studentworldchange

[studentworldchange]

Economic Inequality

By Zoe Olvera

Water, food, and shelter are three main things needed for human survival, but what happens when one, two or all three of those aren't met? There is no surprise that more than half on the list of poorest countries in the world are in Africa.The poorest of them all being Central Africa Republic, with a total population around five million, and the per capita income of only $750 US dollars per year. These are the people without access to food, housing and in rural areas clean water is not usually available. Countries with low economical value, come with extreme health concerns and undeveloped education systems. In Central Africa Republic, the average adult has had less than three and a half years of schooling and thousands of children will never attend school or have any kind of education.

Unlike America where it is mandatory we attend school and in Finland they actually pay their students to attend school. Along with having little to no clean water, they're prone to diseases like AIDS/HIV and a life expectancy of only 52 years. In America, the bottom 50% makes about 250 billion dollars collectively while the top three men, Bill Gates ($97 billion) Jeff Bezos ($160 billion) and Warren Buffet ($88.32 billion) make up a little under 350 billion! Im not trying to make the argument that they shouldn't be rich because they all created highly wanted products and investments but the problem is, 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. Meanwhile, in Qatar the GNI per capita is at a whopping $128,060, Singapore is $90,570, and Brunei Darussalam, $83,760. The negative effects of economic inequality are plentiful, from limited access to any kind of medical attention to no healthcare, higher crime rates, lower literacy rates, and increased political inequality.

Economical inequality is a huge domino effect. From Central African Republic, it starts with limited basic resources, putting a damaging strain on the health of their citizens. Infant mortality is also high in poorer countries, high depression along with increased risk of schizophrenia. Limited education, causing a nationwide epidemic. Children are the future of a nation, if they are not supported with all the tools necessary the future of that nation will come to a halt or diminish completely.

Benefits of economical equality nationwide would be beneficially for literally everyone. Having to put aside radicalism, racism, and honestly our huge egos; but not creating just a better nation, but a better world. Working together worldwide, for the future of the Earth.

Just to even reduce economic inequality would boost all country affairs, lower tensions in opposing nations. Working together as a whole system, we should be pushing towards the ‘American dream’ in every country. By not being limited on the class you were born, but being able to move up and become anything you want. But we have to be able to give them that chance for them to do this. Economic equality would make us smarter, happier and very much fulfilled with our lives, and from that it would be a chain reaction from there.

Ideas on how to reduce economic inequality would be to, create a global tax system. Other things aside like the different currencies and other languages, with this global tax system, all countries-rich and poor would put a percentage into funding basic needs. To clean water, food, and education to children through out the whole world.

This isn't something that would be possible during our lifetime but it is something to start action on. One person can not be responsible for creating the global tax system but an individual take away to the average person would be, starting on the basics, start locally. We can't make a huge change before we start by helping each other around us. Donate your old clothes, gentle used house items. We must start by helping the people around us before we can branch out and help everyone else .

In my conclusion, there are way too many human beings living in poverty for how much money is being circulated. There is not enough money being spent on the livelihood of living, breathing humans. If we were to create a global tax system that supported and funded the well being of millions of people, it would be revolutionary.

Cited Sources

“SOS Children's Villages in the Central African Republic.” SOS, www.soschildrensvillages. org/where-we-help/africa/central-african-republic. “Mortality Rate in Central African Republic Reaches an Emergency Level.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, www.msf.org/mortality-ratecentral- african-republic-reaches-emergency-level. “Income Inequality.” Inequality.org, inequality.org/facts/income-inequality/. “Social Mobility and Education.” The Equality Trust, www.equalitytrust.org.uk/social-mobility-and-education. Pettinger, Tejvan. “Pros and Cons of Inequality.” Economics Help, www.economicshelp.org/blog/3586/economics/pros-and-cons-of-inequality/.

[studentworldchange]

Invisible Wound

Invisible Wound

The major world problem that interests me is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that is developed in our Veterans over the amount of time during their deployments. PTSD is defined as an anxiety disorder that is caused from trauma or life-threatening events due to combat exposure. It is a wound that the majority of our service men and women come home with. Some get treated and more than half never seek help. For the ones who do not seek help they may try to find ways to cope with it alone. Common examples for people who do not seek help may find themselves using drugs or drinking heavily. Some may also feel depressed with unstable thoughts which can result in suicide.  Suicide rate for Veterans with PTSD according to the Veteran’s Affair records states that in 2014 suicide was 22% higher than the average civilian population. I feel there needs to be more done in order to help our veterans feel at home. There needs to be more/ better resources that help our men and women coming in from overseas that help them succeed in OUR everyday society. People tend forget that veterans, active duty/ reserves have “3 lives” meaning the life before enlisting, while enlisted/ deployed, and their last life, which is adapting to society after service.

PTSD I believe is a silent killer, it creeps up on some people and slowly takes everything away from them. If not treated not only does PTSD destroys the individual, but it will also weaken and at times could possibly destroy marriages, friendships, and most importantly families. Of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans 1 in 5 will openly admit they have some sort of trauma related stress disorder and reported by the VA in 2017 each day at least 20 suffers from this disorder will take their own life. To prevent these outcomes the two major sources offered by VA clinics are consulting with Psychologist or being prescribed medication to help calm the person. Although this is offered to every person in the armed forces majority do not feel comfortable speaking up. I’ve heard so many Veterans say this topic is so hard for them to speak publicly about because it makes them feel less of a person. It takes them to a specific event that they are trying so hard to forget. They feel as if they speak about it they let people down. It puzzles me of how much pain a topic can bring. It also amazes me how our government expects people coming back to the states from overseas with or without PTSD to cope with everyday life. It’s like once you’re done with your service everyone expects you to get over it and go back to a “normal life”, but how is that possible?

