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 …
Tag: Poverty
Jul 29
Women in War and Peace
“For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” –Eleanor Roosevelt It is more dangerous in most conflict-stricken areas to be a woman than to be a soldier. Yet, women’s experiences during times of war are often ignored …
Jul 29
Disability-Friendly Budget Cuts
Currently, the debt ceiling and potential budget cuts for 2012 are arguably the most debated topics in U.S. politics. Other contributors to this blog have already discussed in detail the consequences that budget cuts could have on children’s schooling, academic research and education, and foreign aid. Shaunak, a fellow Program and Research intern with the …
Jul 29
A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp, Part II
On Tuesday, my colleague Ryan wrote the first installment of a blog series he and I are working on about the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. It is the largest refugee camp in the world, built to accommodate about 90,000 people. However, due to the current drought crisis in the Horn of Africa, there are …
Jul 26
A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp – Foundations
The overcrowded Dadaab camp in Kenya is struggling to provide for the continual stream of starving Somali refugees Much has been written on this blog and others about the dire situation currently being faced in the Horn of Africa. The countries in this region are facing their worst drought in 60 years. A famine has …
Jul 21
Horn of Africa Crisis Worsens
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in history. For countries like Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, the drought is forcing families to flee to overcrowded refugee camps and leaving hundreds of thousands of children homeless and malnourished. Unfortunately, conditions in …
Jul 21
The Repercussions of Wasting Food
I love food. No, I’m passionate about food. Better yet, I’m obsessed with food. So when I read or hear about something negative about the food industry, I naturally want to be one of the people that can create change, or at least do a good job of playing my role as a responsible consumer …
Jul 20
Encouraging Ecotourism in China
When you think “ecotourism” China is probably not the first place that comes to mind. No, China brings up images of massive crowds of people and heavy smog clouds, not things that are very compatible with environmentally and economically friendly ecotourism. However, with 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 28 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the ecotourism …
Jul 19
South Sudan – True Independence
So long as South Sudan relies on massive exterior aid, it cannot achieve true, lasting independence Today’s post is going to be a little bit different than usual. I’ve spent a good portion of this past week preparing for my webinar, and every slide I create gets me more excited about hosting it. So I …
Jul 18
Life-Changing Lamps
In rural areas of Kenya, the overwhelming majority of families live without electricity. More than one third of the population depends on kerosene-powered lamps, which are not only bad for the environment, but they also negatively affect Kenyans in other ways. Toxic fumes, for example, are emitted from the burning lamps and can cause severe …