Sep 26

Toddlers, Hairspray, Makeup Oh My!

The first blog that I wrote for the NotEnoughGood website focused on the over-sexualization of young girls in the media.  Specifically, I was concerned with the way dolls, commercials, and television shows portrayed girls, and how this image affected them.  However, the reality television series, Toddlers and Tiaras, has gone above and beyond with highlighting how easily a six year-old girl can be transformed into looking like a mini twenty-something year old woman.  The young girls followed on the series do everything from spray tanning, eyebrow waxing, and getting extensive hair treatments in order to win top numbers in beauty pageants.  Regardless of what the parents have their girls go through for the sake of winning, the question is: how much is too much?

Toddlers and Tiaras has attracted a certain degree of controversy, and most of the divisive debate about the show has to do with some of the outfits the young girls wear.  Recently, a few episodes caused an uproar due to some of the outfits the mothers decided to put their daughters in for the shows.  In one episode, a four year-old girl was put in a Dolly Parton outfit, complete with padded bra and butt enhancements.  Another episode followed an equally young competitor who participated in the pageant in Julia Roberts’ prostitute outfit from the movie Pretty Women.  The outfits for the girls in the show not only include over-the-top costumes, but also overly teased hair, spray tans, copious amounts of makeup, and flippers, fake teeth to cover up any gaps caused by lost baby teeth.

The outfits and accessories that go along with the beauty pageants put an exorbitant amount of pressure on young girls.  According to Mark Sichel, a licensed clinical social worker, the outfits and items such as flippers cause girls to question why they cannot compete naturally.  In other words, they wonder if the only way someone will think they are beautiful is if they hide any flaws they might have or portray an overly sexualized image.  The Parents Television Council, a watchdog group, also criticized the outfits of the young competitors, stating their concern about the over sexualized image of these young girls has gotten out of control.  Of course, the mothers of the competitors responded by saying they were upset by the criticism, but felt that their daughters were competing in a sort of sport and that the outfits simply went along with the sport.  Furthermore, they spoke extensively of how their daughters enjoy competing, and that the uproar over the show is a bit unnecessary.

Beauty pageants have been around for many years, and the adult pageants have their own controversies to deal with.  However, the fact of the matter is that a young girl, being dressed like their adult counterparts, is a shocking and horrifying social statement.  In order for young girls to grow up with a healthy self-image, they do not need to be paraded around like adult Barbie dolls because that overtly sexual image will stick with them for years to come.  Whatever older women do in beauty pageants is their own business because they are adults who can make their own decisions.  Little girls do not have the ability to make their own decisions, and they do not understand the implications of wearing such outfits, getting spray tanned or wearing flippers.  For that reason, I believe it just makes sense to end the beauty pageant business for young girls in order to keep them from being judged, and depicted, like adult women.

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Sep 26

Information and Consumption

Empowering the consumer through the power of stories.

When we go to the supermarket, very often you only have a vague idea of where the product comes from, what the chain of production involved or how the product got to the stands. Most of us happen to be incredibly ignorant consumers, blind to what goes on in the production side. As a consumer, we are exposed to a huge world of products and we have an incredible amount of choices to make. But how much do we really control and know about what goes on with what we buy? The supply chains have gotten incredibly complicated and so intricate, that many companies are not completely aware of what really goes on with the goods they produce.

A few years ago I was startled to see a powerful video by Greenpeace: an employee eating the finger of an orangutan. It shocked me, not because of its morbidity, but because I would have never imagined that to eat a Kit Kat would somehow be related to orangutans’ death. It is only after research that you can understand how. Orangutans and Kit Kats have a complex relationship: to produce a Kit Kat you need palm oil -it is mixed with the chocolate to give it texture and durability. The palm oil that goes into the production of Kit Kats comes from deforested land, the same land that works as a habitat of the orangutans. Therefore, because Nestlé buys oil palm that is grown in deforested areas, you are killing orangutans by eating a Kit Kat. It is not an evident link that the average consumer of Kit Kats can make, and it made me think about all the other products who’s origins we don´t know.

When we buy, we have access to a good or to a service. But what is the story behind them? We have a right to have access to the story of the products. Understanding what we buy may be one of the most important issues in our globalized society because our impact as consumers has become more and more important.

