... Yes, they did.

Wow! Who is going to front these funds? Is the Bush administration going to give out of their own pockets? Nope, the taxpayer is. And why will Joe and Jane taxpayer put out those funds? To help Georgia "recover from this act of "aggression" from its larger neighbor."

Doesn't anyone else find this a little strange? The US is swamped in debt, there are about 100 other countries in more need, not to mention the local need in the US itself. And did everyone forget that Georgia invaded Ossetia? No, Russia started it... no Georgia started it... no Ossetia started it... True, it is hard to sort out, but 1 billion??? Is there anyone else who is questioning this? Friedman is. What do you think?

Joe Biden in Kalispell, MT

2008-09-09T01:23:00.000+04:30

At 3:08 in the video, you can see my sister-in-law and her daughter at watching Biden speak. It is so cool to see Zoe there, getting involved in the things that are impacting her world. She is only 13, and she wanted to go learn about the policies and politics of the current race. I am so proud of her!

Dan Rather on The Need for an Independent Media

2008-09-08T22:30:00.000+04:30

One of the signs of a healthy state is a strong, independent media. Would you agree with Dan Rather's assessment of our media (as espoused in this video)? The popular argument to counter him is that the media is presenting what the people want to see. That media groups are responsive to demand, not to the corporate owner. Do you agree? How can independent media compete? So many questions.

I looked up Link TV (the people who recorded this video) and they claim a noble mission statement:
Link TV broadcasts programs that engage, educate and activate viewers to become involved in the world. These programs provide a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the U.S. media. We connect American viewers with people at the heart of breaking events, organizations in the forefront of social change and the cultures of an increasingly global community.

Link TV is committed to:

Educating American viewers by offering in-depth programs on issues of regional and world importance. We expose our audience to people they would never meet, to cultures they might never understand and to issues they have yet to consider.
Providing a global perspective on world issues and culture offering alternate viewpoints that are not U.S.-centric. Through the presentation of other nations' newscasts we offer diverse perspectives on world events. Through personal stories told in Link TV documentaries we humanize the 'other' and counter the tendency to make enemies out of the unknown.
Giving voice to people without a voice, from communities under-represented in conventional media and unknown to most Americans. Our programs connect viewers not only to the 'movers and shakers' but also to the 'moved and shaken'-- people affected by the news. We cover U.S. domestic issues, showing their connection to global affairs.
Encouraging action on the part of the viewer. Our programs counter the cynicism and resignation that can result from watching conventional television news. Program trailers and the website gives viewers access to tools and connections to take action on social issues.
Promoting cross-cultural dialogue through innovative television formats. Live call-in programs provoke discussion on global issues by participants that may be separated by ideological differences and thousands of miles.
Fostering collaboration through coalition building with partner organizations and grassroots organizations around specific issue programs.

Lofty ambitions aside, the problem that I see is that so much of the "independent" media has such a strong ideological slant in their reporting. Just Google "independent media" and start reading some of their articles. I would argue against describing independent media as "fair and balanced" as fervently as I would argue against Fox News being "fair and balanced." So I guess the same argument could be made for the mainstream media. What is a reader to do? I guess my current strategy of perusing a swath of media on one given subject, trying to piece together what really happened, is the best one can do. Thank God for the internet, because truth is time-consuming. (I also really enjoy the podcast resources available from The Economist and Stratfor and the BBC. The quality of journalism and analysis found in those podcasts far exceeds the low standards found in US television newscasts).

Career Change

2008-09-07T11:30:00.000+04:30

The challenges of a career change are immense, not that I would say that I have ever actually had a career. Hmm... what is a career? It sounds serious and professional.

According to Oxford dictionary, a career is an individual's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". It usually is considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education. It is traditionally seen as a course of successive situations that make up a person's worklife.

So by that definition I guess my string of unrelated jobs and education are my career history.

Unfortunately, when changing careers, the past doesn't always help you in where you are wanting to go. Take my current situation, for example. I have worked in banks, education, and have a BA in History, and an MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding.

Banks= no problem, I know how to find them, apply, and get a job.

Teaching= no problem, I know how to find schools, apply, and get a job.

Why? I have the the "magic three" going for me: education, experience, and the know how to locate and attain work.

Now it comes time to change tracks. I am thinking government or NGO work. Now I am minus the magic three. I only have the first one in my list (education). That coupled with increasing competition and unreasonable, in my opinion, job requrements. Want to see what I mean? Here is a random job ad for a low level job with the UN.

Competencies
The incumbent must have the following skills and competencies: i) PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of research methodologies, data collection and maintenance. Ability to identify, extract, analyse and format data from a wide variety of standard and non-standard sources. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; ii) PLANNING AND ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently; iii) COMMUNICATION: speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed; and iv) TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others? ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education
BA is required. Supplemental courses/training in research methodologies, statistical methods and procedures, project management on related fields is desirable. First level university studies in economics, sociology, statistics or related area desirable.

Work Experience
Six years of relevant experience, of which five at least of collecting, processing and systematizing information, with progressive responsibilities in managing project activities and monitoring programmes, providing inputs for project formulation and implementation.

Languages
Fluency in Spanish and intermediate knowledge of English required. Proficiency of the second language (English/Spanish) will be tested, unless knowledge of the second language can be supported by a certificate from a recognized institution.

Other Skills
Proficiency in computerized spreadsheet, database and word processor is required.

Keep in mind that this is a low level job as an assistant. Most other jobs require a much higher level of education, more languages, and even more experience. I read through these ads and think, "Who are they looking for Kofi Annan?!"

So how does one change into aid, development, or humanitarian work?

The answer as far as I can see: internship. Free, unpaid, out of your own pocket, show me what you've got, work. And at the end of it, then, maybe then, there will be an open door to a whole new career path.

