Jun 14
The case of the eastern Kentucky’s Appalachia Mountains Last week I was part of a delegation to Kentucky with Witness for Peace (to learn more about the organization click here). Its goal was to learn about coal extraction and its impacts on the communities and the environment of Eastern Kentucky. During the three-day trip, I was …
Jun 13
I recently returned from a 6-day trip to California (you may remember my preparations) that turned out to be surprisingly eco-friendly, and so I thought I would deviate from the traditional blog post today to do a sort of photo-essay. Hopefully this will help drive home the point that no matter where you are going …
Jun 09
On Tuesday, I wrote about foreign aid into Sudan. While I did write a few lines about the security situation there, I didn’t go into much detail about it. I have a tendency to get caught up in the numbers and facts of aid. Sometimes it’s good for me to remind myself of the human …
Jun 09
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post applauding charity: water on their excellent use of social media to benefit the organization and its cause. Today, I want to focus on another unique aspect of the company that deserves equal praise: the way they market their business model. Charity: water uses the 100% model, which …
Jun 07
Many of my posts this past month discussed the impacts and strategies of foreign aid. The more that I’ve researched projects undertaken by aid organizations, the more I’ve seen what commonly works and what doesn’t work. If we take a look at these commonalities, incorporate lessons learned from them and use them to inform current …
Jun 06
Researchers have recently published surprising findings that people who live in higher elevations are more at risk to commit suicide. Although the causal link is still unknown, the researchers used solid methods and controlled for typical suicide risk factors such as age, race, gender, and income. One potential explanation for this finding is that people …
Jun 02
It has been quite a year for censorship in the Middle East. The crackdown by Egyptian regime officials and their security apparatuses on protestors’ communications was relentless, going so far as to completely suspend cell phone and Internet service for up to a week at a time. During a revolution, half an hour without cell …
May 31
When the “Arab Spring” began in mid-December, 2010, most of the news coverage was quite hopeful. North Africa would soon become democratic, which would be beneficial for the US, and life would rapidly improve for citizens who had been oppressed by dictators like Gaddafi and Mubarak. But it didn’t quite happen like that. Gaddafi still …
May 25
Brazil, with its growing economy and BRIC designation, is considered a country to watch in the global south, but few people know about the star of Brazil: Curitiba. Curitiba, capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná, is southern Brazil’s largest city andeconomy, with a GDP that surpasses US$30 billion and a total population of over …
May 23
Charity: water is an nonprofit organization that brings clean water to developing areas by building wells and water sanitation projects. In just four years, charity: water hasraised over $20 million, which is clearly an enormous accomplishment. One of the most impressive things about the organization, and one of the major factors in its success thus far, is …