In an attempt to inform the consumer, many companies and organizations give certain certification and labels to the products (e.g Rainforest Alliance, fair trade, USDA organic); they provide a third party quality control. But still, it is often the case that these certifications are corrupted (very often the only thing required to meet a certification is to pay a fee), biased, or incomplete. That is often the case of “organic” food or other “bio” products (see detailed explanation here).

There is another big obstacle. Because the supply and production chains are so complex nowadays that very often it is really difficult to evaluate what is truly fair trade, organic, recycled; even more so because the notions vary a lot between countries and corporations. Plus, they often involve abstract measurements and superfluous definitions (like energy consumption and carbon emissions).

What about the products that don’t have any certification? They still represent the vast majority of the products that we buy, and we constantly have to choose between certified and not certified. The consumer has to become aware of this “lack of certifications”. We have to ask ourselves: if the fair trade certification doesn’t exist, why is that so? We have to know our product better.

In order to better know your product a good idea would be to narrate the stages of the production chain.  The consumer can then decide on the quality of the supply chain and judge how ethical and socially responsible the product is. For example, the brand Patagonia has added on their website a mini-site called “the footprint chronicles”, where you can actually track and look into each stage of the production process. This is a really good initiative that some brands are taking but it should be enforced and enlarged to the rest of the products. Each product that comes into the market has a long history of how it got to be there. They impact different environments and people. Knowing their stories is a social responsibility because when we buy, we become part of their story too; we become responsible of their impacts and their consequences. If I buy a Kit Kat, I have the right to know who and what it is impacting.

Of course, companies will have incentives to hide or neglect the practices that are not socially responsible or environmentally friendly. Patagonia make want to make the story of a socially responsible shirt public, but it can still decide what part of the story will come out- and hide others. That is why it would be best if independent researchers start gathering the stories of the products and making them public. There are already great project like this taking place (see “The Story of Stuff” below). If enough research is gathered, we could easily create a website or a mobile app where we could scan a bar code and know all about the product’s origins.

 Julia Naime is a research intern at the SISGI Group. She is a senior at New York University majoring in Economics. During her internship, she will research on rural and international development, environmental policies. To learn more about the Sisgi Group, please visit www.sisgigroup.org
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Sep 23

African Lesbian Makes U.S. History Part 2: FIRE

Fire burns, true, but fire also purifies. Count my words as fire, burning embers that purify an unspeakable truth spoken at last.

Two lesbians of African descent abandon fear for risk, decide to marry in New York City, breaking social taboo while making U.S. history. But did their struggle for equality pay off in Africa?

Are Kelebohile Nkhereanye and Renee Boyd now more equal to those who matter most to them? By which I mean, is this married lesbian couple of African descent celebrated in Africa by family, tribe, church, government, and continent? Or—and this is a no brainer—do they have the same status as lesbians who never married or made history, women with very strong sexual stirrings for other women who face death by virtue of being African lesbians? Even though Kelebohile Nkhereanye and Renee Boyd made history in the U.S., in their beloved Africa, they can’t exist and when they do, they can be murdered because they have no equality.

What I’m asking is simply this: what does equality look like when you matter to those who matter most to you? It looks like love. And what does love look like when you’re accepted, not tolerated by those you hold dearest?

It looks like your Ginger also adds cleansing qualities, and organic lemon juice with cayenne pepper is reminiscent of the lemonade diet. wedding is celebrated, which means you are affirmed, which means you need not hide, which means you are not invisible, which means you are visible, which means you can be protected, which means your government can’t kill you because of the law, which means you are safe, which means you’re free to walk the streets, which means you can look for work, which means you can be slotsidlengs a productive citizen in your beloved country, which means you could be promoted, honored, respected, which means you’re less judged, which means you gain a voice, which means you’re not silenced, which means you can be heard, which means you have value, which means you are human.

Celebrated, affirmed, visible, unhidden, protected, safe, free, productive, promoted, honored, respected, less judged, not silenced but a vocal, heard, valued human being. This is love.

But this is not who homosexuals, gay, lesbian, transgendered, queer folk are, not in Africa. If homosexuals were loved, those closest to African homosexuals—their mother, father, church, tribe, beloved—would not stand

idle or silent when they get married, are murdered, get gang raped, have HIV/AIDS.

