Food Deserts, Food Swamps and Food Apartheid

September 7, 2022

Around 2.2 percent of all U.S. households live in areas without access to inexpensive healthy foods, leading to higher rates of obesity. These “food deserts” stem from a history of racism and inequality.

Food deserts are areas where residents don’t have easy access to healthy, affordable food. Instead, they may be overrun with fast food options. Mike Mozart. CC BY 2.0

Approximately 23.5 million Americans live in areas with limited or no access to affordable, healthy foods—especially fresh fruit and vegetables. These areas are commonly known as “food deserts” and are disproportionately found in low-income, minority communities.

Food deserts occur when there are few or no grocery stores within convenient distance; for example, a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that 2.3 million people live more than one mile away from a grocery store and do not have a car. In urban areas, the nearest grocery store might be a long trip away via public transportation, and not everyone is able to take time out of their day to make the trek, especially those in low-income neighborhoods who may be working more than one job.

Despite common misconceptions, living in a food desert does not necessarily mean that a person is food insecure. In fact, food deserts are often flooded with food choices—just not ones that are both healthy and affordable. A food desert may have plenty of smaller stores to buy food from, but these stores typically have limited options compared to grocery stores, specifically in the availability of fresh produce. Without easy access to grocery stores, people living in food deserts must turn to more convenient and affordable options, namely fast food.

Experts have coined the term “food swamp” to describe areas that are oversaturated with unhealthy food options. A study by the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that an average food swamp has four unhealthy eating options for every one healthy option.

Because people living in food deserts and food swamps have easier access to unhealthy food than healthy options, these areas also suffer from higher obesity rates. Studies have shown that food swamps may be a more accurate predictor of obesity rates than food deserts. However,food swamps and deserts tend to occur in the same areas, and more often than not these areas are low-income, minority communities.

The USDA has identified over 6,500 of what they refer to as “food desert tracts” based on census data and data about the locations of large grocery stores. In a 2012 study about the characteristics and causes of food deserts, the USDA found that areas with greater levels of poverty were more likely to be—or to become—food deserts. The study also concluded that “food desert tracts have a greater concentration of all minorities” than tracts that are not considered food deserts.

Because of the way that food deserts disproportionately impact minority communities, some food justice activists, like Karen Washington, prefer the term “food apartheid,” as it better captures the racial and economic nuances of the situation. Washington points out that “food desert” brings to mind “an empty, absolutely desolate place” with no food to be found, but this is not what a community with poor access to healthy food looks like. Nina Sevilla, another food justice activist, notes that “desert” implies that these areas are naturally occurring, which is not the case.

“Food deserts” are the result of decades of systemic racism that led to housing segregation; under the Federal Housing Administration starting in the 1930s, middle and lower-class white families migrated to the suburbs while minority families remained in urban housing projects. Redlining policies prevented minority groups from moving into what were seen as white neighborhoods. As white middle-class residents shifted to the suburbs, so did new supermarkets, leaving minority neighborhoods without easy access to a wide variety of food.

The term “food apartheid” highlights how these racist policies shaped low-income minority communities’ access to healthy food.

Since food inequality and so-called food deserts and food swamps are so rooted in racism, they are not an easy problem to address. However, there are many organizations working on different solutions to food apartheid, from championing policy reform to building alternative food systems, such as urban and small-scale farming and affordable organic grocery stores.

To Get Involved:

To learn more about where “food deserts” in the U.S. are located, look at the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas here.

For a comprehensive policy platform on food, visit the HEAL Food Alliance here.

Rachel is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

A Country Divided: Marking the 75th Anniversary of the Indian Partition

September 7, 2022

Decades after India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947, the cultural and political ramifications of partition continue to shape the lives of the new generation.

India celebrated their 75th Independence Day on August 15, 2022. Sanstuthi Nath. CC BY-NC 2.0.

2022 marks 75 years since British colonizers divided up the Indian subcontinent, officially declaring India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as sovereign states and leaving a trail of violence in their wake. Unlike the 50th anniversary of the event celebrated back in 1997, many, if not most, of the generation who lived through the horrors of partition have aged or gone, leaving fewer and fewer with first-hand memories of the difficult time. Despite this, discussions of South Asian affairs continue to be inextricably linked to the birth of Pakistan, the idea of an unified Indian nation, and the difficulties of birthing a new democracy in the wake of such upheaval.

Refugees desperate to escape massacre cram themselves onto trains during partition. Derek Barry. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The pro-independence movement in India had long preceded partition, gaining most of its following in the years just after World War II. By this time, the country had been under British colonial rule for just under a century, and the country, while still heavily divided by caste, religion and ethnicity, largely agreed upon their desire to be self-governed. The newly elected British government at the time also appeared to be on the same page, but their exercises in subjugating the Indian population, in order to maintain control over them, had the unexpected consequence of inter-group violence, specifically when it came to deciding who would inherit the British Raj’s political power. This was especially true among religious groups: influential Hindu, Sikh and Muslim groups in politics were unable to agree on their vision for the new India with one such failed conference in 1946, resulting in Muhammed Ali Jinnah, head of the Muslim League, demanding the creation of a Muslim state. This call to action incited violence all over the country which the British decided would only end by partitioning the country into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. Their minimal logistical support, however, resulted in even more violence and ethnic cleansing, causing millions of people to flee their homes after discovering they were on the wrong side of the border. A million people perished in the refugee crisis and fifteen million were forced from their homes.

The Beating the Retreat ceremony is performed by Indian Border Security Forces and Pakistani Rangers at a border post. AFP Photo. CC BY-NC 2.0.

The ramifications of partition, 75 years after its occurrence, are still prevalent in many aspects of life for the younger Indian and Pakistani generations that may not even realize it. Their experiences of partition, unlike those of their grandparents, are largely based on knowledge learned in school and second-hand accounts from elder relatives. To those interested in the rapidly diminishing value of independence in an increasingly globalized society, the younger generation’s lack of connection to the event, which single-handedly birthed the modern nation of India as we know it, is placing a much larger burden on other institutions -- the media in particular -- to ensure an accurate historical memory of partition. In light of the waves of recent cultural, political, religious, gender and border conflict that have reignited across the subcontinent, remembering the sacrifices and hardships endured by those who fought for a unified India could provide a useful point of mediation.

Millions of displaced peoples set up refugee camps after being forced to flee their homes due to religious violence. The Guardian. CC-BY-SA 2.0.

If nothing else, celebrating 75 years of Indian independence has caused a lot of stories to resurface. Younger generations are making more of an effort to retrace their family histories across time and borders, digging into family archives and questioning their relatives before they are lost to time. The decades have done nothing to erase the history and emotions of what happened, and it is becoming increasingly common among those who have inherited the burden from their parents and grandparents to rediscover these narratives, both sweeping and personal, in the name of developing a personal identity. By posting these stories and sharing them online, young Indians and Pakistanis are building a community of their own and collectively defining what partition means to them. Hopefully, it will also be these communities that can overcome the legacy of pain and trauma that has followed the event through the years, and turn it into a new foundation of strength of unity for future generations of Indian and Pakistanis to come.

Freedom at Risk: Religious Persecution Around the World

September 7, 2022

Religious persecution still exists throughout the world, affecting people of all religions.

A protest at a Chinese embassy advocating for freedom of religion for Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims. futureatlas.com. CC BY 2.0.

In April 2021, the United States announced that it would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. In his reasoning to withdraw, President Joe Biden said that it is “the right and responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future”. That future, however, is compromised as the Taliban quickly took over the country and imposed laws that undermine the rights of women and religious minorities.