My father was officially diagnosed with PTSD the summer of 2017, by “officially diagnosed” I mean it was written in ink and stamped by the VA office that he does accumulate 80% of his disabilities from PTSD. He stands along the line with the group of people who coped with PTSD silently. Through all of the pain he was one of the lucky ones to gradually make it back into our society. I remember before his 6 tours he was so alive. He found a way to keep everyone around him smiling. He was that person who would give the shirt off his back, the person who would save you no matter the time of day. He was the “macho man” that would carry my family out of storms onto paths of pure sunshine, but tour after tour my family and I would soon find ourselves pulling him out of his own dark path. I remember my childhood being strict and at times a lonely cycle. My father would leave once a year to either Iraq or Afghanistan and his tours ranged from a year in a half to sometimes almost two years. By his 2nd tour when he arrived home he was different and more distant from my family. There were times he did not talk to us at all, I’m not sure if my father knew how much we would suffer silently beside him. Being so young my brothers and I didn’t understand why my father talked less or why at times he showed little to no love towards us.

 I vividly remember every evening we would race up our 5 acres of land fighting to be the first to tell our father about the new things we learned at school, but he never did listen to our excitement he would flash a quick smile and tune us out. As things continued to change within our household we were told to “roll with the punches” so we did, for 13 years. We slowly stopped going to family events and soon enough we stopped spending time as a whole. My father would say he didn’t feel comfortable being in large groups or he was too tired to do the littlest things with us. The only time we were all actually together was when we were in the car. I yearned for those moments; those were the only minutes out of the day that we would feel as if my father was “normal” it was as if everything was perfect. We talked about everything and my father would actually listen and respond we would laugh uncontrollably, but soon enough he would zone out of our conversations and become aware of only his surroundings. If there was trash on the road he would slow down almost to a complete stop and out of nowhere drive fast by it. Small noises startled him so much that he would become paranoid and walk around outside with a gun. He would not sleep at night because he always felt the need to check our rooms or make sure no one was trespassing onto our property. When he could fall asleep he would wake up from a nightmare screaming. He did not have the patience for my family or for the things around him. An orb of anger would always float on-top of him resulting in chaos over the simplest things. He would sit in silence and to us it felt as if our father was left overseas. 

The stranger sitting in our house was just a visitor and maybe if we prayed harder at night God would bring our real dad home. As my brothers and I become older we learned that the stranger in our house was our father, he was just a little lost. We learned on our own of the things that really happen when “dad goes away”. As my father continued to deploy at such a young age we had no choice but to grow up. We learned to do things that kids our age wouldn’t consider doing or even think to worry about. We did everything by ourselves. We took care of each other. As we all grew older my father had no choice but to face what he had been hiding for years. He came out to us about his PTSD. My father then realized that we were not the babies that he left when he first deployed. He could no longer hide the pain from us. We accepted that things might not be what they use to, but that wouldn’t stop us from being the family that we once were. With time we were able to find a way to guide each other into this beautiful family that we all now hold and cherish.

Over the years my father and thousands of others have put their life on the line countless times; standing face to face with death will change the way a person acts. We have to think about being in the boots of these men and women. Imagine leaving off a military post not knowing if you’re going to come back therefore you hold onto yourself and silently pray you make it back. As you stand in the line of fire your skin shines from sweat due to the 110+ heat. Your heart pumps rapidly as you feel the vibrations from your weapon. Your ears ring from the gun fire and you feel the silence of an aftershock from an explosion. As you come to your sense you realize you have less than 30 seconds to make life of death decisions. Being a part of this action can become so traumatic to the human brain that we do not know how to process it at one time. Images are implanted into your memory and it soon becomes impossible to forget.

Dealing with all of this becomes stressful. You may soon find yourself having flashbacks, nightmares, lost of interest in the things you use to love, sleepless nights, forgetfulness, short patience/ temper, and periods of feeling anger/ alone. These are some of the symptoms of PTSD. What next? How do you accept that being in another country and the environment around you took away who you where as a person? Do you tell someone close or do you think if you tell someone they’ll say you’re “crazy”. Majority of our veterans will prefer to keep it to themselves because not only does it make them feel this sense of weakness, but because they know that half of American cannot relate. They will bottle this pain in their heart until their last day if they could. And if you’re wondering, why they do not see a specialist? Well because like my father they insist on prescribing you all sorts of medications at times up to 5+ different pills for daily use. I feel the only way to actually heal PTSD is to talk about it with the ones who stand by supporting you.

My ultimate idea if I had enough money and enough support from other corporations would be to open this type of safe haven for veterans with PTSD and their families. I’m not sure if someone has come up with this idea already, but I would build this type of community that caters only to veterans with PTSD. I would have this community filled with apartments so that my visitors have a place to sleep. I would have these workshops that work side by side with veterans to help them overcome their invisible wound. I would hire psychologist who have had some time in the military so that they would be able to relate to our men in women in my program. I would find an herbalist who could come up with herbs to naturally heal the pain of some people. I would not allow any type of medication be prescribed because I feel medication is not needed all it does is numb a person. 