African lesbians Kelebohile Nkhereanye and Renee Boyd made U.S. history, true. They walked to Brooklyn’s Municipal Building on July http://www.phpaide.com/forum.php?langue=fr&page=1 24, 2011 and were among the first homosexual couples to receive a marriage license in New York on that historic day. But what they really wanted, what means more to

them than breaking barriers, overturning social taboo or making U.S. history, what means more than the legal weight of U.S. law in their marriage is the love of those who mean most to them. Isn’t that at the core of any struggle for equality? Not U.S. history?

The love of those who mean most. If only Kelebohile Nkhereanye and Renee Boyd’s parents invited their friends to their wedding: not one was invited. If only someone offered to prepare a meal: nobody did. If only glasses were raised in their honor for a celebratory toast. If only their African parents treated their African wedding like an African wedding. But for their parents to treat their wedding like an African wedding, Africa must treat lesbians like equals.

My question is simple: can we have equality with a law that accepts gays while blinding ourselves to the love our gay, lesbian, transgender children hunger for? African mothers, fathers tribe, church, government, beloved—I am asking you.

Nick Mwaluko was born in Tanzania but raised mostly in neighboring Kenya, among other east African countries. Nick’s feature stories have been published in the Washington Times, Reuters News Agency, and most recently in the Huffington Post. Nick hates pronouns.
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Sep 23

Are Global Markets More Important Than Displaced Citizens?

Uganda

Skimming over the New York Times this morning, I noted that the first article in their global edition was regarding the outrage that Oxfam is uncovering about Ugandan settlers being displaced on behalf of the Ugandan government and an international organization. Despite being a catchy headline on a leading newspaper, unfortunately these practices are done every day. The article continues with an explanation that this land has been in legal limbo for many years, and the reason the people are being evicted is that Uganda wants to plant forests to combat global warming.

This article has taken my mind in divergent paths. The first led me back to my academic readings where I was reminded of Paul Collier’s book The Bottom Billion where he discusses the effects of the “natural resource trap”. This essentially means that an impoverished nation will be less likely to break out of poverty when valuable resources are discovered due to the ensuing power struggle over the eminent wealth. In Africa, this has often been tied to the discovery of diamonds, oil, or minerals. If you are confused as to how this relates to this situation of Uganda bear with me.

In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was initiated and a caveat to this agreement was the carbon-trading program. Under this program, a developed nation that is exceeding their emissions levels can pay another nation to implement a project to counteract the developed nations pollution; essentially paying to cancel one another out.  Coming back to Uganda, this is the essential reason why a forest is being built on the land where squatters live. The government has realized that they can capitalize on foreign investment by appealing to their ability to help circumvent the Kyoto Protocol in using “available” land for forests and green technologies.

While Uganda is just one example of these practices making it to the front-page news, I can’t help but wonder if we will begin to see many more stories like this emerging. Perhaps other African nations are already in the process of maximizing their land use in conjunction with foreign donations. Is open arable space a new addition to the natural resource trap? Just as other resources lend themselves to be exploited on the international markets, paying a nation in exchange for carbon emissions leaves little accountability on behalf of the developed nation to monitor how funds are allocated within the receiving nation. In the case of Uganda, it is clearly not being diverted into responsible government programs targeting aid or assisting the poor.

The second direction my mind wanders when reading this article is in part due to the ongoing Clinton Global Initiative conferences taking place right now in New York City. One of the topics that Clinton addressed directly was the inevitable future emergence of climate refuges.  As defined, climate refugees are people who will be forced from their homes or countries due to the effects of global warming. Whether due to drought or rising sea levels, Clinton foresees that the world will soon see greater numbers of refugees fleeing towards stable and developed economies for assistance. While his discussion was focused primarily around the legal restructuring necessary for the future, the immediate implications of climate refugees are already being felt.

So, would the displaced people of Uganda qualify as climate refugees? The very reason they have been displaced initially is to curb the effects of global warming.

The devil’s advocate would argue that the greater good for the planet outweighs the needs of a small group of squatters. In ignoring the needs of more invisible populations, does our moral code not apply to them as the world works towards a “greater good for all”?

While I am glad the practice of offering land to international corporations at the anguish of its inhabitants is being addressed with greater attention, I hope that in the future we can do more to regulate and prevent these misappropriated attempts at doing good. While trying to offset a carbon footprint (although understandably this whole practice is based in a corporate bottom line) we as consumers cannot attempt to congratulate companies when these “green practices” may in fact be doing more harm than good.