Religious minorities in Afghanistan have “faced harassment, detention and even death due to their beliefs”, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission has recommended Afghanistan be included in the State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” in terms of religious liberty. Many Jewish, Hindu and Sikh Afghans have been forced to flee the country and Ahmadiyya Muslims, Baha’i’s and Christians have been worshiping in secret in fear of persecution.

While many people think that the world is now much more enlightened than before, religious persecution is not a practice of the past. Conflicts are still being fought over religion. Religion is the key of freedom of conscience, which makes up a key part of the human being. Totalitarian regimes, that attempt to claim the whole person, are intent on suppressing religion, with controlling the individual as the end goal. However, religious persecution is not just limited to authoritarian states, as a 2018 report claims that harassment of religious groups occurs in 90% of all countries.

With authoritarian regimes on the rise in countries like China, religion is being suppressed there. In China, Xi Jinping is embarking on a campaign against religion in general and sending countless Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Muslims to concentration camps. In addition, the Chinese government is trying to impose forced assimilation of Tibetan Buddhists and closed many Protestant churches.

Though officially a secular democracy, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and his Hindu nationalist party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led a fierce anti-Muslim campaign in India. The Indian government has recently moved to limit the rights of Muslims, including a new law that allows for fast-tracked citizenship of non-Muslim immigrants from nearby countries. There has also been an increase in violence against Muslims in India during Modi’s time in office.

Religious persecution in India is not just limited to Muslims, however. Christians are also facing animosity in India. Hindus are committing violence against Christians under the pretext of the country’s anti-conversion law, which prohibits missionary activity. To Hindu nationalists, the notion that some Hindus are willing to convert to Christianity throws a dent in their plans for a purely Hindu nation. The only problem is, that the Christians under the threat of vigilante violence are not engaging in conversions. Instead, the anti-conversion law is used as an excuse to justify violence against Christian communities in India.

There are countless other examples of religious persecution around the world that are not getting much attention. According to Open Doors, an organization that advocates for persecuted Christians, more than 360 million Christians across 76 countries suffer high levels of discrimination, with Christians in the Middle East and Africa under particular threat. In Kenya, six Christians were killed in early 2022 by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda aligned terrorist group. Even in Uganda, where 82% of the population is Christian, a Muslim hanged his wife and children in January 2022 because they converted to Christianity.

Even Western countries, which are generally considered more tolerant, are not bereft of instances of religious persecution. France in recent years instituted a “burqa ban”, prohibiting some people from wearing their religious garments. While some justified the ban as an embrace of secularism and public safety, France also instituted a compulsory mask mandate during the Coronavirus pandemic without reversing the “burqa ban”, showing that Islamophobia was the driving force behind the ban.

These instances of religious persecution are a direct affront to human rights. Article 18 of the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the freedom of religion to be a fundamental human right. While the world may not be the most tolerant place currently, there are numerous organizations and individuals working to change that.

To Get Involved

There are plenty of organizations that fight for religious freedom around the world. The Religious Freedom Institute is working to convince stakeholders around the world that religious freedom can help them achieve their goals. The International Association for Religious Freedom promotes the work of individuals fighting for religious freedom. Other organizations advocating for religious tolerance can be found here.

A Cycle of Dependency: How Donations Worsen Income Inequality

August 30, 2022

Regardless of the good intentions behind donations, the short-term gain experienced by poor communities often leads to the persistence of income inequality and an endless cycle of dependency.

Secondhand clothing in Haiti. Vanberto. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Donations are often associated with a positive image of helping destitute populations get the resources they lack. Yet, this short-term aid often results in far-reaching consequences detrimental to a country’s economy, which leads to the persistence of income inequality.

The donation of money that goes toward buying resources for impoverished communities often creates an endless cycle of dependency, especially if such service is repeatedly conducted through organizations or companies. First, the repeated nature of such service creates a false assumption among receivers that there will always be a supply of that resource without work, making them reliant on such aid. Moreover, the organizations themselves are indirectly relying on marginalized areas to promote their businesses’ charitable work. For instance, back in 2006, when TOMS started its “one for one” program, it would donate a pair of shoes for every pair that was purchased. Although the company’s motive seemed to be pure, it relied on underprivileged populations’ need for shoes to increase its business revenue.

84% of unwanted clothing is thrown into landfills

When donations are consistently provided, those living in poverty often learn to become dependent on the donors as they see less reason to get out of their current situation. Local businesses also shut down, as the need to produce items goes away when high-quality donations are provided at a minimal price from external sources. Although that may come as great news for citizens of developing countries, most of the profit in this exchange goes to the exporters. A 2006 report found that, “textile and clothing employment in Ghana declined by 80% from 1975 to 2000; in Zambia it fell from 25,000 workers in the 1980s to below 10,000 in 2002; and in Nigeria the number of workers fell from 200,000 to being insignificant.” Such statistics imply that despite the good nature of external aid, it often comes at the expense of the receiving countries.

Haiti is a common dumping ground for secondhand clothing primarily from the United States, and due to its regular occurrence, locals have given this process the name “Pepe.” The Netflix documentary “The True Cost” elaborates on how Haiti’s textile industry is suffering due to the widespread popularity of Pepe, leading the country’s local clothing industry to disappear. For this reason, some countries have started to refuse the import of secondhand clothing, and more of it ends up in recycling facilities. Yet according to Newsweek, 84% of unwanted clothing is thrown into landfills.

To combat waste, then, the fast-fashion industry needs to start recycling its own goods, minimize seasonal sales, make more durable products and normalize wearing recycled apparel. Additionally, governments need to start promoting the creation of more jobs for impoverished communities, so that all the necessary resources are available in the market at reasonable prices. Finally, donors should remember that regardless of good intentions, deprived communities may suffer long-term consequences due to misunderstood charity work.

Swati Agarwal is a sophomore at University of California, San Diego, where she is studying Environmental Sciences and Theatre. Although born in India, she was raised in Tokyo, which gave her the opportunity to interact with diverse people from distinct cultures. She is passionate about writing, and hopes to inspire others by spreading awareness about social justice issues and highlighting the uniqueness of the world.

The Great Green Wall: Preventing Desertification in the Sahel

August 24, 2022

Desertification has negatively affected the area south of the Sahara Desert, but one initiative is fighting back.

Desertification management in Morocco. Richard Allaway. CC BY 2.0.

Desertification is defined as the human-caused permanent degradation of land that was once arable. It usually takes place in areas with low rainfall called drylands, which comprise over 40% of the earth’s surface area. While desertification has always occurred throughout earth’s history, the rate is increasing due to climate change, since changing precipitation patterns has made more land susceptible to it.

There are several methods where land can degrade. Erosion can degrade the land; the loss of soil fertility can do the same as well. A decrease in soil fertility can occur when farmers plant the same type of crop repeatedly, and those crops take in all the nutrients from the soil, leaving it barren after a number of years. Traditionally, crop rotation, where a different crop is planted in the same plot year after year, has been used to replenish the nutrients in the soil.

The Sahel, the region immediately south of the Sahara Desert, is particularly vulnerable to desertification today. The region cycles between periods of abundant rainfall and periods of low rainfall, with the latter contributing to famine. The effects of droughts are magnified by poor land-use management, such as overgrazing, which leads to the degradation of the land.

Because of that, the Sahara Desert is slowly creeping south, threatening land that was once home to farms and pastures. The land of the Sahel is yielding less, and water is becoming more scarce. People cannot live in those areas without a stable supply of water, causing mass migrations out of the region and forcing many to lose their traditional way of life.