After evaluation of a person’s PTSD I will have countless groups to let them know that we are here for them. One workshop I would have, that I believe is the most important, is finding a way that would help the person take baby steps into our fast paste society and while teaching them ways to manage what they feel. I know some people think veterans are always angry or foul mouthed with little patience, but in reality it’s because they are so use to doing stuff one way that when they come back to being a civilian they need to have the skills to look at things multiple ways. We have to ease them into this new way of living. I would also like to find a way to work with companies who TRULY hire veterans. 

I would like to ensure that the people coming out of my program have a guaranteed job and not the run-around. My father was one of the many people who got denied jobs because he was “too molded from the military”. I want to make sure the people coming out of my program have a stable job that suits them best. For the families in the program I would like to hold a talk session and group activities for the kids and teenager by age group. I would want them to know I was once in their position and although everything feels different, with time things will get better. I want to educate kids what PTSD is and how they can help their parent. My program wouldn’t just be filled with workshops and talking sessions I would also incorporate fun activities for the children and the whole family. I would ensure that the people coming in know that we are not another VA clinic, we would be there to help in more than one way and if they ever fall off my program would always be arms open to welcome them back! In the end, I would want my program to help veterans cope naturally. I want their stories to be heard. I want them to know since they sacrificed their life for us that I would be there to care not only of them but for their family.

PTSD is an invisible wound that does not show physically, but mentally it will always be there unless you find a source of help. I believe all of our service men and women past and present hold something so special inside of them that all their stories deserve to be heard. We know about deployments and PTSD from outside the box but if you really want to hear a story from someone who deployed or how someone copes with their PTSD I would advise anyone and everyone if they ever get the chance to take the time to hear these stories in person. They are so powerful and are worth hearing. It may be hard for the person to tell it or express how they feel, but at the same time it could be so healing for them just to be able to share their personal story that will one day be forgotten. 

My family has stood by my father through his ups and downs and although it took him years he has found a way to heal. He is happy and content with life. He is retiring from the Army very soon and is deciding to put his Military career in a box. He tells me all the time he doesn’t regret enlisting, the Military has taken care of him when he needed it and he would never regret the lessons it taught him or the people he’s gotten too meet. Closing this part of his life he believes it will push him to open his final chapter, wherever or whenever that may be he is ready. PTSD is an invisible wound that should not take control of your life, there is hope, and I hope for the ones who suffer silently that one day we will be able to hear their stories.

WORKS CITED PAGE:

Gill, Diana Clark. “Words Matter: Telling Your Story an Alternative to Medication for PTSD.” Army Magazine , Dec. 2017, pp. 36–38.

Steele, Emily, et al. “TRR'S Warriors Camp: An Intensive Treatment Program for Combat Trauma in Active Military and Veterans of All Eras.” Military Medicene, vol. 183, 2018, pp. 403–407., doi:10.1093/milmed/usx153.

“VA Releases Veteran Suicide Statistics by State.” U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, 15 Sept. 2017, 05:00 PM, www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2951.

[studentworldchange]

Meatless Mondays

World change Project: Meatless Mondays

By Brianan Rodgers

        What is Meatless Monday? Meatless Monday is about decreasing our carbon footprint on the earth and our health. How to make the change to your diet is tricky. There are multiple things you must keep in mind. The environmental impact of the meat industry, your health, and the safety and well being of all animals. Switching to one day of the week to eat a plant based diet would better the world around you.

        The well known fact about the meat industry is how harmful it is to the environment. It is surprising how many people do not think where there meat is coming from and how it is produced. The meat industry has no way to store the feces of animals for like we do for humans, so the feces of these animals ends up going into places we swim in, a lake. A staggering 51 percent or more of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture, according to a report published by the Worldwatch Institute. The rainforest is being cut down to make room for the meat industry forcing native animals to move out of their native habitats. Animal food production is one of the leading causes of climate change. If the entire U.S. did not eat meat or cheese for just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road. Meatless Monday would benefit the world in enormous ways.

       Why hasn't the government taken a stand against this? Because big business (the meat industry) donates a lot of money to politicians. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the largest ever recorded dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The most likely suspect to this is the well known meat industry “TYSON.” The feces of farm animals have been pouring into the ocean cause marine life to die.

        Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. According to Centers for disease Control and Prevention 70% of adults in the US over 20 years of age are overweight. Harvard researchers linked high processed-meat intake to a 42% higher risk of coronary heart disease. Meat has a harmful impact to the human body. The meat industry advertises meat everywhere telling american consumers “eat more meat.” McDonalds has a $1 burger which is inexpensive and fast to eat. People eat meat because it is convenient for them and it is cheap. Unless we make plant based foods cheaper for the public there will be no change.