Katherine Peterson is a Program and Research Intern with the SISGI Group focused on theories of development, globalization, and political ramifications of development work.

 

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Sep 23

Social Good Summit Recap Day 4 and Final Thoughts

What a week! This summit provided a great opportunity for networking with social change leaders, social media gurus and others interested in social issues. The connections made through social media and the opportunity to connect activities happening around New York at the United Nations and the Clinton Global Initiative provided a holistic view of global social change.

Key Takeaway

Many ways to reach the same goal

The final day of the summit provided a shorter agenda but centered a great deal of the agenda on social entrepreneurship and new ideas. One of the key highlights of the afternoon included the Start-ups Challenge, a pitch competition for social entrepreneurs for a $10,000 prize. The winner was a 19 year old who had developed a moving solar panel that follows the sun to maximize the exposure for energy called SunSalutor. Her pitch was strong, especially for her age, and her product was great. However, I do think that she will have no problem getting large scale future investment given her patent pending product, so I actually would have liked to see the resources go to another project that wasn’t so product focused, which usually struggles more to achieve this type of investment.

Several of the challenge companies were looking at similar issues, volunteering or energy for example, but they each had different strategies to address these problems. This is common in all aspects of business , where we each may have a different method we believe is better. The unfortunate thing in the social sector is there often are less resources and this increased competition does not always mean that the most effective strategy has access to the resources that it needs to address the social problem. This is why collaboration and partnership are so essential.  For many of the start-ups participating in the challenge they were using a for-profit model rather than a nonprofit. The reality is that if you are trying to address a social problem, regardless of your profit model, you need to work with others trying to address that same issue. Rather than working in a silo, we can all learn how to eliminate many of the issues that impact our world by working together.

Key Idea

Sparked and Catch a Fire were start-ups that participated in the start-up challenge and their ideas for micro-volunteering and specialized pro-bono support planned to address the human resource gap that exists around social problems. Sparked takes advantage of the small increments of time we all waste throughout the day, by allowing someone to take a few minutes to create or assist a nonprofit or social project. From translating a document to creating a logo, people can provide a needed resource to an organization in the same time it takes them to update or add photos to the their Facebook profile. At first, I was skeptical that this would work when reading their brief profile, but when they explained that they were primarily targeting corporate volunteer projects it seemed brilliant. For large companies, especially in much needed skill areas for the nonprofit sector, allowing their staff to have access to very quick volunteer opportunities throughout the work day seems like a win-win. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.

Catch A Fire also taps into the skills and resources that professionals can bring through pro-bono opportunities. Finance, graphic design, human resource and other professionals can sign on to do projects that have already been sourced and filtered by the Catch a fire staff. Nonprofit members have access to talented specialized volunteers and volunteers have access to specific skills based projects. Again, a win-win. My only concern with their model, is their membership fee of $5,000 annually for nonprofits. For most nonprofits that do not have the financial resources to outsource this type of work currently, that is a significant cost for an already strapped nonprofit budget. For organizations where this would not be a problem, they probably can afford to contract this work to a company. Reducing the membership fee, to a more budget friendly amount for this type of service, might increase the usefulness in the sector for much needed additional professional support. However, I understand their desire to make it a worthwhile investment so we will have to see also what happens as they continue to grow.

What is most important is that they are looking at strategies that can address the critical service needs in the social sector and hopefully this will lead to increased impact and outcomes for social change.

Quote of the Day

Until you know the joy of being a social entrepreneur it is hard to understand…it can be addictive” – Yossi Vardi, Investor and Entrepreneur

As someone that loves innovation and looking at new ways to address social problems, I couldn’t agree more. Combining innovation with social change allows you to use that creative spirit to also change the world. There is little that is more rewarding than that.

Final Thoughts

I truly enjoyed the summit and look forward to participating again in the future. I do believe that the summit could use more local voices and increased diverse presenters. With a focus on international and global issues it is sad to see so few speakers who are using technology and social media to help themselves and their community, rather than outside actors coming in. I also think the format with the short presentations, less than 10 minutes, should have more focus. If someone is sharing a tool that they have used within their company/organization, it should be shared as a best practice that can be duplicated, not just a “look at what we did” moment. This would have a larger impact on social issues and learning.  Otherwise, there should be more time for questions so that those in the audience and on social media can engage with the speaker/presenter on how to use these tools in other ways. However, the chance to hear from leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers over 4 days is not to be missed and is what makes this summit such a great program. They have also included the use of technology and social media within the format of the agenda, which allows people in New York to connect with people around the globe also watching via livestream. This is a great way to create and encourage global connection. If you missed any of the event, you can see the archived videos on Mashable.com or read my recaps of Day One, Two and Three.