The Great Green Wall initiative aims to plant trees across the African continent to stop the spread of the Sahara Desert. goTraveltipster. CC BY 2.0.

However, there are efforts being made to fight back against the desertification of the Sahel. The Great Green Wall is an initiative designed to stop the encroachment of the Sahara Desert into the Sahel. That initiative entails planting trees along a 8,000-kilometer (5,000 miles) stretch of land south of the Sahara, which will impact 22 countries. The African Union started the project in 2007, and it is about 15% completed as of right now. It will be the world’s largest living structure, three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Green Wall will also provide benefits other than simply stopping the growth of the Sahara Desert. It is projected to improve millions of lives, providing opportunities to one of the poorest places in the world. According to their website, “since the birth of the initiative, life has started coming back to the land, bringing improved food security, jobs and stability to people’s lives”. The Great Green Wall will also directly impact the attainment of several Sustainable Development Goals set up by the United Nations.

While desertification has sapped the livelihoods of many in the Sahel, the Great Green Wall aims to plant a wall of trees to limit the spread of the Sahara Desert and can contribute to the rebound of the region.

Climate Change Will Displace Millions in Coming Decades: Nations Should Prepare Now to Help Them

5 African World Heritage Sites Under Threat

10 Must Read Novels About the Immigrant Experience

August 24, 2022

Here are 10 fictional narratives detailing aspects of the immigrant experience from the hilarious to the heart-wrenching and everything in between.

Bookshelves. Hannah Gersen. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Travel has been a popular topic among authors for almost as long as writing has existed. From the heroic tales of Odysseus’ journey first published in Homer’s 7th century BC epic, to the many articles highlighting hidden wonders on this very website, the idea of reading about far away places and getting lost in descriptions of exotic foreignness has always drawn a huge following. The subsection of this genre that focuses on migrant experiences, however, adds a completely unique flavor to these stories of new discovery. Here are 10 books that highlight, among others, themes of cultural assimilation, hardships encountered in completely foreign settings and the balance between wanting a better life and loyalty to one's country.

1. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (2020)

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. Waterstones. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

After her critically acclaimed debut novel Homegoing, Ghanian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi has finally gifted her readers another emotional rollercoaster in “Transcendent Kingdom”. Her protagonist, Gifty, a whip smart first generation neuroscience candidate at Stanford, finds herself struggling to accommodate her Ghanian mother’s pervasive religious beliefs alongside her scientific research. Maybe more importantly, Gifty is also struggling to find herself, her place in society, her true calling in life and love. “Transcendent Kingdom” is raw, honest and unsparing in its examination of one woman’s journey to self-acceptance.

2. Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades (2022)

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades. Goodreads. CC BY 2.0.

This debut novel from Queens local Daphne Palasi Andreades is a beautifully lyrical homage to young women of color making their way through the complexities of teenage life in the New York borough. The book follows “girls like Nadira, Gabby, Naz, Trish, Angelique” among others as they face the realities of reconciling their American dreams with histories and cultures rooted in the faraway homelands of their parents. Andreades masterfully balances the day to day of life in Queens while tackling the issues of race, class, identity and cultural marginalization dealt with by brown girls everywhere.

3. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (2020)

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Amazon. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Charles Yu is back with another satirically analogous novel, this time tastefully playing back and forth between Asian-American stereotypes and Hollywood clichés to narrate, literally, the far reaching aspirations of “Generic Asian Man” Willis Wu. Willis feels so much an unremarkable member of Chinatown’s exotic foreign aesthetic, that he can’t even see himself as the main character in his own life. His dreams, on the other hand, have him playing “Kung Fu Guy”, a role achieved only by those lucky enough to claw their way out of Chinatown’s grasp, but one that will force Willis to confront his family’s heritage in the context of a hostile America.

4. Good Intentions by Kasim Ali (2021)

Good Intentions by Kasim Ali. Waterstones. CC BY 2.0.

Romance novel fans look no further -- Kasim Ali’s debut novel “Good Intentions” follows the love story between Yasmina and Nur from reckless college parties to the uncertainties of post-graduation adulthood. Both first generation immigrants from Sudan and Pakistan respectively, Yasmina and Nur are navigating the balance between traditional Muslim values and their feelings for each other. While Yasmina, passionate and headstrong, seems to have everything figured out, Nur can’t bring himself to tell his parents about his relationship, even four years in. Comforting and heartbreaking all at the same time, the romance novel is the ultimate homage to young love in vibrant color.

5. The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (2015)

The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota. Blackwell’s. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

This award-winning novel is Indian-British author Sunjeev Sahota’s second publication, telling the sweeping narrative of four young Indians facing the punishing realities of building a new life in foreign surroundings. Avtar, Randeep, Tochi and Narinder want nothing more than to leave their pasts in the rural Indian villages which they fought so hard to escape, but they have no idea how much hardship still awaits them. Stretching from the most remote corners of Eastern India to the crumbling housing complexes in Sheffield, Sahota shares a story of dreams and ambition, of the ever-pervasive sufferings of generational poverty and inequality and of the sheer strength of the immigrant spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulty.

6. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So (2021)

Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So. Goodreads. CC BY-SA 2.0.

A love letter to Khmer teenagers, monks, donut shop owners, badminton players and everyone else in the Cambodian enclave of Stockton, California, Anthony Veasna So’s collection of short stories paint a darkly humorous picture of his community. Each vignette holds up a microscope to a crucial turning point in a young Khmer life, some of which lead their protagonists to long-awaited clarity and relief while others are simply plagued by more questions and emotional instability. So is unrelenting in his study of the good, the bad and the ugly of what it means to be “Cambo” -- what it means to carry the searingly fresh wounds of recent history while chasing success in 21st century America.

7. Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta (2019)

Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta. Goodreads. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Toronto-based author Zalika Reid-Benta’s debut short story collection follows the conflicted Kara Davis who constantly feels as though she is falling between the cracks of her Jamaican ancestry and her Canadian nationality. A coming of age story set against the rich backdrop of Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighborhood, “Frying Plantain” perfectly captures the power of a single moment to completely alter a relationship, an intention and even an entire life. Familial relationships are tested and generations clash over what it means to be a “true Jamaican” while embracing new opportunities, all while being wrapped up in ever-present tensions of being black in a predominantly white country.

8. Mama Tandoori by Ernest van der Kwast (2010)

Mama Tandoori by Ernest van der Kwast. Amazon. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Marked by its huge cast of unforgettable characters, “Mama Tandoori” is the heart-warming story of author Ernest van der Kwast’s childhood under the watchful eyes of his austere Dutch father and big-hearted Indian mother. With hilarity around every corner, van der Kwast introduces his heptathlete aunt and Bollywood star uncle amongst a colorful lineup of relatives, each adding spices of their own to the recipe of his youth. It is his mother, however, the talented bargainer and ever tenacious Veena van der Kwast, who lies at the center of this novel and breathes life into this moving portrait of familial love.

9. Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen (2021)

Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen. Pushkin Press. CC BY 2.0.

Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen’s critically acclaimed debut novel approaches the immigrant story from an exhilaratingly new perspective. Island follows a young woman completely removed from her ancestral heritage in the Faroe Islands despite having called it home her whole life. When she is called back by family, she journeys to the rocky shores of the northern archipelago to discover stories about her ancestors that will change the way she sees herself forever. An incredible tale of perseverance and cultural discovery, “Island” explores the complex definition of “home” to those who have more than one.

