“Now I am reading posts, trying to contribute, but I can't find that feeling of change. Mainly we post sad stories of unhappy or unlucky people. We talk about policy of countries politics and economics”.
A dear fellow of our gang has recently written a post, opening her heart about writing stories on development. I totally understand her quite desperate feeling of impotence in the face of the many apparently insoluble problems, but there is hope.
Do you remember a video I posted some days ago? It is clear especially in one point: “in order for us to end rights abuses, we must first all become aware of them”.
That is the importance of our stories here in TH!NK: they are vital, although seeming not to be.
Here you are again:
A brand new masterpiece of the North American environmental photojournalist Chris Jordan can be thought like a compass, pointing toward a true source of hope and inspiration for us all.
It reminds me of a lot of round things with concentric features: a spider web, a gravitational field, mandalas from various spiritual traditions, the earth and sun etc. However, take a detailed look when you zoom in!
Jordan constructed this image from the names of all the organizations in the world that are devoted to peace, environmental stewardship, social justice, and the preservation of diverse and indigenous cultures.
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In his own words: “The purpose of this piece is to visualize the vast network of altruistic human organizations in every country, city, and community around the world, all working in parallel together. Despite their enormous diversity of size, focus, and geographic location, these organizations are all united around a set of core values that places compassion and stewardship as highest priorities. The hundreds of millions of individuals who are creating and running these organizations bring a nourishing culture of passion, imagination, and citizenship to this process”. |
To highlight what is going on with the MDGs, take a look at the following graphs:
Eleven of the 20 countries making the most absolute progress on the MDGs are amongst the poorest countries in Africa; half of African countries are on track to meet the target of halving poverty by 2015.
Let's look on the bright side!
Hi Luan,
A nice answer towards our co-writer.
But I have a question: on the left side of the last graph it states: “share of counties reporting progress”.
So how accurate is this progress?
Let me give you an example.
Botswana wanted to give all its citizens access to a medical facility (The country is the size of France and only has 1,6-1,7 million citizens). They managed to realize this bold dream:
“The available Botswana medical facilities that provide the safe health in Botswana include:
* 23 district health teams
* 12 district hospitals
* 17 primary hospitals
* 3 referral hospitals
* 330 health posts
* 222 clinics
* 740 mobile stops
The private hospital is also available in the capital city Gaborone. There is availability of private doctors as well.
The advanced medical facilities are available in Gaborone and Francistown. In the other parts of Botswana, the district health teams remain alert to provide the basic medical service to the patients. The serious cases are referred to the referral hospitals located in Gaborone and Francistown.
Few of the clinics in Botswana remain open 24 hours a day for the convenience of patients. The mobile stops engage in spreading awareness against diseases like polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, malaria, HIV AIDS, etc. The medical facilities in Botswana have been recognized as one of the best in Africa by various organizations.”
Now we come to the problem. There is always a staff shortage:
http://www.sundaystandard.info/article.php?NewsID=7291&GroupID=1
On top of the shortage, many people involved in health-care are often not present as the HIV rate is high and staff is often sick and not present.
Does this now mean they have achieved a lot and are progressing towards the MDG’s?
Johan, great example. Thanks for it. I had no idea of this case.
Personally, based on what you said, I think it is an important step towards real progress…they have achieved something vital…but not the most indicated picture as desired. Don’t you agree?
Yeah, indeed, I think this is not very accurate (we can not trust statistics wherever they come from). It is from the UN, anyway, and you can take a detailed look-see here: http://endpoverty2015.org/en/node/896
I’ve just wanted to show that, in some way, they are managing to go on…