 

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Sep 22

Unknown and Unwanted

What if your home was no longer yours? What if you were a guest in a place you once called your own?

As I prepared for a fact-finding trip to Colombia in May 2010, I tried to do my homework. I looked up demographic and country data, information on the people I was meeting with and definitely the hotspots for off-hours relaxation and fun. However, I was inevitably drawn to the country’s narco-trafficking history and current situation with the guerillas and feuding paramilitary factions. As I read numerous articles and reports, I found out about a group of people whose story is kept hidden and hardly spoken about in the international media.

In my previous posts, I’ve described the plight of refugees, the struggle of foreign-born victims of trafficking, the realities of child soldiers around the globe. There is one group that has remained invisible; that are an unwanted population whose situation, I feel, needs to be highlighted. This is of the world’s 24.5 million people who have been internally displaced.

There is no legal definition to define who fits under this category, but an internally displaced person, or IDP, is generally defined as an individual who have been forced to leave their home.  This is in part due to armed conflict, violence, human rights violations or natural disasters. The difference between them and groups such as refugees is that they remain within their home country’s borders. Many lose their home, others lose their land and many have to migrate to areas unknown looking to start anew.

The sad truth is that no one wants them; not their home country and not the neighboring nations, and unlike other groups who experience conflict, there are no protections for them or international group assigned to give them aid. International law says that each country is responsible for its citizens. But what do people do when their own country is involved in the conflict that has caused their displacement?

My goal today is to raise awareness. There are 52 countries with IDPs within their boundaries. These include Cyprus, Ethiopia, Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In the last two examples, IDPs continue to live among this chaos as the United States fights with insurgents in those regions to try to restore peace.

Organizations like IDP Voices raise awareness by collecting stories of individuals who collectively tell the tale of their country and the violence lived daily.  Here is one snippet:

“Inga is 38 years old. She is Abkhazian and her husband is Georgian. There are four children in the family.  Fifteen years have passed since the family went into exile; they lived in Ochamchire district in Abkhazia before the war. Inga talks about the difficulties and hardship experienced during the period of armed conflict, how hard it was even to get bread to eat and the problems of equipping a new place. She speaks of the sadness of losing her home and leaving behind her elderly parents, whom she sees very seldom. She describes the everyday problems of a large family, the constant search for work, shortage of money and the fear of being made homeless”. 

 Others include Ismael Maestre, a peasant farmer in his mid-40s, who has been displaced three times. Let us hear their voices, let us not forget.  While situations above seem far away from our daily reality, internal displacement has occurred in the United States.  In 2005, after the wake of Hurricane Katrina, over a million people were displaced from their homes.  We were lucky because our government and communities responded, but imagine the devastation that occurred. Now imagine if the people of New Orleans and the Gulf states had to fend for themselves.  That’s what an internally displaced person lives through, some for years, others for a lifetime.

Regina Bernadin is a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University focusing on Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As a SISGI intern, her primary areas of interest are conflict resolution, human rights and Latin American political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.
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Sep 22

Arab Spring Economics

It’s officially fall now, which means the Arab Spring has now entered its third season, and, unfortunately, the economic situation that partially contributed to the uprisings in many of the countries has not improved at all.  In many cases it is even getting worse.  Institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the European Investment Bank, as well as many governments, have offered the Arab Spring nations economic aid, but the traditional model used by multilateral lenders is clearly unsuitable for the region and difficult to implement.

The traditional economic model, which has been used in the region in the past, tended to be compromised by the regimes, which spent the money on themselves and their families. Changing that model is critical for addressing the area’s many financial woes, which include high unemployment, high inflation, and a lack of investment.  The new governments, too, are wary of the traditional economic model of financial aid; they fear being associated with the West and with the previous regimes.  Also, some non-governmental organizations have asserted that Western aid could damage the transition to democracy by promoting the crony capitalism of the previous regimes, and that a new way to offer aid and support inclusive growth must be found.