I.O.U.S.A: Fiscal Responsibility

2008-09-06T09:30:00.000+04:30

I came across this trailer a while back on a topic that really interests me: the mounting national debt. There are so many dynamics that are at play when talking about national debt, and I'm not sure how many this film will get into, but I am interested to find out what they have to say. This topic is also pertinent with the upcoming election looming.
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The Synopsis according to IMDB:

I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. As the Baby Boomer generation prepares to retire, will there even be any Social Security benefits left to collect? Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions. Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes. Wielding candid interviews with both average American taxpayers and government officials, Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) helps demystify the nation's financial practices and policies. The film follows U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America's unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens. With surgical precision, Creadon interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America's current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.

Hole in the Wall and Education

2008-09-03T09:30:00.000+04:30

As I try to keep away from bloging about the election, I veered myself over to TED Talks for a change of pace. Literally, this election really gets my blood pumping. :) Anyways, I watched a video by Sugata Mitra on the Hole in the Wall project and how young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own -- and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves? I don't think I have completely wraped my head around the ramifications of his study, but I found it quite interesting. I couldn't help but think of children's abilities and how, for the most part, they remain so untapped. I have below some excerpts from his site and his study.
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Minimally Invasive Education

The central idea behind Hole-in-the-Wall is that groups of children learn on their own without any direct intervention. This was conceptually explained by Dr Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist of NIIT, as Minimally Invasive Education (MIE). He found that children using Learning Stations required little or no inputs from teachers and learnt on their own by the process of exploration, discovery and peer coaching. The idea of MIE has crystallized over a period of time based on observations and educational experiments conducted at NIIT.

Minimally Invasive Education is defined as a pedagogic method that uses the learning environment to generate an adequate level of motivation to induce learning in groups of children, with minimal, or no, intervention by a teacher.

MIE uses children's natural curiosity and focuses on providing an enabling environment where they can learn on their own. Children, in the process of freely experimenting with the Learning Station, pick up critical problem solving skills. It also provides a collaborative setting where children can share their knowledge and in the process, develop better group dynamics, all in a highly natural environment.

MIE's uniqueness is its ability to attract children towards the Learning Station driven purely by their own interests. Conventional pedagogy, on the other hand, focuses on the teacher's ability to disseminate information in a classroom setting. MIE thus complements the formal schooling system by providing a much needed balance for a child to learn on her own and provides for a holistic learning experience.

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

Hole-in-the-Wall is one such idea, which offers the world a surprisingly fresh perspective on the learning process. Breaking the traditional confines of a school, Hole-in-The-Wall Education Limited (HiWEL) takes the Learning Station to the playground, employs a unique collaborative learning approach and encourages children to explore, learn and just enjoy!

As a concept, Hole-in-the-Wall has multiple dimensions and a potential which is virtually limitless. What it offers someone depends on the perspective one is looking from.

For experts, like Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, Hole-in-the-Wall is a ‘Shared Blackboard’ which children in underprivileged communities can collectively own and access, to express themselves, to learn, to explore together, and at some stage to even brainstorm and come up with exciting ideas.

For villagers, it is more like a village Well, where children assemble to draw knowledge and, in the process, engage in meaningful conversation and immersive learning activities that broaden their horizons.

And finally for children, it is an extension of their playground where they can play together, teach each other new things, and more importantly, just be themselves.

In Africa, a New Middle-Income Consumerism

2008-09-02T20:30:00.000+04:30

By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, September 1, 2008; Page A01

In a region more often associated with grinding poverty, Ruharo is part of a modestly growing segment of sub-Saharan Africa -- upwardly mobile, low- to middle-income consumers.

The group includes working Africans who make as little as $200 a month, a paltry sum by Western standards, yet hardly the $1 or so a day in earnings that describe life for about half the continent's population. Perhaps a third of all Africans, or 300 million people, fall into a middle category -- people struggling to put their kids through school and pay rent, but able to buy a cellphone or DVD once in a while.

To continue reading click here.
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This article was brought to my attention by Traveller. TKS.

I have been mauling over notions of class and mobility. I don't have it all worked out yet. It is interesting to read this article though, noting that many of the people that I spoke with when I was in Uganda mentioned that they felt that lack of foresight and long-term vision handicaped those who were begining to make some money. People were telling me that it was too common for people to spend all that they earned rather than investing in themselves or the next generation. This article goes in the direction of countering that, by saying people were investing beyond consumer goods by investing in houseing as well. It would be interesting to see a study on savings and investment versus spending the pay cheque and/or consumer debt to see what is really taking place on the ground.

What do you think? Is spending on consumer goods a sign of economic progress?

Japan’s Prime Minister Resigns

2008-09-02T09:53:00.000+04:30

Surprise! — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced on Monday night that he would resign, abruptly ending his chronically unpopular government after just a year and leaving Japan’s governing party scrambling to find fresh leadership ahead of crucial national elections. I guess in a country with frequent political insecurity that news like this isn't really news to the rest of the world.

US Election 2008

2008-08-30T09:50:00.000+04:30

Must think thoughts other than the US election...

Darn US election and ramifications for the world hanging in the balance!

Helping North Korean Refugees

2008-08-25T09:02:00.001+04:30

"Liberty House" - an initiative to assist North Korean refugees seeking asylum in the United States - is up for consideration in the American Express Members Project competition. The winning project will be awarded $1.5 million, while second and third place projects will win $500,000 and $300,000 respectively. Two finalists will also win $100,000 each. Help them to win by nominating them up to September 1, 2008. Then vote for them once per round (there's two). You don't have to be a cardholder. There is not much time left, so please don't put this off. Your vote can be a catalyst to help hundreds of North Korean refugees!

Heres how you vote!

1) Go to the following link: http://www.membersproject.com

2) You have to log-in to nominate our project. So go to the top right corner of the page and click “log-in”

3) If you are a card-member of American Express, enter your online ID and password. You will then be prompt to enter your e-mail and password (you may have to create this).

