Lorenzo's Amazing Blog

After learning about various themes/issues throughout the course of the school year, my eyes are now open to other countries and what they are facing. Now, when I read the news, I really feel for the country and what they are going through since we have gone so in depth into every possible issue. I have much more of an appreciation for the world we live in, and I am glad that this characteristic will be carried with me throughout my life! The picture above symbolizes my new outlook on the world: every problem in the world can be solved by everyone holding on to eachother and helping out.

Girls in Afghanistan are constantly in danger by the threat of acid. Men throw acid on girls if they are simply going to school. This shows the amount of gender discrimination within education alone. The article I read stated this: “One morning two months ago, Shamsia Husseini and her sister were walking through the muddy streets to the local girls school when a man pulled alongside them on a motorcycle and posed what seemed like an ordinary question. “Are you going to school?” Then the man pulled Shamsia’s burqa from her head and sprayed her face with burning acid. Scars, jagged and discolored, now spread across Shamsia’s eyelids and most of her left cheek. These days, her vision goes blurry, making it hard for her to read”. Not only does the acting of pouring act on her seem outlandish, but the fact that such a simply question can turn into a nightmare. Unfortunatly, these events have even resulted in permanent damage to her face and vision.

Paul Farmer: a man that has surpassed the meaning of charity and aid. He has sacrificed his job for the sake of helping poor people across the world. He met global health problems and combated them firsthand. He not only helped out Haiti, but other countries as well, such as Russia and Peru. Altough his specific aid was not worldwide, the organization he helped found, called Partners in Health, provides aid to the impoverished both medically and morally. In fact, the group treats 1,000 patients daily for free in the Haitian countryside.

Throughout the course of Global Leadership, as we have researched and discussed, I have thought about what I am intertested in further researching for the global action project. My top three topics in any order would be sex trade, animal cruelty, and women’s rights. Sex trade has always been a brushed upon topic throughout history. Not alot of people know the amount of illegal sex trade activity that is going on. The amounts in poverty filled countries in asia, for example, are very high as a result of the low income. If a child makes half a dollar a day in Taiwan, they would make up to eighty dollars just for leaving to ‘sex’ houses. It’s a sad reality that even occurs on US soil. Secondly, I feel very strongly about the fight against animal cruelty. Five years ago, after doing a project on McDonalds and its animal cruelty, I was disgusted by what humans can do to harmless animals. This eventually lead me to become a vegetarian. I find it horrible that people are brutally slaughtering herds of animals at a time. It is plain out barbaric. Finally, I am interested in learning more about women’s rights. I feel that we have covered alot of information with the empowerment of women, but I think we have just touched the surface. It is a very distressing issue that some countries are still fighting for the empowerment of women. It shouldv’e already been attained long ago. I am interested in learning the reasons and how they have improved their conditions.

I also feel that I might want to research more information about South America. So far in our class, we haven’t spoken much about South America. I would like to research it more for the fact that it is very diverse and cultural.

Below are three environment articles regarding numerous issues from deforestation, to climate change, and expansion of soy production. Below each link are discussion questions. I have compiled these questions from my environment group, and have created a ‘master’ list of all our insightful questions. Try to think about potential answers throughout the reading and comment!

Nepal’s forests ‘being stripped by Indian timber demand’: Click Here
1. Why is India continuing to smuggle from Nepal even though India’s forest is expanding?
2. Why doesn’t Nepal improve their enfocement officers watching the smuggling?
3. How does this deforestation affect local Nepal communities?

Climate change a threat to Nam’s coastal ecosystem: Click Here
1. What can people do to ensure the protection of fish in the ocean?
2. How does human population growth affect the marine environment?
3. How does advancements in industry affect the marine environment?

Mato Grosso aims to expand soy production: Click Here
1. How is the production of soy and cotton a threat to the environment?
2. How does genetic improvement affect the environment?
3. How can farmers maintain the same space of land, but improve their financial situations?

Link to Article: Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it.

Reactions and Insight on Article:
- It shows the hardships Nigerians face due to oil leaks. As a result of this oil crisis affecting the agriculture, many Nigerians are distraught.
- It was moving to read that the United States only puts forth major effort if they’re being affected. It took many months for them even to help some Nigerian oil leaks out. The United States only put effort into the BP oil spill because they were being directly affected by it.
- When I was reading the article, I came across this quote by Williams Mkpa, a community leader in Ibeno, “Oil companies do not value our life; they want us to all die. In the past two years, we have experienced 10 oil spills and fishermen can no longer sustain their families. It is not tolerable”. I don’t blame Mkpa for believing this, it seems with the time it takes to help, that the United States doesn’t want to help at all. Oil spills are a major threat to fisheries and their sustainability within their families. This just goes to show that oil spills affect all corners of life.
- If Nigeria is able to eradicate their country of spilled oil, their life expectancy is sure to go up.
- Mkpa also stated that, “When I see the efforts that are being made in the US I feel a great sense of sadness at the double standards. What they do in the US or in Europe is very different”. Again, this is very distressing but all too true. Developed countries get a leg up on all other countries because they are seen as more important to the global scene. Why is this? I believe that this is the way it is due to one word: economy. Developed countries are intent on helping each other due to their role in the economy. If they fall, then other countries fall too. If a developing country, like Nigeria, is having an issue, they are pushed aside due to their low importance in the global market.