So just how bad is the economic situation?  Well, it was bad when the Arab Spring began, and the turmoil since then has interrupted normal business, deterred tourists, and scared investors.  The IMF just released the 2011 World Economic Outlook report, and it states that the Egyptian GDP will grow at a quarter of its 2010 level, Tunisia’s will not grow at all, and Syria’s economy will shrink.  These new predictions are lower than the IMF’s earlier economic predictions, made in April of this year.  Of course, it’s not all bad: some parts of Egypt’s economy, for example, have held up despite the turmoil.  Unfortunately, investment has fallen, consumer spending has dropped, and about 600,000 jobs were lost due to the unrest.  Labor strikes, group suicide attempts, and insecure (former) tourist attractions all add to the economic woes of the area.  Many of the economies in the region are highly unstable, and will continue to be until the turmoil ceases, which could take a long time.

What can be done?  For all the reasons mentioned above, the traditional economic model is clearly not going to be helpful—or even wanted.  The IMF suggests, in its report, a medium-term growth agenda that establishes strong institutions to stimulate private sector activity and opens up economic opportunities, which would involve restructuring financial policies and creating jobs for the youth in the region, who are the least likely to be employed and are (surprise) often driving the revolution.  Another suggestion is to promote growth by supporting small businesses, the transportation industry, social housing, and urban development.  A third idea is to create a new Arab bank for development, which will insure that the money will not disappear through mismanagement and a lack of corporate governance.

Whatever ends up happening, whichever plan ends up being followed, it has to happen soon.  The unrest in the area has contributed to the economic difficulties being faced now, but the economic woes were one of the main contributors to the unrest in the first place.  Nothing is going to improve politically and socially if there is no money, no growth, and no jobs.  Just throwing money at the area is only going to further those problems, though, as it does in most cases—and has in the past.  Building up small businesses does seem like it would be helpful, as that would help create new jobs, and something definitely has to be done to prevent corruption from taking over as it did before.  What do you think could help improve the economic situation?

Michelle Bovée is a SISGI Group Program and Research Intern focused on international affairs, economic development, and responsible tourism. To learn more about the SISGI Group visit www.sisgigroup.org

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Sep 22

Social Good Summit Recap – Day 3

Once again day three of the summit brought amazing stories, ideas and statistics from around the globe. The crowd size is smaller, but the speakers are no less interesting or engaging.

Key Takeaway –

Big Ideas, Big Challenges and a Need for Collaboration and New Strategies

The issues of child and maternal health were once again one of the main focuses of the day. This time instead of NGO and UN heads from the U.S. talking about issues within African Nations, individuals from Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa were able to provide their perspective.

President Kikwete of Tanzania received the Social Good Award and shared how mobile technology has been used to increase access and ambulatory care in his country. Though statistics are still troubling, 50 million woman die around the globe in childbirth and in Tanzania it is around 6,000 annually, their goal is to reduce that by 75% by 2015 by increasing access to care and birth attendants.

The first ladies of Kenya Dr. Ida Odinga and South Africa, Thobeka Mabhija Zuma, shared their first tweets (with Ericsson phones of course) and discussed the importance of social media and technology in social change. Both discussed the benefits to nonprofits and other smaller organizations with limited budgets. Dr. Odinga of Kenya emphasized the importance of mobile technology in Kenya and how they are using it to connect patients with doctors using SMS technology. She also emphasized the connections to rural communities that is only truly possible with  mobile penetration.

Dr. Yunus founder of Grameen Bank, shared a trailer from his film To Catch a Dollar and shared how our employment problems can be solved with a shift in focus on the development of businesses. He stated that if we were to create businesses, not by focusing on the profit that could be made but on the jobs that would be created, many more businesses and job opportunities could be developed. Using a nonprofit/social enterprise focus with what is typically for-profit business models could increase opportunities for impoverished communities here in the states and around the globe. His methodology states that as long as your costs are covered and it creates employment and other opportunities, profit should not be a focus or motivator. This is an interesting strategy and one that politicians and others have not necessarily pushed. In our society, if a business is not focused purely on social outcomes, such as a nonprofit organization, than we are usually unable to envision it without a profit model.