     I used to eat meat for 16 years. I was always an overweight child. I ate meat at every meal because it was brought to me. I ate fatty meat like bacon and ham. I would go to fast food places like McDonalds and get a $1 hamburger. I didn’t make the change to Veganism till I watched a documentary about the meat industry. I used to weigh 180 pounds and I’m 5’9 since becoming vegan I lost 20 pounds and currently at 159 pounds. When I used to eat meat after my meal I would feel grossed out and unable to move. I had no energy when I was eating meat. When I started eating a plant based diet and whole foods which I learned about it my college readiness class I saw an immediate improvement to my energy levels. Eating meat made it harder to maintain a good body weight for many people including myself. Before I became vegan I thought being vegan was a terrible thing because of all the ads I would see about meat from the meat industry. What we see on television does influence our perspectives, and in my case it influenced the way I saw Veganism. I believe if America did not heavily advertise meat on the internet and the tv people would be open to the idea of eating a plant based meal once in awhile.

      Meatless Monday brings awareness to the horrors of the meat industry. Animals need sunlight as do humans. The meat industry does not see it that way. This industry sees animals as money. A normal chicken growing up in a factory farm like Tyson is able to see a glimpse of sunlight from the crack of the factory door. Chickens are put in chicken coops that usually holds up to 10,000 chicken on a wire floor. Chickens have no place to walk, so they are forced to breathe harmful chemicals from their feces like ammonia which develops serious health problems. The cows in the meat industry are ripped away from their children once they give birth, it is one of the saddest videos I have ever seen.

    Animals have emotions and feel pain like humans do. There was a time of day were we could eat meat without thinking “this animal never saw the outside world.” The stigma towards Veganism still exists. Many believe it is a “hippy lover” act to not eat meat, but they don’t see the full picture. Even when you might explain how not eating meat once a week will help save the planet they might choose to not hear what you are saying and that is okay. I have had to learn not to get angry at others for sticking to their bias even though I had straight up facts. Being angry at people who will not believe facts does no good and it makes them shy away to the idea of Meatless Monday even more when you get angry. The world is ready to make a change, but I’m not sure if some people are. If we could get one person a day to support Meatless Mondays it would rapidly gain popularity when others see people joining it. There is a lot of criticism for going vegan and Meatless Mondays though if we could all start eating more fruits and vegetables maybe animal suffering would soon diminish and the meat industry will have to reconsider how they treat animals.

Works cited:

Goodland, Robert, and Jeff Anhang. “Livestock and Climate Change.” Climate Change Will Worsen Hunger, Study Says | Worldwatch Institute, www.worldwatch.org/node/6294.

“About Meatless Monday.” Earth Day Network, www.earthday.org/take-action/about-meatless-monday/.

Belva, Keeley. “Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone' Is the Largest Ever Measured.” Gulf Oil Spill | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2 Aug. 2017, ‘ ‘ ‘   ‘         www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured.

“National Center for Health Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 May 2017, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm.

Datz, Todd. “Eating Processed Meats, but Not Unprocessed Red Meats, May Raise Risk of Heart Disease and Diabetes.” Obesity Prevention Source, 13 Jan. 2014, www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/processed-meats-unprocessed-heart-disease-diabetes/.

[studentworldchange]

Save the Elephants

Save the Elephants

By Yvette Carbajal

What would a world be without elephants? Elephants are not only the largest and smartest land mammals; they are also keystone species that have a crucial impact in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they inhabit. Despite their importance, they are prone to be targeted for their ivory that is located in their tusks. In this essay, I will be discussing why it is important to protect African elephants from both poaching and the negligent tourism market which, all the ivory goes to satisfy the demand in China and throughout Southeast Asia.

If the poaching of elephants continues, then a delicate and powerful aspect our world would be lost.

Approximately one hundred elephants are killed per day by poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts, leaving only 400,000 remaining. The unjust lust for ivory products in the Asian market makes the illegal ivory trade extremely profitable and has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants. Ivory is a hard white material from the tusks or teeth which is popular in the Asian market. In the 19th century, there were a few million African elephants.

Today, there are an estimated 450,000 - 700,000 African elephants left due to them being hunted down. Most of the adult elephants are being hunted for their tusks. Which leads to baby elephants not having a mother or father. Most baby elephants are left alone or eaten by other wild animals because they have no protection. Stopping the poaching of African elephants is crucial to the conservation and management of this species. Poaching can also affect the environment because it can disturb the delicate balance in a niche. Since elephants are on top of the food chain, they play a key role in maintaining the balance in the African landscape. For instance, elephants break down trees and thorny bushes, this helps other animals reach their food. This result is the creation of grasslands which makes it easier for smaller animals to travel and reach their food. Another benefit that elephants have is that their dung can be used as manure. The elephant's manure is rich in nutrients and allows for humans to grow and consume crops. Since Africa suffers from lack of food supply elephant dung would be a key to their solution. Elephant dung is filled with nutrients and minerals that can be used for farming. Elephant dung has seed which they transport around and when they use the restroom the seed sprouts. They are also water provider. Elephants dig underground to access water, They will use their feet and tusk to create a hole to reach the water. These man-made elephant holes are available for other animals to drink from. An option that will reduce the poaching of elephants would be if people found another type of material that could replace ivory. There is always a replacement in this world that would be less harmful to animals and possibly stop the killing of elephants. If elephants were stop being hunted then their population would grow because as if right now there are species of elephants are close to being extinct. To reduce the killing of elephants, there are places that raise money and awareness to the threats that exist against them. The International Elephant Foundation is an organization that helps raise money to build new shelters for the elephants that were wounded or orphaned baby elephants. The money that is raised is used to foster and nurture the elephants back to health.  Another organization is the African Wildlife Foundation, which helps ensure the wildlife and land in Africa. They have a donation page, and with every donation, medication is given to them. They also build the new center so elephants cans have a chance to get better and reproduce. In addition to fundraisers, there has also been legal action to help stop the poaching of elephants. In 1989 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species passed a moratorium on the international commercial trade on ivory. In the same year, the African Elephant Conservation Act banned the importation of ivory in the United States. Since then the ivory market has collapsed.