4) If you are not a card-member, click on “guest sign up” located on the third column. Fill out the information and log-in!

5) You are almost done! There are over 1,200 projects to vote for…so, enter “liberty house” in the search field and our project will come up as “Liberty House-Assistance for North Korean refugees.” Click on it and then it will take you to our page where you will see a “nominate this project” button. Once you click on that button, we will receive your vote!

6) Lastly, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “facebook” or “myspace” icon so that you can post it to your profile.

Thanks!

Who is Liberty House?

Liberty House is a refugee resettlement center specifically for North Korean refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. In conjunction with the federal government, full financial support, basic necessities, and core services – such as case management, vocational/ educational training, job placement, counseling, mentorship, cultural orientation, and recreational/ youth activities – will be provided. The goal of Liberty House is to acculturate these unique refugees and help them become self-sufficient.

North Korea is home to some of today’s worst human rights violations. As such, up to 300,000 have fled to China risking torture/execution if captured and repatriated. A fraction escape and seek resettlement in nations willing to provide asylum. Once resettled, refugees face issues like discrimination, acclimating to a new culture/language, getting jobs, and starting new lives alone. Due to the unique background of these refugees, it’s critical there is a program to address their specific needs.

A significant number of North Korean refugees resettle as victims of torture, abuse, sex trafficking, forced labor or abandonment and have witnessed forced abortions, infanticide, torture, rape, execution, mass starvation or even cannibalism. Many have lost their dignity, not received proper counseling and must also adjust to a new country while learning to be self-sufficient. Liberty House helps these refugees regain dignity by enabling them to contribute to society in a positive way.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

2008-08-16T09:31:00.000+04:30

Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.
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This could very well be one of the best books I have ever read. The depth of human emotion and experience is captivating. Page after page I was enraptured, I could not put this book down.

Drug Addiction

2008-08-15T10:41:00.000+04:30

To help or not to help? That is the question.
Which leads to the question, can you help those who don't necessarily want help?

A scenario was given to me today. Unfortunately it is not just a scenario, but someones life.

A woman (Woman A) has a 41 year old daughter (Woman B) who has been through rehab 7 times. Woman B has been doing drugs since she was 14. Her family, minus Woman A, has given up. They are heartbroken and hopeless, but Woman A cannot let go of her daughter even if she is now a grown woman, and to many, beyond hope. Woman A has heard of a rehab program with great success rates on the other side of the country. The cost: $23,000. Woman A does not have the money or support of her family, including her husband.

What should she do?

What would you do?

NBC, Mac, and Olympics

2008-08-09T09:39:00.001+04:30

So I just found out, last minute of course, that NBC will not allow Mac users to watch the Olympics online (no, I don't have a TV). That is soooooo lame. I read that they weren't going to allow Mac users to watch at all, but the NBC site tells me that the will, if the Mac has Intel. That means I need to have a new Mac to watch the Judo that I crave and am totally excited for.

Darn, run out and buy a new Mac or forgo the fights.

Arg! Darn NBC and corporate wars!

P.S. Oh yes, Mac has a special, If I buy one now, I get a free iPod. Oh how tempting that is :)

Failed States

2008-08-06T09:23:00.000+04:30

So I have been a little to busy to blog as of late, not to mention the lack of interaction has bored me a little :) (My fault, I am a strange person who likes to talk about random things that only hold my interest, and luckily, that of my wife)

Anyways, what has been keeping me busy is research on my thesis for my MA. Although I have not narrowed my topic, questions, or proposal yet, I have chosen my general topic: Failed States and Canadian foreign policy. I am bantering around ideas concerning failed states (i.e. governance, good governance, economics, international relations, exploitation, etc.) and reading an interesting book called Fixing Failed States by Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart.

The general thesis is to come to an international consensus on the definition of a state and base sovereignty on that framework. I think Ashraf Ghani is an extremely intelligent person and I admire the work that he has done in Afghanistan, yet I find his framework for rebuilding a fractured world a little "ivory tower" (I say cautiously, as I realize that he has done a lot in the way of building states and dealt with reality that entails). The reason I say this though is that the underlying assumptions put forth in this book include: all humans act rationally; there is no evil or greed; no acknowledgment that other states profit off of weak and failing states; and that states don't generally act benevolently. That aside, I did really enjoy this book and learned a lot from their experience and knowledge. Hopefully I will get focused on this thing and refine my topic and begin writing shortly.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

2008-08-05T09:23:00.000+04:30

An icon of his age

Aug 4th 2008
From Economist.com

The death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn gives Russia a chance to reflect on authoritarianism

PROPHETS are without honour in their own country—at least until they die. For most of his adult life in the Soviet Union, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was persecuted. In exile in the West from 1974, his gloomy philippics and increasingly turgid prose aroused more bafflement than appreciation. After he returned to Russia in 1994, he was welcomed but then ignored.

To continue reading click here
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An interesting reflection on a thoughtful author. I really enjoyed reading “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” That book was part of a course I took during my BA, and I have read it a couple of times again. What really strikes me about the gulag stories is not only the "human" element but the underlying current of madness that quickly overwhelmed nations. I would venture to say that not only should Russia reflect on authoritarianism, but we should as well.

Japan: Slow Life Movement

2008-07-15T20:30:00.000+04:30

I was watching the news the other day, when a story appeared that peaked my interest. I have always been quite fond of Japan, and therefore, very interested in the events that take place there. Having experienced Japan first hand, both as a tourist and as a worker, I would say that Japan has always had a inclination towards the "slow life." They have just tried to marry it or do it on the side as they moved forward with the "salary man" life.

So what is the slow life movement?