Several professors from NYU and the founder of Just Vision Media, discussed Israel-Palestine relations, Arab Spring and the connection to technology. Professor Tawil-Souri emphasized that though technology played a role, it was traditional forms of media (radio and print) and open spaces that truly made these revolutions possible. Without the freedom of assembly, demonstrations in squares bringing the people together that share a common belief, would not be possible.

There were so many other great ideas and campaigns including the Million Moms Challenge to get mothers and mom bloggers involved in global maternal health issues, the Shot at Life campaign to reduce the number of children dying of vaccine preventable diseases, and the One Day on Earth documentary and campaign which captured images from every place on earth on 10-10-10 and created a video archive that people can download and use. Another startling statistic was shared by Ju Ju Chang of ABC News that the number of children that die from malnutrition is equal to 8 buses full of children crashing and killing everyone, each hour, every day. If you think about our reaction to one bus crash and that malnutrition is preventable, it is even more startling.

Key Idea –

Skype in the Classroom

The Skype CEO shared information on their technology to connect teachers and classrooms around the globe. Teachers are sharing projects, having great guest speakers and creating new age pen pal programs, all through the use of Skype in the Classroom. In the first 6 months of the program over 16,000 teachers have signed up and used the technology. We connected via Skype with a class in Newark that are using the technology and talked with the students and the teacher about their use of the technology. It was a great opportunity to see the process in action. It is very exciting if it is possible to bring together more classrooms this way. Hopefully it is not limited to only the wealthy schools that can afford the required supporting technology and that all students will one day be able to fully take advantage of this type of technology.

Quote of the Day

It is so unfair for a woman to die while giving life to another human being ~ Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President United Republic of Tanzania

This phrase is so true and frustrating. As we heard from many of the speakers throughout the week maternal health and childbirth are serious issues around the globe. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the chair of The Elders,  also raised his concerns about these issues in relation to child marriage. Their campaign Girls Not Brides, is hoping to decrease the number of young girls who are married before they are 18, often without their consent. A large number of the people dying in childbirth are girls that are married but too young for childbirth. They shared a video about their campaign and in it he stated that “once you have liberated women it is amazing what other problems will be solved…Women are key”. I couldn’t agree more.

The summit wraps up today but you can read my previous recaps from Day One and Day Two and follow me again today on Twitter @NotEnoughGood.

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Sep 21

Standing Up and Speaking Out

Bullying has always been a problem in our schools. It is understandable. I’m sure all of us are ashamed of some of the things we said to others during our adolescence. Bullying has unfortunately ratcheted up even more over the past few years. As social networking sites have developed a more prominent role in teenagers’ social lives, bullies have turned to “cyberbullying,” where they harass classmates online. According to statistics compiled in 2010, there is so much bullying in our schools that 160,000 students miss school every day because they fear getting bullied. Even more concerning, suicide rates among children have increased by 50% over the past 30 years, presumably in large part because of this rise in bullying. This problem cannot continue to escalate. Schools should be a safe haven for kids, a place where they can grow, develop, and learn. It should definitely not be a place that kids are afraid of.

CNN, People Magazine, Facebook, and Cartoon Network have teamed up to undertake an anti-bullying campaign called Stop Bullying, Speak Up. Cartoon Network will air anti-bullying content during shows, and Anderson Cooper will host a town hall meeting to help raise awareness of the movement on October 9th. The movement focuses on convincing bystanders who witness bullying to speak out against it and take a pledge to stop it. Facebook launched a page for the campaign on September 9th, and in just 11 days, over 9,000 people have made a pledge to speak up against bullying, take action against it, and spread awareness of the campaign and harm of bullying.

I have faith that this campaign can have substantial success against bullying. It will raise awareness of some of the heartbreaking effects of bullying. Some bullies will realize that what they are doing is wrong, and people who in the past turned a blind eye to bullying will be inspired to stand up against it.

The reason I have confidence in the movement is that it is drawing upon sources that kids won’t immediately dismiss. Many of the bullies and bystanders love Cartoon Network and look up to what people say on the network. Similarly, Facebook brings further legitimacy to the movement. People will be able to share stories on the page, and celebrities will join the cause and post their thoughts. For example, famous singer Selena Gomez has already posted a video on the page about how she identifies with the cause.

