Contrary to popular belief, tigers are not native to Africa. In fact, the only tigers that live on the entire continent are those used for breeding in zoos or on other special reserves. Personally, I was shocked when I heard this fact. How are there no tigers in Africa? What about the lions, and elephants, and zebras? …
Tag: Africa
Jun 08
The Sahel Crisis: Social Media vs. News Media in a Refugee Crisis
Have you seen much news media coverage about the crisis in the Sahel? I haven’t. Not much at all, actually. The first I heard of the Sahel food and refugee crisis ravaging Africa’s Sahel region was in a tweet. There has actually been a lot of social media coverage on what’s happening thanks to an …
May 10
Egypt: Islamic Democracy?
For those of you that don’t know, the Pew Research Center conducts surveys on public opinion (among other things) with the goal of providing information on the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. One of their most recent publications as part of their Global Attitudes Project, the branch of the center that …
May 04
A Successful Strategy for Malaria Control
Last week, April 25th, was World Malaria Day. This awareness day began in 2007 by the World Health Assembly. Malaria is an illness that does not seem to exist in the US or many other countries. However, the problem persists in many developing countries. This is where people are most vulnerable to malaria. In 2010, …
May 03
Mobile Banking as a Means to Development
According to a recent report by the World Bank, 75 percent of the world’s poor do not have a bank account. Use of formal banking, the system of official bank accounts set up within financial institutions, is pretty rare within the developing world, even for those who actually have the bank accounts. Ten percent of …
Apr 20
Nkundabana in Rwanda: Love for Children
In recent years, Rwanda has become a model for many of its neighbors in terms of health indicators. For example, maternal health indicators for the Millennium Development Goals are largely on track in that country. In addition, health systems’ strengthening has been improved with new financing systems and insurance schemes. This has made accessing health …
Apr 19
Bahraini Activists Gain Steam
It’s pretty easy to forget that the Arab Spring is more than just Egypt, Libya, and Syria; those three countries dominate the news, particularly Syria, while the other countries involved in the movement are largely ignored. So today I’ve decided to devote a post to Bahrain, which has been mostly out of the media since …
Mar 29
Separatism in Libya
I’m sure that you were expecting to read a post about the latest development in Syria today, and, to be honest, that’s what I was planning on writing about. But as I was reading news article about Assad’s latest peace plan and the continued violence, I realized I really didn’t have much to say that …
Mar 13
The Plight of Environmental Refugees
Last October, I wrote a blog entitled “Escaping Environmental Change” to shed some light on the plight of environmental refugees or climate migrants. This week, we are launching a video I created on the SISGI Group’s YouTube channel to further raise awareness on the cause and start a discussion on possible solutions. We invite you …
Mar 12
The Visible Issues with Invisible Children
Almost everyone these days has been talking about the viral video, “Kony 2012.” The video is an attempt by the organization, Invisible Children, to bring awareness to Joseph Kony and his group LRA. Kony, a Ugandan leader of the LRA, kidnaps young children, and turns them into child soldiers. There is no denying the fact …