10. The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan (1995)

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. Biblio. CC BY-SA 2.0.

This final one is an oldie but a goodie -- Chinese American author Amy Tan is most well-known for her novel “The Joy Luck Club”, and this novel follows proudly in its footsteps, touching on similar aspects of the Chinese-American immigrant experience, while introducing a refreshing dose of Chinese mysticism and ghostly folklore for good measure. The Hundred Secret Senses follows half-sisters Olivia and Kwan, the former desperately trying to find her place at the intersection of her mixed heritage, and the latter perfectly content in her ability to communicate with the departed souls of those she knew in past lives. Tan weaves a heart-wrenching narrative of love and loss that carries readers from the sunny shores of San Francisco to the bloody terrors of Manchu China, honoring the bonds of familial loyalty and the ties of tradition the whole way through.

8 Immigrant Neighborhoods in the United States That Offer Glimpses of Another Country

Europe’s Refugee Crisis Explains Why Border Walls Don’t Stop Migration

10 Timely Books to Stay Educated on Social Justice

Tanaya Vohra

The Story of Willie Kimani: Police Brutality in Kenya

August 16, 2022

The story of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani’s murder by police officers has sparked a larger conversation about police brutality in Kenya.

Rally against police brutality. Wa-J. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Willie Kimani, a 32-year-old human rights lawyer, was brutally murdered by police alongside his client Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver in 2016. All three men had their bodies disposed in the Ol-Donyo Sabuk River outside the capital of Kenya by police officers who found themselves in the crosshairs of Mwenda’s litigation. Police officers Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku and police informant Peter Ngugi were all found guilty this year of the murders, a whopping six years after the crime.

Mwenda accused officer Fredrick Leliman of shooting him at a traffic stop in 2015, BBC reports. Kimani had been working for the International Justice Mission (IJM) when he picked up Mwenda’s case, IJM being an organization dedicated to punishing human rights violations through litigation.

Police officers in front of Kenyan station. JRandomF. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Officer Leliman started threatening Kimani and Mwenda during the proceedings of the case in 2016 and had even detained Kimani and Mwenda, after court appearances for fabricated reasons. The detainments were an abuse of power, and though Kimani and Mwenda were released, they were not protected against the wrath of the Kenyan police force for much longer. The murders of Mwenda and Kimani occured shortly after in June.

Peter Ngugi, the police informant, stated in court that after they committed the crime, Leliman hosted Ngugi and the police officers for “beer and 5kg of fried beef”, at a bar in Mlolongo to celebrate.

The case of Willie Kimani sparked outrage in Kenya. Protests formed over the murders, even leading a mob of angry citizens to burn the police station that employed the officers responsible.

Police medal ceremony. AMISOM Public Information. CC0 1.0.

But this is not the first big tragedy at the hands of Kenyan police. During the pandemic, police officers in Kenya had been said to beat and kill civilians just for breaking curfew. In 2017, a boy no older than 16 was shot and killed after surrendering to police officers. NPR reports that although the young boy pleaded for his life, a police officer shot him twice.

Stories like Willie Kimani’s murder have ignited demands for police reform, but due to the overtly oppressive nature of the Kenyan police, many who protest fear for their lives. In a country where you need to plead to be arrested rather than killed, it takes bravery to stand up and fight for what is just. Extrajudicial killings occur often in Kenya; in 2020, Missing Voices Kenya reported that “police killed or disappeared 167 people”.

Many countries struggle with police brutality and the systems in place that perpetuate such abuses of power. In Kenya, many think the violence is a result of colonial influence on structures of policing policy. After Kenya gained independence, influences on the police force were already hardened into place.

During the colonization of Kenya, British imperialists created a bifurcated policing force in Kenya based on settlement segregation. Because white colonizers lived separately from Kenya’s native people, certain Kenyans were given policing power over other natives in their area. In martial-law structures such as the Home Guard, these officers were given authority over their own people.

These police forces, however, lacked basic structure, and officers had few limitations to their power. After Kenya’s independence, the lack of structure and rules created systemic issues for future police forces. Foundationally, policing was enacted on the grounds of violence, of oppressive force and of hierarchical power disparities that related to inherent class structures between colonizers and the colonized. A structure without limitations on violent policing led to modern-day overt shows of power and cops who, as Sapiens puts it, “operate outside formal avenues of accountability”.

The history of Kenyan policing, the colonial influence on the structure and the systemic issues that weaken the foundation of policing are all problems being debated globally today. Kenya still sees the effects of colonialism in the practices of its police officers. However, protests in Kenya still occur in the face of likely consequences, and the Kenyan people fight to ensure a greater future for those like Kimani and Mwenda.

To Get Involved

Organizations like Article19 help protect the rights of Kenyans to protest, even against the oppressive forces of the police. In their #FreetoProtest campaign, Article19 fights hard to ensure that protesters in Kenya are free to practice their human right to protest in the face of violent police retaliation. To learn more about their mission and campaign, click here.

Willie Kimani worked for the International Justice Mission (IJM), a legal organization that works to fight human rights violations across the globe. They actively fight against police brutality and killings at the hands of law enforcement. To learn more about the work IJM does to fight police brutality, or to donate to their organization, click here.

George Floyd Inspires Global Response to Police Brutality

Defunding the Police: What it Means and How it Works

Ava is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, double majoring in English and Communications. At school, she Web Writes about music for a student-run radio station. She is also an avid backpacker, which is where her passion for travel and the outdoors comes from. She is very passionate about social justice issues, specifically those involving women’s rights, and is excited to write content about social action across the globe.

Will Bougainville Become the World’s Newest Country?

August 10, 2022

98% of the Bougainville population voted for independence from Papua New Guinea in 2019, but the quest for nationhood remains uncertain.

A view of Bougainville. Jeremy Weate. CC BY 2.0.

In 2019, Bougainville, an island that is politically part of Papua New Guinea (PNG) but culturally and linguistically separate, voted overwhelmingly for independence. Around 98% of the population voted to leave PNG to form their own country. With such a large majority supporting independence, the government of PNG cannot ignore the demands of Bougainville, and negotiations are currently underway to devise a peaceful path to independence that satisfies both parties involved.

Located around 160 kilometers from the island of New Ireland and 1,000 kilometers from Port Moresby, the capital of PNG on the island of New Guinea, Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon island chain. Due to its remote location from the rest of PNG, it has a unique history. A part of the German Empire until 1946, PNG was then transferred to Australian administration. When Australia granted independence to PNG in 1975, Bougainville was to be included in the new country, against the protests of the people there.

The people of Bougainville made several attempts at independence over the years, including in 1975. In the late 1980s, the region got plunged into a civil war due to the disagreements over the operation of the Panguna mine, one of the largest and most profitable mines in the world. To the residents of Bougainville, the mine, which was supported by the PNG government, represented another imperial imposition to their land. As part of the peace settlement that established Bougainville as an autonomous region in 2001, the residents of Bougainville were to be entitled to an independence referendum every 10 to 15 years. That first referendum happened in 2019, which resulted in overwhelming support for independence.

The location of Bougainville relative to the rest of PNG. Mr Accountable. CC BY-SA 3.0.

The next steps are uncertain. It is not feasible for any entity to gain complete independence overnight so there will be a transition period before Bougainville becomes a fully sovereign country. The agreement between Bougainville and the rest of PNG stipulates that independence shall be attained no later than 2027. Both parties are now trying to figure out the best way forward.

