social awareness

October 15, 2008

Fighting Poverty through Education

Today, Oct. 15, is Blog Action Day, the day that thousands of bloggers, regardless of their genre, unite to discuss a single issue. This year’s issue is Poverty.

Many experts believe that education is a sustainable solution to poverty, specifically education of girls. Why girls? (ummm because we rock!)

Recent studies corroborate what Camfed has observed and fostered on the ground: girls who complete primary and secondary education tend to marry later, have smaller families and earn significantly higher wages. Girls’ education has been posited as a “vaccine” against HIV/AIDS, with comparative analysis of data from Zambia, for example, of non-educated and educated women showing a substantial difference in infection rates. Educating a girl changes her destiny, as well as those of her future children, and ensures that she can contribute to the economic life of her community. (UN Chronicle)

A child born to a literate mother is 50 percent more likely to survive to age five. And, providing girls with one extra year of schooling beyond the average can boost their wages by up to 20 percent. (CEDPA)

Mortenson’s belief, one shared by many scholars and human-rights organizations, is that educating women is the best investment for community sustainability. Studies have shown that a fifth-grade education level for girls results in decreased birth rates and infant mortality, and increases the strength of the social structure. (IKAT)

What can you do? Support organizations that focus on girls education, make sure the girls in your life value their education, or considering working with children in your area that have less education opportunities.

Here are some programs helping with education in developing countries:

Ethiopia Reads

Central Asia Institute (I highly recommend the founder’s book Three Cups of Tea)

Take the Walk

The Girl Effect

Send a Child to School for a Year in India

Teach Literacy to Women in the Congo

More on this topic:

NY Times Article

A Dollar A Day

United Nations Population Fund

If you know of any wonderful organizations building schools for girls, please feel free to share in the comments section.

August 11, 2008

Food Aid

I came across this story on Time.com today that explores why sustained food aid does not help but rather hinders in the long run.

Over time, sustained food aid creates dependence on handouts and shifts focus away from improving agricultural practices to increase local food supplies. Ethiopia exemplifies the consequences of giving a starving man a fish instead of teaching him to catch his own. This year the U.S. will give more than $800 million to Ethiopia: $460 million for food, $350 million for HIV/AIDS treatment — and just $7 million for agricultural development. Western governments are loath to halt programs that create a market for their farm surpluses, but for countries receiving their charity, long-term food aid can become addictive. Why bother with development when shortfalls are met by aid? Ethiopian farmers can’t compete with free food, so they stop trying. Over time, there’s a loss of key skills, and a country that doesn’t have to feed itself soon becomes a country that can’t. All too often, its rulers use resources elsewhere — Ethiopia has one of Africa’s largest armies.

I know of a couple of organizations that work in Ethiopia, as well as other developing countries, that teach people sustainable farming skills and animal husbandry. One is Food for the Hungry …

In developing countries on nearly every continent, Food for the Hungry works with churches, leaders and families to provide the resources they need to help their communities become self-sustaining.

and the other is Heifer International.

Today, millions of people who were once hungry will be nourished by milk, eggs and fresh vegetables.

Families who for generations knew only poverty will be building new homes and starting businesses.

Children who once headed out to the fields to do backbreaking work will be heading into schoolrooms to learn to read.

And people who never thought they’d be in a position to help someone else will be experiencing the joy of charitable giving.

How is this possible?

With Heifer’s proven approach – almost 60 years in the making – to helping people obtain a sustainable source of food and income.

I am sure there are other organizations that offer the self-sustaining model instead of just the hand-out model. Please feel free to list them in the comment section if you know of one. I encourage my readers to support charities that give a helping hand and not just a hand-out. Obviously right now immediate food aid is needed, but in the future organizations that teach sustainable practices are going to be the most effective solution.