Some of my own ideas on eliminating the poaching of African elephants would be to create my own website and sell clothes, water bottles, jackets, etc in which all the proceeds go toward an elephant nursery. I got this inspiration from a website called Ivory Ella. Every time you buy from their website they donate forty percent of their profits to save elephants. Their mission is to raise as much money to create a sanctuary for elephants. I really think that me making my very own website would help raise money. Another method that I thought of was to create a campaign in which I create a petition sign so our voices can be heard and a difference can be made. Another idea is that I get in contact with major organizations and use their platform to spread the word about elephant abuse. One thing that I can do now includes using my social media to create awareness among my circle of friends and hopefully create a snowball effect.

Elephants are creatures that need our help to try and save them. With support from organizations, starting a campaign, and running a website it would bring awareness to this dilemma and spread the word around and convince people to try and help.

Elephants are capable of having a healthy population with our help.

Elephants don't deserve to be killed for their ivory. There are beautiful creatures that were put on earth for a reason and I hope they still are roaming for centuries to come.

LONG LIVE THE ELEPHANTS.

Sources

https://www.gvi.co.uk/blog/4-reasons-need-elephants/

https://www.petaasia.com/issues/entertainment/elephants/

https://www.ivoryella.com/

https://www.awf.org/

https://elephantconservation.org/

[studentworldchange]

Reducing Poverty in the World

Kelsi Weatherby

World Change Project

Educ 1300

World Poverty

World Poverty is a huge issue today and is an issue that I am very passionate about ending. 3 billion people worldwide survive on $2.50 a day or less. 80% of the world lives on $10 a day or less. Poverty isnt a simple fix because theres so many issues that stem from poverty that we have to focus on. Many parents are unable to care for their children which leads them to abandon them. There are 153 million orphans because of this globally. With India ranking #1 as the most orphans in the world. In many places like Thailand it is common for parents to sell their children off into sex trafficking because of their desperate need of any sort of income for their family. In many places like Uganda the parents will marry their children off and in return receive a piece of land or cattle to support their family. According to UNICEF 22 thousand children die each day due to poverty. In South Korea there is a baby drop box with hundreds of babies being dropped into this box yearly due to the parents being in poverty and not being able to take care of their babies. Poverty also causes lack of education. More than 900 million people cannot read or write due to living in poverty stricken areas. They don’t have access to schools or are unable to afford education. Poverty causes malnutrition, hunger, deaths, reduced rate of growth and development, no treatment for sicknesses, and little to no access of clean drinking water. 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat.

 More than 750 million people lack adequate access to clean drinking water. When I was in Uganda, Africa they had no access to clean water, they traveled 6 hours or more to fetch dirty river water. It caused sickness to the people in the village by drinking it or cooking with it, it caused their stomaches to bloat and have pesticides. The workers at the orphanage I volunteered with used the same bucket of water to wash dirty clothes, wash the children’s hands before supper and wash soiled clothing in. You can imagine the illnesses they got from this bacteria infested water which then meant they couldn’t afford a doctor visit to treat their illnesses and in some cases could lead to death. 842,000 people die every year globally from inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and lack of hand hygiene. As you can see poverty affects so many people and is a huge problem worldwide. With experience in volunteering in some of the most poverty stricken places in the world, I have come up with a few ideas of how to reduce poverty and how to help while it is still an ongoing problem.

The goal is to empower people, educate and help them be self-sustainable. I have three solutions to reducing poverty.

1. Education. Raising awareness to poverty and finding people who want to help donate their time or money into rebuilding poverty stricken areas or serving their time to build up these communities meeting with local leaders to meet the needs of their area. Like we learned instead of giving a man a fish teaching a man to fish is more beneficial. It is so important to help people not just find work but find their gifts of what they are supposed to give back to this world. Donating several sewing machines and cloth to a village in Ethiopia would help them have purpose and get started to where they could start sewing making clothes and selling for a small profit. In Belize I visited a spanish family of 12 people who had absolutely nothing living in a landfill. We cleared the trash and built them a house. Instead of just giving them food, shelter and love, it was important we teach them how to not just survive but earn a profit. We gave them 2 cows and several chickens. With that they were able to have unlimited milk and eggs. We planted fruit trees and taught them about agriculture so when we left they could start being self sustainable. In Africa we planted acres and acres of corn so that they can make a profit once they grew. Poverty in America is a bit different than poverty in a third world country. With poverty in America a lot of times comes with mental illness or drug addiction. 

My #2 solution is to provide housing with programs to help these people. I believe in having increased shelters with not just housing but programs that provide mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, job opportunity, counseling, and a mentor to help each person stay on the right path. In Los Angeles there is Skid Row a 54 block area with poverty and homelessness. There is one particular program called TRUST that provide these people to live stable lives in wellness. 90% of their residents have been housed for over a year. I believe in rehabilitating people rather than just providing meals. 