Conclusion:
- All walks of life are affected by oil spills including drinking water, farming, and fishing and it should be a global responsibility to help out a country regardless of developed or developing status.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why is the United States seen as more important than Niger? Is it the fact that the United States is developed?
2. Why is the United States so late to help Niger with their oil spills, although they supply oil to them?
3. In what ways does this article connect to millenium development goal number seven of ensuring environmental sustainability in local comunities?

Over the past two summers I have donated my time into the Belmont Farmers’ Market. Located in the Belmont Center parking lot, this is a great area in the summer where farmers all across New England come together to sell their vegetables, produce, fruits, cookies, etc. This promotes environmental sustainability because by farmers obtaining money from consumers, they gain more money to spend on crops thus enriching the environment. This is a cycle that is beneficial to everyone. Consumers get their goods and growers gain money to improve their farms.

Click Here for the Belmont Farmers’ Market website: Belmont Farmers' Market

Countries I used for research:
- All my data is established from United States, Italy, Uruguay, and Jamaica. The United States and Italy are developed while Uruguay and Jamaica delay behind in the developing world.

Connections:
- I noticed that Uruguay has a very low percent of land area covered by forest, even more so than the other countries. This statistic took me long to ponder, but having personally going there, I understand the reasoning for this low number. Uruguay isn’t a country who relies heavily on their agriculture for profit. They are one of the world’s largest meat markets. In rural areas, where forest areas are, Uruguayans chop down the tress in order to have more room for livestock.
- I came up with the conclusion that countries with a high automobile rate have a much higher carbon dioxide emission rate. I noticed this primarily with the United States, who has 20.3792 tons of carbon dioxide per person.
- I found an interesting reasoning for carbon dioxide emissions in the developing countries. Uruguay doesn’t have a large carbon dioxide emission due to its developing status and lack of automobiles as a result. Jamaica, on the other hand, has a high carbon dioxide rate due to its high tourism rate. Carbon dioxide emissions don’t necessarily depend on the country’s developing status.
- I came to the conclusion that Uruguay has the cleanest water due to its low carbon dioxide levels. I believe there is a distinct correlation between water and carbon dioxide levels.
- It seems that non-African countries, whether developed or developing, generally have more improved drinking water sources. This makes sense because Africa as a whole tends to have more disease and bacteria flowing through their water.

Closer:
-To close off, I think as a class, we should do something to help African communities obtain better water sources. With the forty dollars we received back from KIVA, I think we should put the money towards helping a community get better water. We can help the environment, one step at a time.

The big challenge of fighting female oppression is cultural barriers. Us as citizens of the United States are used to equal rights between men and women. As we see the changes that should and could happen over in other countries like Afghanistan or China, it is not our place to shape another culture. The cultural barrier is everything. Without it, we could all be equal and free from oppression. Here is a list of ways that we could help women across the globe, though challenges are sure to arise…
- On a small scale level us as a class could send money to growing businesses run by women. The challenge of this however is that men (husbands, fathers, etc) may take the money because they feel they are superior and deserve it more.
- Change a country’s traditional view of women. COuntries will not be willing to change their beliefs first bur eventually they might realize its for the better.
- Improve women’s education in developing countries. This will allow them to gain more job opportunities therefore succeeding in life and slowly gaining equality. Men may be unwilling to give them employment though.
- Place the issue of female oppression more prominently on the list of UDHR’s or MDG’s. This will give much more of a weight for countries to change their laws. Again, they may be unwilling.

Social Entrepreneurship is a great method in helping individual groups attain financial stability. Tough it is effective in small amounts, it is not a viable method for the global scene. It doens’t help a country as a whole, rather individuals. To support my arguement, here is a quote about the current status of sub-saharan Africa and the millenium development goals, “With only five years remaining until governments are to meet the targets set out by the millenium development goals (MDG’s), the sub-saharan Africa region continues to have the highest poverty rate in the world, with millions of people living on less than US $1 per day”. Even with a mission and a deadline, this small solution will not fix a big problem. Changes must be made on a country scale for a country’s economy to change. The idea of social businesses will never end. The need to help people will never end. Sympathetic people (our class for example!) will always be generous. There is no downside to places like KIVA to suffering individuals. The lender benefits with both financial and social return.

I am glad that KIVA was our gateway website into the social entrepreneurship world, but now as a class I would like to branch off into other websites that benefit specific problems rather than general ones. While doing research, I came upon two websites that seemed interesting. The first one is The Hunger Project(THP), which is an international non-profit organization committed to ending world hunger in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They give loans to impoverished families who sell vegetables and other produce. The second website I found was the Women for Fair Development(WOFAD), which emerged after women (mostly widows infected/affected by HIV/AIDS) decided to do something to improve the living standard of their community. Money provided by the US embassy distributes grants to these women who opt to operate businesses. These two groups further ensure the path of ending hunger in certain parts of the world and empowering women.

Click here for the THP website: The Hunger Project
Click here for additional WOFAD information: Women for Fair Development