It began as an advertising slogan for the prefecture of Iwate in January 2001. 'Ganbaranai! -- Don't go for it!' By the following year the Slow Life movement had spread to Kakegawa, and by 2003 there was a 'Coalition of Slow Life Cities' across Japan. Slow Life Months were held by Tajimi City, Yasuduka and Gifu City. By May it had reached the Kansai region. The Slow Life movement's themes seem to have struck a deep chord in Japan.

'In the late twentieth century,' explains Japan For Sustainability, 'Japan valued and pursued the 'fast, cheap, convenient, and efficient' life that brought us economic prosperity. However, it also caused problems such as dehumanization, social ills, and environmental pollution. We would like to move forward, with the slogan "Slow Life," to achieve 'slow, relaxed and comfortable' lifestyles, and shift from a society of mass production and mass consumption to a society that is not hectic and does cherish our possessions and things of the heart.'

The Slow Life Manifesto contains eight suggestions:

SLOW PACE: We value the culture of walking, to be fit and to reduce traffic accidents.
SLOW WEAR: We respect and cherish our beautiful traditional costumes, including woven and dyed fabrics, Japanese kimonos and Japanese night robes (yukata).
SLOW FOOD: We enjoy Japanese food culture, such as Japanese dishes and tea ceremony, and safe local ingredients.
SLOW HOUSE: We respect houses built with wood, bamboo, and paper, lasting over one hundred or two hundred years, and are careful to make things durably, and ultimately, to conserve our environment.
SLOW INDUSTRY: We take care of our forests, through our agriculture and forestry, conduct sustainable farming with human labor, and ultimately spread urban farms and green tourism.
SLOW EDUCATION: We pay less attention to academic achievement, and create a society in which people can enjoy arts, hobbies, and sports throughout our lifetimes, and where all generations can communicate well with each other.
SLOW AGING: We aim to age with grace and be self-reliant throughout our lifetimes.
SLOW LIFE: Based on the philosophy of life stated above, we live our lives with nature and the seasons, saving our resources and energy.
There are some interesting thoughts in the "manifesto." I'm not sure what they mean by slow aging and being self reliant. To me self reliant is not existent. We all need others :) But that aside there are some good thoughts here. What do you think?

Back to the news program I was watching. The report was on the slow life trend in Japan, but what it focused on was a Japanese entrepreneur who created a restaurant to sell people quiet and space between you and the person seated at the table next to you. Funny how capitalism works.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-07-14T20:30:00.000+04:30

Ben Stein, in the new film
EXPELLED:
No Intelligence Allowed

His heroic and, at times, shocking
journey confronting the world's top
scientists, educators and philosophers,
regarding the persecution of the many
by an elite few.

Coming to a theater near you
April 18th, 2008.

Ben travels the world on his quest, and
learns an awe-inspiring truth that
bewilders him, then angers him and
then spurs him to action!

Ben realizes that he has been "Expelled",
and that educators and scientists are
being ridiculed, denied tenure and
even fired for the "crime" of merely
believing that there might be evidence
of "design" in nature, and that perhaps
life is not just the result of accidental,
random chance.

To which Ben Says: "Enough!"

And then gets busy.

NOBODY messes with Ben.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Trailer

2008-07-14T20:25:00.000+04:30

Responsibility to Protect

2008-07-13T20:30:00.000+04:30

An Introduction to R2P

The Responsibility to Protect describes an evolving concept about the duties of governments to prevent and end unconscionable acts of violence against the people of the world, wherever they occur.

The international community has a responsibility to protect the world’s populations from genocide, massive human rights abuses and other humanitarian crises. This responsibility to prevent, react to and rebuild following such crises rests first and foremost with each individual state. When states manifestly fail to protect their populations, the international community shares a collective responsibility to respond. This response should be the exercise of first peaceful, and then, if necessary, coercive, including forceful, steps to protect civilians.

The Responsibility to Protect means that no state can hide behind the concept of sovereignty while it conducts–or permits– widespread harm to its population. Nor can states turn a blind eye when these events extend beyond their borders, nor because action does not suit their narrowly-defined national interests.

These principles were set forth in a report entitled The Responsibility to Protect (PDF), issued with the support of the Government of Canada by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Today, these concepts continue to evolve and develop new meaning as the international community comes to understand that sovereignty entails responsibility.

Zimbabwe, Sad State of Affairs

2008-07-12T21:00:00.000+04:30

While the world watched... knowing...

In a time of lack, and I am speaking of global leadership here, what then is to be done. I have heard of minor efforts of shipping labour groups in South Africa refusing to service Chinese ships carrying arms to Zimbabwe. I would venture to say, along with the chorus, that the local governments of the area are not going to help. Heaven forbid that South African PM Mbeki actually put pressure on Mugabe, then he might be next.

Then what? Then who? What can be done? What is being done?

A draft resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and a number of his key allies has been vetoed at the UN Security Council.

Not that sanctions are the answer. I know that the effectiveness of these types of actions are debatable, but some form of unanimity and/or pressure would at least speak hope to those who are resisting this tyrant.

The resolution would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and financial and travel restrictions on President Mugabe and 13 of his top officials.

UN SANCTIONS VOTE

FOR
Belgium
Burkina Faso
Costa Rica
Croatia
France
Italy
Panama
UK
United States

AGAINST
China
Libya
Russia
South Africa
Vietnam

ABSTAINED
Indonesia

It also called for a UN special envoy for Zimbabwe to be appointed.

Russia and China vetoed the resolution, saying the situation in Zimbabwe posed no threat to international security. What about regional stability? What about the Responsibility to Protect? The MDC says 113 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced from their homes since March. I guess enough haven't died yet, and internal terrorism is acceptable.

It's a shame...

Who Will Take the Technological Lead?

