Sep 23
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 …
Sep 22
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, …
Sep 19
A few weeks ago, I went on a journey to Kenya and Tanzania. As you may know from reading this blog, I spent a decent amount of time this summer investigating what was happening in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, near the border with Somalia. My colleague Rebecca and I took a look at …
Sep 15
There are parts of the world, where children don’t worry about how to tell their parents they received a bad grade or convince them to let them go out on a Friday night. That carefree life is a far reality from the grim existence that many live in throughout the world. There is a generation …
Sep 13
The same-sex lesbian couple are among a group of gay, lesbian, transgender, queer folk in New York making U. S. history by breaking social taboo, vowing to cement their lifelong commitment to each other through marriage, illegal in New York State before then. Both Renee and Kelebohile, a native of the mountainous southern African country …
Aug 15
Since Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt, some of the bloggers and activists who devoted their online time to organizing revolution have turned to a new use for social media: economic aid. 20 prominent Egyptian bloggers—the same ones who previously blogged about overthrowing Mubarak—have joined together to create a Twitter fundraising campaign, Tweetback. The …
Aug 09
As I was writing the blog series analyzing the current situation at Dadaab Refugee Camp, I started to think about the need for refugee camps and services in general. A refugee is a person who flees – or who has been displaced – from their home and seeks refuge elsewhere. Many refugees flee in fear …
Aug 08
There’s a new kind of state (country states, not US states, just so we’re clear) emerging: MIFFs, Middle Income Failed-Fragile states. These MIFFs are classified as middle-income states in the World Bank list of countries by income category, but they have highly unstable governments and a lot of conflict. They are—or are close to being—failed …
Aug 03
Yesterday, Ryan wrote the third post in our series discussing the current situation in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. He talked about the need for mental health care and social entrepreneurship services in Dadaab, as they crucial in enabling the refugees to eventually leave the camp and rebuild their lives. Both of these services, along …
Aug 03
World Breastfeeding Week was kicked off Monday with the passing of a historical extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Obama Administration. The guidelines of this heavily-debated policy expands on last year’s passed reforms in healthcare regarding free-of-charge preventative services such as …