PNG is generally reluctant to grant independence to Bougainville, as their prime minister James Marape is worried that giving independence to Bougainville will set a precedent for other secessionist parts of the country. He insists that the parliament of PNG must approve independence. The government of PNG also points out that the referendum is non-binding.

The Bougainville side, however, says that the role of the parliament is only to ratify the actual results of the referendum or the outcome of the post-ratification consultations. After over a year of negotiations, both parties, in 2021, agreed to have a political settlement “no earlier than 2025 and no later than 2027.” Most governmental powers will also be transferred to Bougainville by 2023, with the rest to follow by 2027.

However, challenges remain. Today, Bougainville has a GDP per capita of $1,100, which is around the same level as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Somalia, all of whom face notable challenges in poverty, health and political stability. It remains to be seen whether Bougainville will be able to secure recognition by other nations, as well as become a member of the United Nations, usually considered one of the benchmarks of independence. Ensuring a peaceful transition that results in a stable government that does not depend on foreign aid will be essential in the future success of Bougainville. While not there yet, the world could welcome a new country by 2027.

The Long Road Home: Should Western Museums Repatriate Artifacts?

August 10, 2022

Should the thousands of artifacts looted from their countries of origin during colonial times be returned home?

Almost 900 of the Benin Bronzes, a collection of ancient Nigerian artifacts widely considered stolen, are now on display at the British Museum. Lauren Fleishman. CC BY-SA 2.0.

While archaeologists must abide by a number of strict ethical guidelines when conducting research in foreign countries, museums are seldom held to the same level of scrutiny when acquiring artifacts. Many world class museums house relics of significant historical and cultural importance, undoubtedly attracting both hordes of curious visitors and a great deal of commercial benefit. The question is, however, should these museums really be benefitting from objects that they have effectively stolen from other countries? The question of repatriating many of these looted artifacts has been the center of great controversy in recent years, as many ex-colonial countries who are victims of such theft are beginning to contest the legal ownership of these objects.

The Elgin Marbles are original parts of the Parthenon and were taken from Athens in the early 1800s to the British Museum. Wally Gobetz. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

On the prolific collection of artifacts on display at the British Museum in London, which currently have contested ownership, Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu, a renowned art historian and professor of Nigerian heritage now teaching at Princeton University commented, “You cannot claim to be an encyclopedic collector of stolen objects.” His view makes reference to the historically familiar colonial behavior that many have begun to recognize in the attitudes of the British Museum and many other similar Western institutions towards the repatriation of artifacts. Giving back the artifacts, however, may not be as simple as flying them back home. In the specific case of the British Museum and other museums in England, the British Museum Act of 1963 legally limits any desire to return the Benin Bronzes from Nigeria, the Amarvati Marbles from India and even the world famous Rosetta Stone originally from Egypt among thousands of other objects.

King Philippe of Belgium (right) returning a historical Kakuungu mask to Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi (left) during a state month in June, 2022. Cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

There have been a few stories in recent news highlighting the successful repatriation of artifacts to the ex-colonies they were taken from. June of this year marked the beginning of Belgium’s pledge to return more than 80,000 artifacts looted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the 75-year period during which they ruled over the colony. King Philippe of Belgium expressed his “deepest regrets” over his country’s treatment of the DRC in a letter to the Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi back in 2020, the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence. The King handed a “Kakuungu” mask handmade by the Suku people native to the southwest region of the DRC to President Tshisekedi during his state visit to Kinshasa last month. This particular artifact had been housed in the Royal Museum for Central Africa located near the Belgian capital of Brussels, a site used as a “human zoo” towards the end of the 19th century, where hundreds of captured Congolese villagers were put on display in abysmal conditions.

Turkey’s Culture Ministry claims that tiles in the Ottoman Wall display at the Louvre Museum’s in Paris were stolen from Turkey in the 19th century. Ömer Erbil. CC BY-NC 2.0.

To the many in favor of artifact repatriation, getting the objects home is more than just about the claims of ownerships over these pieces. Many, if not all, of these artifacts is incredibly significant to the cultural and historical identities of countries that suffered under colonial rule, and this inability to access vital parts of their own histories are simply a continuation of that hardship. The popular claim among Western museums that they are simply housing the objects so that they remain accessible to all is also a contentious one. In an interview with CBC, Professor Okeke-Agulu called the argument “stupid” due to its implicit understanding that the museums are only thinking about access to visitors from other Western countries, rather than those from the African continent for whom it is extremely difficult to travel across the world to enjoy these artifacts. He and many others believe that the return of these objects is long overdue -- that these institutions need to get “on the right side of history”.

7 Historical Sites That Could Be Underwater by 2050

Tanaya Vohra

Macaque Monkeys Attack in Yamaguchi, Japan

August 10, 2022

Macaque monkeys, previously peaceful residents of Yamaguchi, Japan, began targeted attacks in July.

Japanese macaque. Zweer de Bruin. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The city of Yamaguchi, Japan boasts historic temples, invaluable art, stunning gardens and macaque monkeys. Macaque monkeys have lived in highly populated areas of Japan since as early as the 1600’s, and up until recently, Japanese macaques have had very few concerning interactions with people.

However, since July 8th, more than fifty people in Yamaguchi have been attacked by the monkeys. City officials and experts say nothing like this has ever happened, and they even initially thought it was only one crazed monkey committing all of the attacks. But even after the monkey in question was euthanized, the attacks continued, leading the city to realize that an entire band of monkeys had inexplicably started attacking humans after years of peaceful coexisting. Fortunately, as of late July, no serious injuries have occured, but city officials have taken to tranquilizing threatening macaques, as they are not deterred by food or traps.

What makes these unprecedented attacks even more puzzling is the fact that they seem very coordinated, with an explicit goal, even if that goal is unclear to the people of Yamaguchi. While minor injuries have resulted from the attacks, some of the attacks appear to be attempted kidnappings. Additionally, the monkeys began by targeting primarily young children and older women. While over the past few weeks they have begun attacking adult men as well, these demographics are so specific that it begs the question: what is their intent? Unfortunately, no one knows yet.

A mother in Yamaguchi recalls a monkey having broken into her home, and attempting to drag her child away. She noted that the monkey tried to take the child with it. The monkeys have been entering homes, and even lurking outside of nursery schools. While there have been occasional macaque attacks in the past, they primarily live in harmony with humans, and a planned effort like this is unprecedented.

Two Japanese macaques. Etsuko Naka. CC BY 2.0.

In terms of the history of Japanese macaques, as noted they have lived in Japan since as early as the 17th century. They are also incredibly intelligent animals, making the decision of the Yamaguchi officials to euthanize one a difficult call. Macaques have opposable thumbs and even sometimes walk on two legs. They are known for doing very human-like activities, such as bathing and relaxing in groups in hot springs in Japan. This habit, as well as the habit of washing their food in the ocean, was learned behaviors within the group, and previously, scientists thought only humans passed traditions and behaviors through generations.

Despite the monkey attacks, which will hopefully come to an end soon, Yamaguchi has many sites to visit and a fascinating history. It is known for its temples, such as the Rurikoji Temple and Joeiji Temple. It is also a coastal town known for having high quality seafood and sake, which is perfect for travelers interested in food. Additionally, Yamaguchi is a very historic area, as the city contributed to the overthrow of the feudal era in Japan in the late 1800’s.

Tokoji Temple in Yamaguchi, Japan. Yoshitaka Ando. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Ultimately, Yamaguchi, Japan is a beautiful and historic city which is currently experiencing turmoil at the hands of macaque monkeys. Officials hope that the situation will be resolved soon, and once it is, consider adding Yamaguchi to your travel list.