2008-07-11T20:30:00.000+04:30

The Dutch and Danes are leading the way in wind power energy. Japan is steadily gaining competitiveness in the field of technology (especially rechargeable batteries) by taking the lead in promoting innovative environmental and energy technology and using the advanced technological know-how it has accumulated.

I believe that environmental technology is the new market hole that has yet to be filled. There are countries on their way, but none have gone so far as to make it a national priority to develop this industry.

Will other countries rise up and fill the hole?

Will the US miss this opportunity to direct their auto and tech industry in this direction?

The Power of Green

2008-07-10T20:30:00.000+04:30

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: April 15, 2007

One day Iraq, our post-9/11 trauma and the divisiveness of the Bush years will all be behind us — and America will need, and want, to get its groove back. We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad, and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope, and inspiration. I have an idea how. It’s called “green.”

Click here to read the full article.
..........
Why change is good:

We have the tech industry to become the "new Middle East" of environmental capital that can be sold world over.
Our unsustainable ways must change or we will suffer as a people and planet.
Technological advance can free us from oil and empower us through job creation, economic growth, and a safer planet for our children.
We can remove oil guarding troops from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the high seas. These are expensive and we can reallocate our savings.

Those are just off the top of my head, what do you think?

Vertical Farming

2008-07-09T20:30:00.000+04:30

The Current Challenge

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 10⁹ hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?

A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

Currently 60% of the human population lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans are protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate regime, that is not what follows. Massive floods, protracted droughts, class 4-5 hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops. The time is at hand for us to learn how to safely grow our food inside environmentally controlled multistory buildings within urban centers. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, the next 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will become a much more unpleasant place in which to live.

Advantages of Vertical Farming

	Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres)
	No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests
	All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers
	VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water
	VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services
	VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface
	VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of evapotranspiration
	VF adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals
	VF dramatically reduces fossil fuel use (no tractors, plows, shipping.)
	VF converts abandoned urban properties into food production centers
	VF creates sustainable environments for urban centers
	VF creates new employment opportunities
	VF allows for the regrowth of natural wildlife habitats by returning current agricultural lands to nature.
	VF may prove to be useful for integrating into refugee camps
	VF offers the promise of measurable economic improvement for tropical and subtropical LDCs. If this should prove to be the case, then VF may be a catalyst in helping to reduce or even reverse the population growth of LDCs as they adopt urban agriculture as a strategy for sustainable food production.
	VF could reduce the incidence of armed conflict over natural resources, such as water and land for agriculture What do you think?

The World is Wide Open - Jason Upton

2008-07-08T19:16:00.000+04:30

Lyrics by Jason Upton

There is a power in poverty that breaks principalities
it brings the authorities down to their knees

There is a brewing frustration and an ageless temptation
to fight for control by manipulation

The God of the Kingdoms and God of Creation, God of the Nations
sent this revelation through the homeless and penniless Jesus the Son
"The poor will inherit the Kingdom to come"

Where will we turn when our world falls apart and all of the treasures we stored in our barns, can't buy the Kingdom of God?

And who will we praise when we've praised all our lives, men who build kingdoms and men who build fame, but Heaven does not know their names?

And what are we going to fear, when all that remains is a God on the throne with a child in his arms and love in His eyes?

And the sound of His heart cry...

Take us way beyond religion
Way beyond the minds of man
Take us way beyond religion
Way beyond the minds of man
Take us way beyond politics and the ways of this world
Oh deeper, We want to go deeper

Deeper into the ways of you Jesus
Teach us how to love
Teach me how to love
Teach us...

The world is wide open
The world is wide open
It's wide open
Teach us your ways Jesus
We want to walk in your truth

Son and daughters of the living God
All of heaven is waiting on us
It's waiting
I hear all of creation crying, "We're waiting"

Show us how to love
Teach us how to love

Stop telling us you are the chosen people,
Start living like a chosen people

I am calling your name, every son and daughter in the Church today....
Teach them that my ways are far beyond the ways of man
My ways are far beyond religion
My ways are far beyond one people
My ways are higher than your ways

Teach them how to love
The world is wide open
Teach us how to love
It's time
We are sons and daughters of the living God

The Flip Side of the American Dream

2008-07-07T20:30:00.000+04:30

Posted by: Richard Baldwin at VoxEU

ACCORDING to the dream I grew up with, America is the land of opportunity. If you’re talented and hard working you can do anything. Every boy or girl could be president, get rich or fly to the moon. The flip-side of this belief is less beautiful. If you are poor, it must be your own damned fault.

I think this is why it is so hard to combine the best part of America's economy (openness, opportunities, meritocracy, etc) with Europe’s social safety net. In Europe, the well-off feel guilty about the poor. In America, the guilt is thoroughly laced with resentment, so a proposal to give the federal government another ten or twenty percent of GDP to string a safety net under the economy would be political suicide.

Take the health-care example. In Europe, all but the most extreme right-wing parties support universal health care underwritten by taxpayers. In America, it seems more like the domain of lefty ideologues. To Margret Thatcher, universal basic health care was a no-brainer; to Ronald Regan it was a non-starter.

Regardless of the why's, the facts are clear. Most poor Americans had poor parents and most rich Americans had rich parents. Intergenerational transmission of income inequality is the jargon for this. Plainly there may be some natural selection component. Tall, strong and beautiful people tend to have tall, strong and beautiful kids; smart people tend to have smart kids, etc. And all these features are associated with higher incomes. However, the research shows that even controlling for a person's observable features, a parent’s income is a strong predictor of their children’s incomes.

If we are ever going to get beyond the "your own damn fault" reasoning, economists will have to illuminate the social mechanisms that perpetuate income inequality.

Two columns that will appear tomorrow on VoxEU tomorrow take a step in this direction.

Jonathan Guryan, Erik Hurst and Melissa Kearney discuss recent research that shows more educated parents spend more time with their kids—a result ripe with implications for the inter-generational persistence of income and health inequalities.