My #3 solution is service. Giving your time to help rebuild a community, or volunteer at a soup kitchen, donating at a local food drive, or even traveling to orphanages all helps make the world a better place. If you can provide service with your money a little goes a long way. It is only $5 to feed a child in Africa for a month. If you can donate canned food or volunteer at a local shelter. The most important gift you can give is servicing people with your time and love. If you show up to a small village in India and teach them how to cook, teach them about agriculture, teach them about having a business or giving them that boost of confidence it can motivate them to take action to do better for themselves and their families. Sometimes all you need is that push or that person to believe in you to help you find your purpose in life and with that they can turn out to be extremely successful hardworking people.

[studentworldchange]

Global Warming: Signs of Harsh Reality Caused by Pollution

By Ryan Westmoreland                                              12-1-17

My world change product is over the awful and harming pollution that causes global warming today. Global warming is a controversial topic. For some, it is quite a simple concept but for other they either do not understand or refuse to understand. With all the scientific data concerning global warming, how could humans be so ignorant? Whether it is greed, low knowledge of the topic, or simply they just don’t care, these are all reasons why trying to control pollution is nearly impossible.

First off, the number of people that do not know enough about pollution and the affects it has on our world is incredibly too high. Though we cannot blame them for not knowing, we can blame ourselves as humans for not education other enough on this seriously life threatening topic. Countries other than the United States like, Saudi Arabia don’t make pollution a big matter in their government. On the grand scheme of things this one country not taking pollution seriously doesn’t seem like a big deal. It is all the other countries like this combined that make our world so over polluted. Don’t get me wrong America is also by far one of the worst countries in producing pollution but at least steps are being made towards keeping a clean earth. 

The first step towards a clean world is educating others. This is by far the most important step in becoming a less polluted world. The only way we could ever get the whole world on board to try and cut down pollution is if we got them to understand what it has and will continue to do to our world. Humans don’t realize that the fate of the world is in our hands. Whether it be nuclear war or pollution that’s ends this earth I strongly believe that humans will be the ultimate demise of this planet. Humans fail to realize this that is why it is up to us, the ones that care for humanity and want it to thrive for as long as possible, to spread the word about pollution and how if we do not stop we will die. I know it sounds so simple, but it really isn’t. The pollution that goes into our air slowly erodes at the o-zone in our earth’s atmosphere and allows more UV rays from the sun to penetrate earth. This rise in UV Ray reception is what causes the rise in global temperature. This is where global warming gets its name, duh. As the world lets in more UV rays the average temperature rises, pretty straight forward you would think. As these temperatures rise it affects more than is what is on the surface.

The effects global warming has on the ocean is horrific. Not to mention that the entire species of Japanese orange-spotted filefish have gone completely extinct due to the warming waters. Also, just a little bit more than half of the entire Great Barrier Reef has died in the past 18 months. Once one of the most beautiful and monumental landmarks on this Earth is now announced completely dead. The sad part is this is thanks to humans and humans only. The ocean is polluted by a a lot of things not just trash or oil spills. The scary part is the ones you can visually see are most likely less harmful than the things you cannot. If you look at the Earth from space, what do you mainly see? Oceans, right? With that being said, it is no question that our Earth is an “ocean planet”. This means, the earth’s make up is solely based around the ocean. Without the ocean we wouldn’t have any of the wild life or plantation that we do right now. The ocean plays the most important roll in controlling the Earth’s climate. While the Earth heats up and cools down the ocean is there to be the mediator. The first 10 feet of oceans covering the Earth hold more heat than entire atmosphere. It disperses the heat to different areas of the world. There is a series of some-what underwater rivers that disperse certain amounts of heat to certain areas. For instance, the Gulf Stream a warmer of the systems, creates a nice warm, wet, tropical climate. 

For the colder places of the world this is because these systems don’t transport as much heat to the area. This is where the glaciers melting all comes together and make sense. The pollutants in the air created by humans causes more UV Rays to penetrate Earth. This heat has to be dispersed effectively and the ocean does just that. With the more UV rays entering the earth’s atmosphere the ocean currents must do even more work to separate the heat. Also, it is not just about separating the heat, with the Earths heat rising that means that the oceans disperse the heat to places it usually wouldn’t. Therefore, we are seeing glaciers and ice caps shrinking annually. The ocean is also a habitat for the majority of species in this world and an enormous supplier in food. Without a healthy ocean we will not have a healthy earth. For instance, look at any of the other planets in our solar system, they do not contain a vast ocean and they are dry, dead, and inhabitable. (as of now). This is because there is nothing to control the climate on these planets. Without the oceans our climate would experience hot and cold extremes that most organisms like humans cannot handle and we would perish. After all, the oceans will thrive without humans or land animals but without the oceans we would be doomed.

Overall, I think that global warming is in full effect and will only continue to intensify. It is our time as humans, not as a country or nation, but as a species to act. Humans are killing this beautiful planet that has given us sustainable life as if we deserved such a planet. My solution to this problem is a simple concept but on a whole world scale it is seemingly impossible. The solution to this problem is emphasizing the toll it takes on the world and not giving up. If we want to someday save the planet from our own demise, we must educate others about pollution.