Feline Fun: Japan’s Cat Culture and ‘Cat Islands’

Calliana is currently an undergraduate student at Boston University majoring in English and minoring in psychology. She is passionate about sustainability and traveling in an ethical and respectful way. She hopes to continue her writing career and see more of the world after she graduates.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by Home Composting

August 3, 2022

Self made compost can take time to make, but it can easily lower someone’s carbon footprint.

Food waste is a major component of global warming, with all the methane that food produces in landfills when it rots. However, even if someone can’t finish all their food and have a little bit left, they can still lessen their food waste and overall carbon footprint in various ways like home composting. Since around ⅓ of the food produced in the entire world is wasted, composting organic waste can reduce roughly half of greenhouse gasses equivalent to carbon dioxide between 2020 to 2050. Composting is a process of turning organic waste into soil or mulch, and the compost that comes from it is nutrient rich and good for plants, so by composting, people can reduce their food waste and help plants grow.

For composting at home, there are multiple things to keep in mind before starting. The first is that composting is going to take a lot of time, with anywhere between six weeks to an entire year depending on the method, and how much effort is being put into making the compost. The second is that there are two types of items to compost, “green” and “brown” items. Green means the food scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds and tea leaves that are full of nitrogen, while brown ones are the carbon-rich items, like cardboard, egg cartons, dried leaves and wood shavings. Since the green items tend to be “wetter”’ and the brown ones more “dries”, an equal mix is good, though some say it is better to have a 1:3 green to brown ratio. As long as the pieces in the mix aren’t extremely large, and there is good moisture and access to air and oxygen, the pile will decompose into compost. Turning the mix every few days will help bring in more oxygen to help the process and control the odor. The oxygen is especially important because without it, the food will still compost but in an anaerobic way, which will produce a gas that is half methane and half carbon dioxide. Methane traps radiation much better than carbon dioxide, so it contributes to global warming 25 times more per pound.

Fruit on Compost Pile. Allispossible. CC BY 2.0

There are multiple methods of composting at home, but the fastest way is to simply get a home composting bin. There are many composting bins available for sale, but it is also possible to make a homemade one. With a compost bin, all that is required is to place the waste inside and let it decompose at a faster rate than leaving it outside. Some bins will continuously compost materials, while others will make batches of it.

Though using a bin is the easiest method, it is possible to do home composting without one. It is a little slower since the heat isn’t contained, but it works just as well. Trench composting is a technique that involves digging a hole roughly a foot wide and deep, then filling it halfway with kitchen scraps and other organic food waste inside before covering it up. Creating a heap and layering the materials in it also works, though it is better with some space as it may attract flies as the food rots. But, it has access to air, and needs access to water, and within a few months, the compost pile will be ready. To speed up the process, it is possible to use worms or other accelerators.

Composting is a popular method around the world, especially among European countries. Germany has a high recycling and composting rate, sustainably getting rid of 65% of their waste as of 2019. Austria, Slovenia, Belgium and Taiwan also have recycling and composting rates higher than 50%. South Korea, however, recycles around 95% of its food waste by turning it into compost, animal feed, or biofuel. Their laws against sending food waste to landfills and having biodegradable food scrap bags that could be composted and compost bins for people to use have greatly added to this, as well as some places that track food waste per household and charge them for it.

To Get Involved

Many communities have composting programs that aim to advertise the benefits of composting and will help people do it. Even in large cities where people live in apartments and don’t have a backyard to compost in, there are organizations that will take in food waste and compost it for people. In New York City, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has multiple programs just like this, focused on composting, educating, and waste management. CompostNow is an organization that has community gardens and programs in multiple locations that will take in food waste to be composted. Ecoscraps is another company that collects food waste, recycles it, and then sells the resulting compost. Their compost is available all over the country in stores like Home Depot and Walmart.

To find out more about the DSNY, click here.

To find out more about CompostNow, click here.

To find out more about Ecoscraps, click here.

Soldiers Speak: War Crimes in Myanmar

August 3, 2022

Recent atrocities and war crimes have been reported by military soldiers in Myanmar as the civil war rages on.

Human rights protest for Burma in France. Totaloutnow. BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Myanmar has a dirty, bloody history attached to the political and military conflicts that have furiously swept through their country. The civil war that rages on adds to this history, and the war crimes and atrocities that are currently occuring illuminate the fragility and deep rooted struggles between the Burmese government and its citizens.

The civil war started in February of 2021 after Myanmar’s military powers – known as the Tatmadwa – seized the government from the elected officials of the National League for Democracy (NDL), the leading civilian party in Myanmar. The NDL had won the election in 2021 by 83%, the New York Times reports, but the military ignored these results, an action said to be linked to the government's dislike for Aung San Suu Kyi. She was the leader of the NDL who would have become the elected official of the Burmese government.

The military coup that overthrew the government in 2021 was the event that turned the tide of the political state of the country, and now battles between military soldiers in the Tatmadaw and pro-democracy armed civil militias have erupted and raged now for almost two years.

The military powers in charge currently – referred to as the junta: a “group of military leaders” as BBC explains – are led by General Ming Aung Hlaing. He was given power from military leaders after the coup in 2021. General Ming is responsible for the imprisonment of countless NDL members, as well as multiple ‘campaigns against ethnic minority groups’ including the Rohingya Muslim Genocide that has been taking place in Myanmar for years.

Rohingya refugees. Austcare-World Humanitarian Aid. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

As the war continues to rage on, Tatmadaw soldiers have started to come forward with stories of the atrocious war crimes that they were ordered to commit onto the civilians of Myanmar. BBC has reported that soldiers have admitted to “killing, torturing and raping civilians”. Large scale human rights violations have continued to occur as well, including the imprisonment of protesters, the treatment and killing of political prisoners and the treatment of civilians during wartime conflicts has sparked dialogue from the United Nations (UN). The UN reports that military powers have “directly targeted civilians” with airstrikes and attacks, and have already killed “at least 1,600 people”.

Six anonymous soldiers agreed to an interview with BBC, where they told the story of crimes against humanity, one of the few crimes that can be prosecuted at the Internationcal Criminal Court, being committed at the hands of the unstable Tatmadaw military regime. One reported that they had been told to “shoot anything they saw; another was ordered to burn down a house with civilians locked inside it. Other soldiers admitted to witnessing women being raped at gun point after soldiers believed the victims to be supporters of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) – an armed civilian militia organization. These six soldiers also discussed the energy of other members of the regime, stating that some soldiers would ‘boast’ about their crimes and actions.

Villages have burned to the ground, civilians have been abused, killed and looted. This is the current fate of the Burmese people, but the civilian militias continue to fight back and continue to push for democracy. In a country so often torn between citizens and the military state, the fate of the people of Myanmar has remained undecided. The UN states in their report that “despite spiraling violence… ‘the will of the people has clearly not been broken.’” Determined to return to a time of democratic rule, the civilian population of Myanmar continues to fight against the horrors of the military regime wishing to dominate them.

TO GET INVOLVED

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is, as Insider states, “the country’s democratically elected legislature,” the very same that was overthrown in the coup in 2021. They have a GoFundMe, which is run by the Citizen of Burma Award Organization, that uses the money to support pro-democracy protests and encourages civil disobedience against the junta military regime. To donate to the protestors, click here .

The Civil Disobedience Movement also collects donations which are sent directly to people in Myanmar to fund and support civil disobedience and protests against the government. To donate, click here.