The second column, by Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman and Uwe Sunde, presents new evidence that shows parents pass on risk and trust attitudes to their children. This certainly lines up with the commonly held idea that risk-taking and entrepreneurship seems to run the family.
..........
I found this article to have a very interesting premise, but I disagree with some of the "economics-only" conclusions. What do you think?

Microfinance and Profit

2008-07-06T20:30:00.000+04:30

Doing good by doing very nicely indeed
Jun 26th 2008
From The Economist print edition

In support of profiting from the poor

FOR years Muhammad Yunus reigned as the public face of microfinance. It seemed only right when, in 2006, the Bangladeshi economist cum social entrepreneur and his Grameen Bank shared the Nobel peace prize for a micro-lending revolution that has helped millions to earn their own way out of poverty. Yet for the past year or so, microfinance has had another public face, one that troubles people like Mr Yunus. CompartamosBanco argues that the best way for microfinance to help the poor is for it to make a socking great profit.

Since Compartamos listed its shares for over $1 billion in April 2007, it has stirred up an increasingly fierce debate. To Mr Yunus and its other critics, the Mexican bank is no better than an old-fashioned loan shark, earning its huge profits by charging poor borrowers a usurious interest rate of at least 79% a year. Perhaps sensing opinion turning against it, the bank has belatedly sprung to its own defence, issuing a defiant justification of its business in an 11-page “letter to our peers”. And it manages to make a convincing case for its strategy of fighting poverty with profits.

Shares and sharing out

Compartamos was born out of the same social concern that inspired Mr Yunus. It uses a similar group-lending model to Grameen’s. It says its mission has not changed, but it has become convinced that by pursuing profits it will be able to provide financial services to many more poor people far more quickly than it would if it had continued to act as a charity.

Microfinance, especially lending to microentrepreneurs with no collateral, is labour-intensive and costly—in Compartamos’s case, around $152 a year per client, with an average loan of $450. By charging an interest rate that generates a profit, the bank can grow fast and provide many more “micro-entrepreneurs” with the finance they need, even at interest rates that by the standards of rich countries seem unacceptably high. The bank now has over 900,000 clients, and expects to reach over 1m this year, up from the 61,000 it had in 2000, after a decade as a traditional non-profit outfit. None of these new borrowers was compelled to come to its doors.

Compartamos also argues that its profits will build a microfinance industry. The more it earns, the more attractive microfinance will seem to investors, and the more capital will flow in. And the evidence supports this apparently self-serving claim: since Compartamos started to pursue profit, seven new regulated microfinance providers have begun to compete with it in Mexico, many of them financed by profit-seeking capitalists. Greater scale and competition are driving down interest rates—in Compartamos’s case, from 115% seven years ago. Even Mr Yunus has recently started to make the case for a more self-sustaining “social business” model, though his “non-loss, non-dividend company” is hardly as hungry as Compartamos.

Profiting from the poor can be wrong, when lending is predatory—when the lender expects that the borrower will be unable to pay the interest or repay the principal. Compartamos does not target the poorest of the poor: it argues they would be better served by benefits such as income support from the state. It reports low default rates and high customer satisfaction. As for exploiting the ignorance of some borrowers, Compartamos says it is committed to transparency on interest rates and other charges. Since going public, it has offered financial literacy courses—some 60,000 of its clients went on one last year. If only those rich-country banks which touted subprime mortgages to the poor had been as public-spirited.
.........
I have been a strong proponent of microfinance, and feel that issues such as these need to be addressed, not to undermine it but to strengthen it so that it becomes more effective.

What do you think?

Can microfinance be redeemed or reformed to the point that it is removed from the category of "loan sharking?"

When money is involved, can there be honesty and integrity?

For further reading on this, Wikipedia has a very good article on Microfinance that deals with the pros and cons of this form of lending.

The Luckiest Girl

2008-07-05T20:30:00.000+04:30

Op-Ed Columnist
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 3, 2008

This year’s college graduates owe their success to many factors, from hectoring parents to cherished remedies for hangovers. But one of the most remarkable of the new graduates, Beatrice Biira, credits something utterly improbable: a goat.

To continue reading click here. (Encouraging story, I recommend it)
.........
There is quite a debate between Aid and Development. Would you consider giving a goat to be Aid or Development?

Things That Seem Hopeless

2008-07-04T20:30:00.000+04:30

My wife informed me that my, "blog contains things that seem hopeless." I thought that it might be a good idea to change the name of my blog to that: "Things That Seem Hopeless" since it does appear, upon review, that she is quite accurate. My hope is to stir discussion, prayer, action and an other suitable response to the challenges in the world around us. My thoughts are, if we are not leaving this world in better condition than we came in to it in, then we are not succeeding as a generation. Sounds harsh as I type it, but I would like my baby to live in a fairer and more just world. I would also like to see those who believe in God radiate His Kingdom in every area of life and not hide out in a church or their safe social sphere when there is a hurting world that needs love. Hmmm sounds preachy doesn't it :)

Anti Sex-Trafficking Message "I Am Elena"

2008-07-03T20:30:00.000+04:30

Ad critiques:
Here's one that sucked the oxygen out of the studio when we played it. You could hear people not breathing. In fact, there were a handful of people crying as it finished. That's how powerful the content of this ad is.

We found it last year in the early stages of preparation for The Gruen Transfer, and knew right away that we wanted to put this to air. In the UK, where it comes from, it was shown in a very limited cinema run and then online. It's a bit much for TV - that only made us want to show it more.

