Tuesday, April 1, 2008

follow up

before a quick follow up to my previous post, i will mention something funny (since these posts are anything but). today is april fools day and im not one to make many or any practical jokes. not that im against it, but i just never really think to do it, but i think they are funny and always admire when other people do. i especially admire it when something like youtube is mature enough to not take itself too seriously and have fun for a day. go to youtube.com and click on any one of the 'featured videos.' (if it is no longer april 1, then it might not be there anymore. but if you clicked on any one of the featured videos, then this video would come up. pretty good. the song is actually pretty good, catchy and classic (sort of), but the video is just epic).

anyways, just a quick follow up to the previous post that no one seemed to read or care to comment about. my brother in law read it and sent me an email. he is well versed in poorer countries and many problems that they face. he is doing his medical residency and has spent a good amount of time in africa and south/central america doing work with poor communities. anyways, he just commented that the solution to these major problems (like human trafficking) is to focus on improving health, education and commerce. he also mentioned that another solution is to make penalties so severe that people will be afraid to do it. that is a possibility, but a problem with that one (which we discussed in my class) is that the government is so corrupt. there are actually severe penalties for any sort of participation in human trafficking, even in cambodia. but if anyone is ever caught and charged with some sort of participation, they can and do just pay off judges and government officials and get themselves released. so basically there are two options, work on the solution from the top down, or from the ground up. both are possible, but i cant do much about the top down one and getting judges or officials that arent corrupt in office. but my brother in law gave a couple of solutions for working on things from the ground up. they both seem great. i really like the first one because not only do the families get money, which is good so they arent wanting to sell their children, but its based off of the children going to school, which helps solve some of the education problems, which would eventually benefit the community. anyways, here they are, with some explanations of each:

GirlsLearnInternational.org

Cambodia

Poor, rural and often illiterate Cambodian parents tend to keep their daughters from attending school, preferring them to remain home to tend the fields, cook, keep house and mind younger children or otherwise generate income for the family. Girls are taught to be shy and refrain from participating in the activities of the community. To encourage these resistant parents to keep their daughters in school in a culture that does not value educating girls, our partner organization, American Assistance for Cambodia has introduced a program under which parents are paid $10 per month for each month their daughter maintains a perfect attendance record at school. This payment allows families to hire someone to do the work otherwise performed by their daughters and discourages parents from selling their daughters into the sex trade.

Ezra Vogel School, Labanserk Commune, Cambodia
Partner: American Assistance for Cambodia
Founded in 2003, the Ezra Vogel School provides special training to girls with a curriculum that helps them understand their role at school, in the family, and in the community. The school enrolls 32 girls and 47 boys, ages 9 – 17. Housed in a five room schoolhouse, the curriculum includes Cambodian language, the national education curriculum (including mathematics, history, geography, science, English) and computer skills. Extra-curricular activities include reading time in the school library and sports and children’s computer related games developed by the MIT Media Laboratory. The school is managed and funded by the local Ministry of Education. American Assistance for Cambodia funds English and computer skills training, e-mail access, some library books, computers, and a printer. The annual cost of educating a girl runs from $15-$25 per student per annum.

2 comments:

Lark said...

Its good to become more aware about these problems. There are obviously a lot of problems in the world and its good to try and help in any way we can.
parker told me about the quote he sent you by Elder Maxwell - I really like that.
Also check out kiva.org. I know he sent that link to you awhile ago. Its not directly related to helping human trafiking but certainly helps indirectly.

f*bomb. said...

I love that you're putting so much thought into this subject. The book, "Three Cups of Tea," makes a great point about education- particularly the education of women in poor areas. Not only does educating girls benefit their immediate family and their future children, but women are more likely to contribute locally and create an educated environment within their community. Also, in the terrorist-laden regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, children with no options for education are more likely to join terrorist groups for support and education if schools are not provided for them. The more educated someone is, the less likely they are to resort to violence or terrorism.

It behooves us to assist in educational programs worldwide, for both women and children.