Additional ways to GET INVOLVED can be found in Insider’s “5 Ways to Help Anti-Coup Protests on the Ground in Myanmar Right Now”. This article discusses multiple ways to donate, to educate oneself and to create constructive and far reaching conversations about the injustices befalling the Burmese people. To read more, click here.

Wealth Inequality in South Africa

August 3, 2022

Due to lingering remnants of apartheid, South Africa has the highest income gap in the world, with 10% of the population owning 80% of the country’s wealth.

Town in Soweto. Eugene Wei. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Though apartheid ended in 1994, many traces and effects of it still exist today, almost thirty years later. The World Bank demonstrates that South Africa has the highest rate of wealth inequality out of any country in the world. The spacial and racial segregation caused by colonialism and apartheid in the 1990s continue to affect South African society.

The United Nations University (UNU) wrote a policy brief in 2019 discussing the socio-economic inequality in the country, and mentioned that a majority of the wealth earned in South Africa goes to the top 5% of people. A recent article by Bscholarly covered the richest people in South Africa, and almost all of them were white men. Many were born in the country and are old enough to have lived through apartheid, benefitting from it in a way the non-white South Africans did not. So many people were living in abject poverty during that time period, and though it is over, many people are still suffering.

In the UNU’s policy brief, they mention how equalizing wages for workers, as well as gender and racial inequality needs to be progressed. Since so much of the economic gains go to the richest people in the country, most of whom are white, the poorer, non-white people are suffering. By increasing the income of low wage workers and therefore distributing the wealth to other people, the economic disparity would decrease. Even until 2019, the average white South African was making three times more than the average black South African, and Time magazine said, in 2021, that the wealth gap in the country has not changed since apartheid ended. The effects of the racial segregation go beyond just the wage gap, into the poor education system for black Africans and even the layout of towns, since the people were forced into parts of their towns that were away from where a lot of jobs are.

Comparison of houses. UK Department for International Development. CC BY 2.0

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to highlight the inequalities within the country. The job market’s difficulties, in particular, were highlighted during the pandemic as unemployment increased and low wage workers suffered, much more so than their high wage counterparts. Many of these low income workers are black Africans, which further shows the racial inequalities. Younger people were also disproportionately affected by the unemployment rates compared to higher age groups. The labor inactivity, high unemployment and lack of many self-employed workers are all key factors that are affecting the labor market, and, as a result, the overall economy of the country. If the government were to invest more and build up this area, the economy would improve and the wealth disparity would decrease, since people on the lower end of it would earn more money to improve their circumstances, as well as those of the people around them. Simply strengthening the labor market and especially investing in self-employment and entrepreneurship would help this problem, especially the entrepreneurship factor, since helping people with financing and learning new skills will lead to more self-employment which would lead to the growth of smaller businesses that can help poorer groups.

To get involved:

There are multiple organizations dedicated to social justice in South Africa. For example, Oxfam South Africa is an organization working to educate people on the wealth disparity and its impacts. They also aim to create an accountable government to help the people, and protect natural resources. The effects of COVID-19 have emboldened them as the problems were highlighted from responses to the virus.

To learn more about Oxfam South Africa or to donate to them, click here.

Other organizations such as Siyabonga Africa and CHOSA are also focused on reducing the poverty and lack of education in South Africa. Siyabonga Africa provides necessary items for the impoverished, has created various skill courses for people to learn, and supports small businesses to help people get jobs.

To learn more about Siyabonga Africa or to donate to them, click here.

CHOSA, the Children of South Africa, aims to reduce child poverty by focusing on families and how to improve impoverished communities. They help fund necessary expenses such as food and electricity and offer after school tutoring and mentoring to better educate the children.

To learn more about CHOSA or to donate to them, click here.

Nearly Extinct Rhino Species Found Only in Indonesia

July 26, 2022

The Javan Rhinoceros is one of the world’s most endangered species, with only sixty remaining in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park.

Javan rhino. Courtesy of Indonesian Ministry of Environment/Forestry.

Javan Rhinoceroses used to be common throughout the continent of Asia, until poaching and habitat loss dwindled the population down to what is now a mere 60-68 rhinos, all found in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia. The poaching of Javan rhinos largely began in colonial times, with the animal being a trophy for hunters. Now, the rhinos are poached primarily for their horns, which are extremely expensive and are sometimes used as status symbols among the extremely wealthy. Javan rhinos were declared extinct in Vietnam in 2010, when the last rhino in the country was poached, and now the only surviving Javan rhinos exist in Indonesia.

While poaching Javan rhinos is illegal, and they are considered a protected endangered species, reviving the population presents a major challenge for two main reasons. The first is that the extremely small number of surviving Javan rhinos doesn’t allow for much genetic diversity. The second issue is habitat loss as a result of both human intervention and natural disaster. Human activity near Ujung Kulon National Park has interfered with the rhinos’ natural habitats, and the push for more property development in the area threatens the security of the park. In terms of natural disasters threatening the rhinos’ last remaining habitat, the national park is located in an area that is susceptible to tsunamis and rising water levels as a result of climate change, and also happens to be near an active volcano, Anak Krakatau. Many conservationists are extremely nervous that if one of these natural disasters occured, all hope would be lost for the species even if there were a few survivors, because of the already miniscule genetic diversity within the population.

A member of the Rhino Protection Unit measures a Javan rhino’s footprint in Ujung Kulon National Park. U.S. Department of State. CC BY 2.0.

Even without the threat of natural disaster and human interference, Javan rhinos face an existing setback within their protected habitat. An invasive species called Arenga Palm grows in Ujung Kulon National Park. This plant blocks the sun, which prevents the plants that the rhinos eat from growing. The park has made clearing Arenga Palm a priority, but since it is an invasive species, eliminating it from the park entirely is not an easy task.

Ujung Kulon National Park does offer tours, providing an opportunity to ethically see the nearly extinct rhinos. However, since these tours are meant to be non-invasive, there is no guarantee that a Javan rhino will come into view during your time in the park. With that being said, tourists often see traces of the rhinos, such as footprints, like in the photo featured above.

Get Involved

The best way to get involved with this issue is to raise awareness and money for organizations working to sustain and increase the population of Javan Rhinoceros. Some of these organizations include World Wildlife, which is working on eliminating Arenga Palm and also hopes to one day transfer some Javan rhinos to an area which is not in the danger zone of the volcano Anak Krakatau. Another good organization to support is the International Rhino Foundation, which works directly with the staff of Ujung Kulon National Park. On a more general level, raising awareness about climate change and supporting organizations which respond to extreme weather is a way to get involved with this issue as well as many others, as climate change has only compounded the plight of the Javan Rhinoceros.

RELATED CONTENT:

VIDEO: Indonesia's Mentawai Tribe

Underwater Paradise: Raja Ampat, Indonesia

5 Islands to Visit in Indonesia Not Named Bali

How King Leopold’s Colonial Legacy Still Haunts the Congo Today

July 26, 2022

Occupied by Belgians for almost 80 years, the effects of colonization still resonate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo decades after independence.

A refugee center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. United Nations Photo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

As the leader of the small European country of Belgium in the 1880s, King Leopold II did not have much political clout with his fellow European statesmen. He wanted more political power so he achieved this by gaining personal control of a vast swath of Central Africa, which became the Congo Free State. King Leopold ruthlessly subjugated the local populations of the region in order to extract as much raw materials such as ivory and rubber as possible, committing human rights violations in the process. It was not until 1902 when Joseph Conrad published the novel Heart of Darkness criticizing Leopold’s administration of the Congo and in 1904 when Edmund Dene Morel published a report detailing the atrocities in the Congo did Western public opinion turn against King Leopold, who was forced in 1908 to relinquish control of the Congo Free State to the Belgian government.