 My solution to this problem is the creation of an organization called the International Pollution Awareness Association, IPAA for short. While there are organizations that specialize in pollution they are searching for ways to solve this worldwide problem, there are no organizations that make educating and spreading the word about pollution their whole purpose. That is where IPAA will come in. We will travel the world educating humans about the life-threatening effects of the pollutants we put in the air every single day. We will also push for worldwide laws regarding pollution. Keep in mind, this is a work in progress and is not a real organization, yet. There are some already in place but not strict enough to save us from the damage we continue to do. For example, by 2030 china is expecting to ban non-electric cars for the sake of this world. It is this progress that gives us hope as humans. No one ever thought we would have electric cars, now we are having laws based around the benefits of electric cars that could potentially save the planet.

 I believe that it will be this generation of students to change the world because, if you ask someone younger than 18 if global warming is a real problem, they will tell you that no doubt it is a problem and it is growing. On the other hand, if you ask an older man or woman some may say that they don’t believe in it or that is a myth. This isn’t true for everybody, but it is more likely for older generations to deny the fact of global warming like they have for many years. You hear much more about it now because the bad stuff they said would come from pollution is now happening. I guess it is safe to say that a sense of panic is what has opened the eyes to many. Pollution is slowly and surely taking its toll on the Earth and one day these effects will be irreversible. It is up to humans as a species to stop pollution in order to save the planet that has given us life. Instead of working on potentially inhabiting a new planet, why don’t we apply that same amount of effort into saving the planet that has given us life for years on end. After all, the world will never stop working to provide us with life meanwhile humans slowly kill what allows them to live.

Works Cited

Handwerk, Brian. “Sustainable Earth: Oceans.” National Geographic, National Geographic Partners, environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/sustainable-earth/oceans/.

Nuwer, Rachel. “Without Oceans, Earth-Like Life Probably Can't Evolve on Other Planets.”Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 22 July 2014, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/without-oceans-earth-life-probably-cant-evolve-other-planets-180952106/.

Stone, Gregory. “We Cannot Survive without Our Oceans. We Must Act to Save Them - Now.”World Economic Forum, World Economic Forum, 9 Nov. 2016, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/an-ocean-renaissance-is-key-to-our-survival/

[studentworldchange]

Lack of Forgiveness as a World Problem

By Daniella Umutesi

Lack of forgiveness is being unwilling or unable to forgive. And forgiving is defined as the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense . Forgiving does not necessarily mean forgetting, or even letting an act go unpunished, although for some people it does. We may forgive someone emotionally, but still feel that they need to experience consequences. Or we may still feel a need to protect future victims. For our safely and well being, we may choose to exclude the perpetrator from our lives or from society.

Forgiveness means being peaceful, while no longer wishing them harm, wanting them to be miserable, or seeking revenge. For some of us , hanging onto the anger and bitterness means giving the perpetrator continued power over our lives, while letting it go frees us psychologically. Forgiveness can mean continuing to work for good and be a loving person, even when faced with abhorrent acts. Most Americans desire more forgiveness in their lives, but they are more critical when choosing who to forgive , according to a recent survey. Sixty-two percent of American adults said they need more forgiveness in their personal lives, and according to a study by the Michigan-based Fetzer Institute, 94 percent wanted to see forgiveness in the country. Researchers who study forgiveness have found that it provides many health benefits to those who practice it, alleviating “everything from high blood pressure and heart problems to pain and mood disorders.”

Forgiving those who have wronged us is never easy. But withholding forgiveness is like allowing a tumor to spread aggressively through our body while ignoring the necessary treatment to eradicate it, the fact of not forgiving puts yourself in prison. There are bars and rules that keep you from others and them from you. You are alone, locked away and unable to engage with those who are in your life. Trust does not exist and while one may think that forgiveness is something only the very highly evolved can accomplish, experts have found that “forgiveness may be just as inherent, just as evolutionarily hardwired into human nature, as aggression and revenge.” In other words, anyone can forgive, if given the right encouragement, although it is said that nobody should be pushed into forgiveness, “as if there were a tidy, scheduled way to grieve deadline.” Pushing for forgiveness when a victim is not ready does more harm than good, and can make them feel inadequate or re-victimized.

Psycho-educational interventions have been successful in helping people overcome interpersonal transgressions although they are typically implemented in group formats, psycho-education interventions to promote forgiveness have been effective for an array of problems and in a variety of situations. For example psycho-educational interventions have promoted forgiveness with adolescents who have felt deprived of their parent’s love, men who were upset by their partner’s choice to have an abortion, partners wishing to enrich their marriage, and older women struggling to overcome hurts in their life. Psycho-educational interventions have also been useful to promote forgiveness in groups of adults who report a diversity of offenses. In my opinion, I think what could also reduce this problem is talking about it, which means: creating organizations, TV shows, establishment of forgiveness campaigns, etc. that enhance and teach the importance of forgiving. Most of the time people take it personally and they are not aware how much non-forgiveness can destroy their lives and deprive them of success.

My country (Rwanda) and fellow Rwandans have experienced the power of forgiveness and by choosing to forgive we built a safe, secure and expanding nation. They key to forgiving in my opinion is starting to do. Sometimes understanding reasons about what happened can be helpful, but sometimes we will never know why someone or something hurts us and we don’t want to make our own recovery contingent upon understanding why the bad thing happened. We may never understand why, but it’s okay, we don’t have to know why something happened in order to get better.