This campaign is not the first of its kind. It Gets Better was another internet-based project that aimed to prevent suicide among LGBT youth. Many celebrities put up videos on the project’s YouTube channel, and some videos had thousands of views. While It Gets Better undoubtedly did a lot of good, I think Stop Bullying, Speak Up can have an even larger impact. This project asks bystanders to stand up against bullies, whereas It Gets Better primarily asked followers to support those who are being bullied. This extra push towards getting people to directly stop bullies may prove to give people the courage needed to stop peers from doing bad things. Furthermore, this new campaign is more inclusive, as it is targeted at all young people. It is important to address the specific bullying that occurs to members of the LGBT community through campaigns and programs such as It Gets Better, but many other people face bullying as well. This campaign may serve to show people that kids of all backgrounds get bullied, and all of these kids deserve our help. This larger strategy may help in addressing the root causes that lead to all forms of bullying and increase the positive environment for all kids.

This campaign demonstrates the incredible power of technology and corporations. Social networking has caused some problems with cyberbullying, as I discussed earlier. However, before the existence of these outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, it would have been much harder for this campaign to grow so quickly. People can spread a message so much more quickly and easily because of these sites. For example, I was directed towards this movement because of a tweet by Anderson Cooper. If famous people and corporations promote a positive message on their Facebook or Twitter pages, they will likely reach a huge audience. Once a large enough amount of followers of a campaign exist, they can serve as a grassroots base that sustains the growth of the movement.

While it is hard to say how successful this campaign will be, I am glad to see these corporations use their influence in responsible and positive manner. I hope this is a trend that continues, and that bullying is just one of many social issues that they help fight.

Shaunak Varma is a Program and Research Intern with the SISGI Group. To learn more about the SISGI Group visit www.sisgigroup.org.
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Sep 21

The Lost Dream: Migrating to America

On a daily basis, the news will report on cases of labor exploitation in restaurants, sweatshops or agricultural fields in urban and rural America.  In more severe cases, we hear of people being enslaved and forced to work against their will as victims of human trafficking. People migrate to escape hardship back home.   Poverty and political instability are two of the main causes.  There are also millions of people who are forced to flee due to violence or persecution rather than economics.  These people risk everything and leave their home with the hope and dream of achieving a better life abroad and in this case in the United States.  What happens; however, when this new journey leads to a worse situation for them and their families?

One of the first human trafficking cases discovered in Florida involved the Cadena-Sosa family.  This family network was led by the family matriarch, her sons served as enforcers and the daughters and daughters-in-law were the recruiters.  They preyed on women from their hometown in Veracruz, Mexico with stories of jobs as nannies and waitresses in the United States.  They would give them as little as five dollars as a sign of good faith and proof of the money found across the border; instead, they took them throughout the United States and forced them to work in brothels scattered around migrant camps. All of the women were forced into prostitution and many were not able to escape their enslavement for years.

With human trafficking, movement across borders is not always necessary. Many cases of trafficking of foreigners happen when they enter American soil. Coming to this land seeking better opportunities, they fall into the hand of perpetrators who wish to exploit them and make money out of their misfortune. So does this mean we can’t migrate without misfortune being a part of it? The answer is that with globalization, movement within and across borders is more and more common. We can’t avoid moving looking for better opportunities for us and our loved ones.

A common thread I’ve seen in the types of cases where exploitation is rampant, is that usually that abuse happens because someone exploits an existing vulnerability. Sometimes, it is the lack of knowledge of the new host country, the language or the culture.  Most times, we find that people from the same ethnicity, same religion, and same hometown are those who exploit their fellow man. A prime example is a teacher in Miami-Dade County in Florida who trafficked a young girl from Haiti to serve as a domestic servant in her home.  The teacher herself was a Haitian citizen living in the United States and maintained ties between both countries. As we saw in the Cadena-Sosa case mentioned above, this organized, family network targeted women from their own community.

Do you have any other examples?

The U.S government has mandated in its Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) that funding be allocated to assist in prevention strategies abroad.  The thought is that if people are provided appropriate information before making the journey to other countries, they might be able to escape the tricks and coercion at the hands of traffickers.

However, with an increase in the number of cases we hear about, it raises some questions for me.  Are we seeing more cases because there is more media attention on the cause or because there are truly more cases? If there are more cases, does that mean that we as a country are failing in how we are utilizing our funding? Are our efforts not reaching the most vulnerable? Every June, the United States Department of State, releases its Trafficking in Persons Report.  I guess I’ll have to see if some of my questions are answered then.

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