The ad was the brainchild of Emma Thompson and Dr Michael Korzinski, a director of the Helen Bamber Foundation, which works with survivors of torture and cruelty. Elena is a real person - a patient of Dr Korzinski, and a former sex slave from Moldova. All the dialogue in the ad is actually real, words and ideas taken from the mouths of Dr Korzinski's clients. The ad was made at Thompson's house - written in two hours and shot in three with the help of an ad team

The visual effects used in the ad are worth examining. It's framed so that you see Thompson's face close-up, creating a 'suffocating' effect. It is shot from above, giving the viewer the uncomfortable perspective of the perpetrator. The editing echoes horror movies. The script is a simple and stunning idea, with Thompson's words, "Help me!", resonating most deeply.

It's an impressive piece of film making. But advertising must be effective as well as creative. And interestingly, the panel was divided about whether it's a good ad. Russel Howcroft called it "advertising at its absolute best". However, Todd Sampson said the level of shock employed by the ad went too far, with him feeling paralysed, not knowing what to do after seeing it. There's no call-to-action, no hotline to donate money or get involved.

The aim of the communication, our panel proposed, was to raise the awareness of the issue in the minds of politicians, to move it up a few notches in terms of public consciousness. If that's the case, then Thompson's celebrity factor and the power of the emotion would almost certainly have done that.

At Gruen, we've had to watch it quite a few times. It never gets any easier. We hear what the panel says about call-to-action, but we think it's one of the most unforgettable ads we've ever seen.

How do you determine the effectiveness of an ad like this?
..........
This video is rated 18A and not recommended that anyone EVER have to watch this, except for the fact that it is real and it is really happening and something must be done... Amy shared this video with me. I have seen many videos during my research project on Human Trafficking, I have to say that this one hit me hard. It is unthinkable really for 500,000 to 800,000 women and children a year...

Deface

2008-07-02T21:52:00.000+04:30

When a North Korean man is pushed to the edge by his daughter's senseless death, he risks his life to challenge the oppressive government, making his voice heard through an extreme and unusual action.

Happy Birthday Canada!

2008-07-01T21:40:00.000+04:30

Happy birthday Canada. Here are the perfect ying and yang of Canadian identity wrapped up in these two videos.

What is the Link Between Suicide Rates and Happiness?

2008-06-26T09:01:00.000+04:30

Matters of life and death

From Economist.com

GLOBAL suicide rates have increased by 60% in the past 45 years and it is now one of the three leading causes of death for people between 15 and 44 years old according to the World Health Organisation. People in countries with high suicide rates say they are unhappier, according to the “World Database of Happiness” maintained by Erasmus University in Rotterdam. But interpreting suicide trends is tricky because there is no international standard for reporting and collecting data. Countries with strong religious or cultural strictures against suicide often report lower rates.

Act of Faith

2008-06-25T08:41:00.000+04:30

I was teaching the other day, discussing the book The Cat Who Went to Heaven (which for the record is a terrible novel, I can't believe it won a Newbery Medal) with a student who had just read it and was about to take a test on it. I had warned Amy in advance that this was a challenging test and she needed to know certain aspects of the book in order to pass. Since Amy did not heed my warning, I was spending time testing her memory of certain events of the story. As I was asking her if she remembered what animal the Buddha was in his first life another student (Ella), who hadn't read the book, pipped in and answered the question. So I gave Amy a hard time (in fun), especially since she was a Buddhist. Then two students, Ella and Helena, really got involved and told me they also were Buddhist, but had recently become Christians. Ella told me that she had become a Christian because her Mum wanted her to go to a Christian school and the thought she had to convert in order to go (which is not true, but funny). Then Helena told me that her whole family was Buddhist until her younger brother was born. He was born with a handicap (she didn't tell me what it was) and the family became Christian because they wanted him to be healed and Buddha couldn't heal. Then more and more of their extended family also became Christian in hopes that Jesus would heal her brother. Wow! What faith. I agree with them in faith. Jesus heal him!

Matthew 9:22
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well.

Matthew 9:29
Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith."

Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.

Matthew 17:20
And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Matthew 21:21
And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

etc...etc...

The Role of Remittances

2008-06-23T20:55:00.000+04:30

From Economist.com
Where most money is sent, and where it counts most
Long neglected by development experts, there is now growing enthusiasm over the role that remittances play in shifting wealth to poor countries. This is partly because of a greater awareness of the scale of the flow. Some 200m people are thought to be migrants and many of them send cash to relatives back home. For some small countries, such as Moldova, repatriated funds account for a large share of GDP, and even for bigger countries, such as Mexico, the billions of dollars received are roughly as sizeable as foreign direct investment. Rich countries, too, with many migrants abroad, benefit from large flows of remittances. Some doubt their efficacy, noting that most funds are quickly consumed by recipients rather than invested, but their role in cutting poverty is significant.
........
I would venture to say though, that if the money is not being invested or saved, it is not cutting poverty but alleviating it. To me the difference is time. To cut poverty is to have a long-term beneficial outcome but to alleviate it is to cause a short-term respite. It may seem like splitting hairs, but if we are going to get at the roots of poverty, I believe that we need to deal with root causes in order to cut the levels. I have also come across information stating that governments start to rely to heavily on this form of GDP and it can severely damage a country during an economic downturn in the sending country. Any thoughts?

Mr. Bush, Lead or Leave

2008-06-22T23:12:00.000+04:30

Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”

A great op-ed post by Thomas Friedman in the NY Times today. Click here to continue reading...

Tears from Zimbabwe

2008-06-20T22:17:00.000+04:30

I just received this email from inside Zimbabwe. It is horrendous that this is happening as the world sits back and watches. I have just taken some highlights from the email as it was a little long to post:

Dear all,

The election campaign is being fought on "one hundred percent empowerment" ie. taking everything that belongs to people who are not black and giving it to Party faithfulls. The Party has got nothing else to offer the people...

People were told if they did not come they would be beaten.

President Mugabe arrived in our little town of Chegutu this afternoon and people were only informed that morning. Everyone had to go to his rally whether they wanted to or not. He apparently told the people that if the opposition got in it would be war.