Forgiveness is important because it is a way to self-fulfillment. People who can readily forgive are much happier and successful in their lives than those who keep grudges against others and never want to let go. To conclude, non-forgiveness is a huge problem in the world because as long as we live people will do things intentionally or unintentionally to hurt us. That’s the nature of the world we live in. That is why we need forgiveness to let go of a wrong against us, our bitterness, our negative thoughts and the need for revenge and hatred. We all make mistakes and we all need and deserve forgiveness.

                                            Citation

1.https://lifehacker.com/how-to-forgive-someone-who-has-wronged-you-1671192403

2.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2003.tb 00261.x/epdf?r3_referer=wol&tracking_action=preview_click&show_checkout=1&purchase_referrer=www.google.com&purchase_site_license=LICENSE_DENIED_NO_CUSTOMER

3.Lawler, Kathleen A., et al. (2003). A change of heart: Cardiovascular correlates of forgiveness in response to interpersonal conflict." Journal of behavioral medicine 26, 373-393.

[studentworldchange]

Light Up the World

By Aaron Chavez

December 3, 2017

Since the discovery of fire, humans have incorporated energy into every aspect of their lives. Now days energy is harnessed through electricity, not fire, but is no less important. Energy heats our homes and water, cooks our food, lets us see in the dark, and gets us from point A to B faster than ever before. The unfortunate truth to energy however, is one of greed and control. Right now we currently have more power plants than we need to power the world and yet there are people all over who lack electricity, 1.2 Billion according to The Washington Post. That is over 20% of the world’s population! I will set out to change that. I want to bring the light to darkness and give access to this life enhancing tool to everyone regardless of their economic status. The answer lies with the very organisms that produce the air we breath… Trees.

Bioluminescence is defined by Dictionary.com as “the biochemical emission of light by living organisms such as fireflies and deep-sea fishes.” In other words, it is the ability of plants or animals to produce light from their bodies. Now imagine walking down a street at night, illuminated by the soft bluish green glow of bioluminescent tree leafs instead of street lights. As you arrive at your apartment you simply tap a leaf and tulip bulbs illuminate the entrance and desk that they rest on. The air inside your apartment is just as fresh as outside and the light sufficient to see but soft enough to sleep when they are left on. This is my solution to our energy crisis. If we used plants to illuminate rather than electricity, a global revolution may take place. No longer would people have to rely on electric companies to light their homes. All we would have to do is plant a tree or flower, move it inside and care for it, and that’s it. Aside from producing light, these plants would also help to remove allergens and purify the air. Unfortunately, plants and trees do not bioluminescence naturally and that is where I come in.

Genetically Modified Organisms have been in the news a lot as of late, usually about how we should be against them. The reality of the matter is that GMO’s change the organism for the better. For example, a strawberry the size of a golf ball was genetically modified, for in nature they do not grow that big. The same concept can be applied to a common house plant to effectively convert it from plant to lamp. Recently there was a discovery made about DNA removal/addition. In each and every mammal on the planet exists a protein in our cells called CRISPR-CAS9. This protein is responsible for our immunity to previously exposed diseases. For example, chickenpox will usually not reappear after you already had it because your body has developed an immunity. The CAS9 protein removes a small section of the virus’ DNA and replicates it then attaches it to your DNA. The fact that this protein is capable of cutting specific sequences of DNA, replicating them, and attaching snippets of DNA is astronomically significant. With this biotechnology we can add strands of DNA to any plant that make it bioluminescent effectively turning it into a lamp. We may even be able to take it a step farther by adding an entire organ to a plant which is shaped like a wall socket and is capable of producing electricity simply through photosynthesis. Imagine having to change your phone so you step outside and plug it into a tree! With these trees and plants everywhere, no one would be without access to free reliable energy. Unfortunately gene editing does not come without its own dangers.

There are a few dangers to genetically modifying organisms. One of the biggest dangers includes the spreading of the genes across species. Scientists have in fact been able to create genetically modified organisms, the problem is that the gene persists throughout generations. This, although it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing since we are making plants glow in the dark, can cause other plant species and perhaps even the organisms that consume the plant and their offspring to experience unusual side effects and or genetic mutations. The effect of the spreading of modified genes is still not fully understood and more research into the subject needs to be done before I have a definite answer. For now this is just educated speculation. Ecologically it could have a devastating effect if it causes animals to not eat the plant. The food chain would be disrupted in anywhere from an apocalyptic way to not at all. The cons are some that definitely have to be solved before the full implementation of the finished product.

In conclusion, free energy to me, is the next step in our human evolution as a species. The day that the world is illuminated without harming our environment is the day that I know my job is done. Although this idea is far fetched I believe that it is attainable. Just imagine a world like Pandora from the movie Avatar where there are glowing forests with different plant species that glow. That is my vision. The whole world would be illuminated by the very organisms that have inhabited our Earth since the beginning of life itself. This solution does not just solve the energy problem but also revolutionizes the way humans would view and interact with nature. Perhaps we would still be looking down at our phone screens, but we will be outside next to a power tree instead of hugging a wall.

Sources

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/bioluminscent-trees-could-light-our-streets

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/world-without-power/

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/world-without-power/

[studentworldchange]

Introduction

In my college courses students write World-Change papers and do class presentations. Students choose a major world problem and conduct research. Then they write a paper with ideas for solving or reducing this problem. Papers are only put on this blog with written permission from students.