The leaders were waving guns around and had everyone doing their bidding. The chanting and sloganeering was military style - all in unison for hour after hour after hour all the way through the night. We could not sleep.

When dawn broke and the birds started to call the chanting broke into a noise that sounded like a terrible swarm of bees on the rampage. We knew that the beating had then started and we prayed. It turned out that anyone who they believed had been polling agents at polling stations was covered in cold water. We had frost that morning and it was cold.

They were then told to beat each other with sticks while the crowd egged them on. The noise went on for a few hours. Those people will not vote; still less be polling agents in the next election because you have to vote in your own ward I understand and they are designating which polling station too so that they can check who you voted for.

They had been searched for any cell phones so that they not relay any atrocities on to anyone. They were told that they would be killed if information leaked out. Everyone is tight lipped about what went on. Today they go through the day mechanically with terror written all over them.

There are political roadblocks everywhere. The police are under orders not to intervene.

We prayed and read Psalm 118.

That evening we got a call from ***** ***** who was very badly beaten up with her husband six weeks ago by a gang. They had also had everything from their house and workshops stolen in that raid including even their clothes.

Such road blocks are now common at night to stop observors and anyone from "outside" getting to any pungwes and seeing the atrocities that are taking place. In these areas any movement needs official sanction from the Party and written ZANU permits are even required to visit the next ward in many places.

The friends worker was stopped at a road block and had to wait 2 days to get someone to vouch for him. During that time 4 people who had not got anyone to vouch for them were asked if they wore long sleeves or short sleeves. The first replied "short sleeves". They cut his right arm off at the top with an axe. The other three replied "long sleeves". They cut each of their right hands off. He said that he saw the hands wriggling on the ground detatched from their owners. Those hands can not vote any more.

There appears to be no sign of any SADC observors out here. A friend said he had seen some sipping drinks and reading the newspapers in the Meikles hotel in Harare over the weekend. I read that the observors are officially not allowed out after dark because their safety can not be guaranteed. They need to defy that and get out and see with their own eyes these things if they care at all.

We ask you to pray and send brave people and peace keepers to stop the atrocities before they get even worse. Maybe I write this in vain; but I write this crying.

With love in Christ who is our Saviour whatever happens,

*****.

Academic Inflation

2008-06-19T20:30:00.000+04:30

After watching a very interesting talk by Sir Ken Robinson on TED Talks, I have been mulling over a phrase that he mentioned in his talk on creativity in education. The phrase academic inflation really stuck out to me, probably since it hit so close to home and I could relate to it on a personal level.

Growing up I was always told that I should go to university so that I could get a good job. Well I went to university, eventually, and then at the end of the rainbow there was no pot of gold. Instead I found out that my degree was basically a prerequisite to the Masters degree that I really needed to get a good job. It turns out this level of education is what a high school degree was for my parents, pretty much ubiquitous.

Academic Inflation, as defined by Wikipedia, is a process of inflation of the minimum job requirement where too many college education individuals compete for too few jobs requiring these qualifications. This condition leads to an intensified race for higher qualification where a bachelors degree of today is no longer good enough to gain employment, and an inflation in the minimum degree requirements to the level of masters degrees, Phd's, and post-doctoral levels, particularly in areas where advanced degree knowledge is completely unnecessary to perform the required job. Academic Inflation is similar to inflation of paper currencies where too much currency chases too few commodities.

Academic inflation occurs when university graduates take up work that was not formerly done by graduates of a certain level, and higher-degree holders continue to migrate to this particular occupation until it eventually becomes a field known as a 'graduate profession' and the minimum job requirements have been inflated academically for low-level job tasks.

The institutionalizing of professional education has resulted in fewer and fewer opportunities for young people to work their way up from artisan to professional status (eg. as an engineer) by 'learning on the job.' Academic inflation leads employers to put more and more faith into certificates and diplomas awarded on the basis of other people's assessments.

Three different ways of saying the same thing, you must get more degrees and go into more debt to get a good job in order to pay off that debt. Some sort of vicious cycle to say the least. I don't really know what the point of this post is, other than I found someone who put a catchy phrase to my experience.

The Girl Effect

2008-06-18T20:12:00.000+04:30

Why Should We Pay Attention to Girls?
Little research has been done to understand how investments in girls impact economic growth and the health and well-being of communities. This lack of data reveals how pervasively girls have been overlooked. For millions of girls across the developing world, there are no systems to record their birth, their citizenship, or even their identity. However, the existing research suggests their impact can reach much farther than expected.

The Ripple Effect
• When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.

• An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 percent.

• Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers.

• When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man.

Population Trends
• Today, more than 600 million girls live in the developing world.

• More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young women ages 10 to 24.

• The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24—already the largest in history—is expected to peak in the next decade.

Educational Gaps
• Approximately one-quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.

• Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent are girls.

Child Marriage and Early Childbirth
• One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15. 38 percent marry before age 18.

• One-quarter to one-half of girls in developing countries become mothers before age 18; 14 million girls aged 15 to 19 give birth in developing countries each year.

• In Nicaragua, 45 percent of girls with no schooling are married before age 18 versus only 16 percent of their educated counterparts. In Mozambique, the figures are 60 percent versus 10; in Senegal, 41 percent versus 6.

• A survey in India found that girls who married before age 18 were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands as were girls who married later.

Health
• Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. Compared with women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15 to 19 are up to twice as
likely, worldwide.

• 75 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds living with HIV in Africa are female, up from 62 percent in 2001.

How can I help?
Here are some random off the top of my head ideas...
1) Get involved in your community. There are always women in need: financially, emotionally, spiritually. Look up local shelters to give to.
2) Support young girls through World Vision or Compassion.
3) Support working age women via Kiva.

Any other ideas to empower women and girls?