Today, those atrocities committed by King Leopold and the Belgians are still felt by the area, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The relationship that the Belgian colonial administration espoused was one of paternalism, where the Congolese were treated like children, which resulted in them unprepared for self-determination. When the DRC gained independence in 1960, it plunged into a state of sporadic political conflicts due to the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko that lasted until the 1990s. The peace that ended that drawn out conflict only lasted a short time, and violence soon erupted again.

Currently, the eastern region of the country is held by at least 122 rebel groups, with the legitimate government struggling to control the region. That has caused more than 5 million people to be displaced between 2017 and 2019 and an additional 72,000 and counting since May 2022, with many fleeing areas controlled by rebel groups. Many areas receiving refugees are overwhelmed and do not have the proper infrastructure to support them.

The almost incessant warfare since independence may seem unconnected to the legacy of imperialism, but that is not the case. The seeds for the present political instability were sowed when the Congo was under Belgian rule. The Congo is a region with vast natural resources, from ivory and rubber of old to the mineral wealth of today. The abundance of raw materials and resources was exactly why Congo was colonized. When the borders of Africa were carved up by European powers, no regard was made to the various tribes already living in the area. Some groups of people were divided between different countries, and enemy tribes sometimes found themselves within the same domain. When the DRC gained independence, the various tribes were not united, leading to no coherent vision for the future of the country, thus sowing political instability.

In addition, since the purpose of the Congo Free State was solely to enrich King Leopold and later Belgium, there was no effort to develop a political or academic class among the local population. As such, at independence, there was no model of self-governance to follow after decades of infantilization by Europeans. That caused Mobutu Sese Seko to take advantage of the power vacuum and install himself dictator for more than 30 years.

The international response to the violence in the DRC has deprived the country of even more of its sustenance. International companies are refusing to do business with the DRC due to its human rights violations, depriving many of the mining jobs that they depend on. In order to survive, those people end up joining rebel groups, further perpetuating the violence.

The cycle of violence that started with Belgian occupation did not end in the 1990s. Subsequent leaders of the DRC used violence to consolidate their rule, since that was the only method they ever experienced. But, efforts have been made to ensure a sustainable future. The UN is stepping in by giving the DRC a peacebuilding fund to provide services to ex-rebels to reintegrate into their communities and to support over 300 women miners to better manage their sites and defend their rights. UNICEF also supports school reopenings, an essential indicator of peace. By prioritizing the reopening of schools in conflict zones, UNICEF ensures peaceful coexistence after prolonged conflict. The outside aid that the DRC is receiving gives local communities the agency to control their future.

To Get Involved

Cordaid is one organization providing humanitarian aid to the region. Another organization working to improve conditions by enabling local communities to form cooperatives that can successfully sustain peace in the communities in the DRC is Peace Direct.

How Climate Change and Political Unrest Created a Famine in Sudan

July 19, 2022

The war in Ukraine has drastically raised the price of food, worsening an already dire situation in Sudan.

Children in Bahr El Ghazal, Sudan wait for food from the World Food Programme. United Nations Photo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Famine was officially declared in Sudan more than five years ago, due to a variety of factors which range from climate change to political unrest. South Sudan was engaged in a civil war for roughly five years from 2013, which tragically left about 4,000 people dead and a staggering four million displaced and fleeing. While a ceasefire was reached in 2018, peace was rocky and sporadic attacks continued to make production nearly impossible for Sudanese farmers.

With famine being officially declared in 2017, the suffering still raged on in 2019, when extreme rain and flooding began to hit Sudan. The flooding continues in 2022, as the global political situation only makes matters worse in Sudan. The war between Ukraine and Russia has had an impact on Sudan in a number of ways. With over half of Sudan’s wheat being exported from the Black Sea region in Turkey, the war has caused food prices to skyrocket. Additionally, food aid programs are primarily focusing their efforts on Ukraine at the moment. While Ukraine clearly needs aid as well, Sudan has been all but abandoned and ignored in this dire moment due to global attention to other political conflicts.

What used to be a market in Thonyor, Sudan. DFID - UK Department for International Development. CC BY 2.0.

CBS News interviewed a Sudanese mother, Nyabany Kong, who reported not having eaten in two weeks. Like many others, she had to flee her home, which was subject to torrential floods that completely destroyed her farm. Kong has also lost her husband and her other child to this flooding and famine. Kong’s horrifying story is one of thousands.

Get Involved

Unfortunately, Sudan’s situation has been exacerbated severely by aid organizations lacking funds due to massive allocation to Ukraine. The best way to get involved is to donate to food relief organizations such as The World Food Programme, which is trying to get as much food as possible to Sudan, but simply doesn’t have the funds to do so. If monetary donations are not an option, simply spreading the word about the crisis and suffering in Sudan is also essential. Unfortunately, the western world often gets weary when spreading awareness, and suffering continues without any attention. The war in Ukraine has also required a lot of attention and money, which has drained Sudan of aid even more than before. Doing your own research about this conflict and then alerting the people in your life to the critical need in Sudan can also help organizations deliver the resources that are needed.

Structural Violence: How Societal Factors Affect Health

July 19, 2022

Income, race and geographic location are often weaponized against communities, preventing them from accessing and achieving health and wellness.

A routine doctor’s appointment may be rare for those living in poverty, causing them to not seek treatment for incipient medical issues. #PACOM. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Income, geographical location, climate and access to resources all affect people’s health in various ways. Indeed, it is rare to get malaria, a mosquito-borne disease in the Arctic. It is also comparatively easier for a wealthy person who has access to top-notch treatments to recover from cancer than a disadvantaged person who cannot afford a routine doctor’s appointment. These societal factors have a proven link to health outcomes, and they are usually not controlled by individuals. To fully foster public health, it is necessary to eliminate those societal factors that precipitate health concerns.

There are both biological and societal factors that affect health. Biologically, genetics can affect one’s health, as the causal relationship between genetics and diseases such as cystic fibrosis have been demonstrated through medical research. However, biological factors are not the only thing that affects health; societal factors do as well. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as:

The non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.

Sometimes, the system itself is rigged against a substantial part of the population from attaining complete physical, social and emotional well-being. That is called structural violence. These arrangements are ‘structural’ because they are “embedded in the political and economic organization” of society, and they are ‘violent’ because they harm people, whether physically or not.

Lowndes County, Alabama, where the low-income Black population suffers disproportionately from hookworm infections due to structural violence. jimmywayne. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

One example of these biosocial determinants and structural violence in play can be found in rural Alabama, where hookworm, a disease thought to be eradicated years ago, is making a resurgence in Lowndes County. That county is 72% Black and has a poverty rate of 21.9%, almost double the national average of 11.4% in 2020. Low-income Blacks in the county are more prone to hookworm because they live next to pools of raw sewage, the perfect breeding ground for the worms.

Structural violence is also at play here, as the Black population live near the pools of raw sewage because they cannot afford proper sewage systems. The local and state government, in turn, perpetuates this problem by turning a blind eye on the issue and not providing any assistance to the residents. Through no fault of their own, Blacks in Lowndes County have a heightened risk for hookworm due to the circumstance in which society makes them live.

Cultural practices can also precipitate or hinder disease. West African countries that already had fragile healthcare systems were particularly affected by the 2014 Ebola outbreak because of cultural practices regarding funerals. In those cultures, funerals involve washing the dead body by hand before burial and paying respect to the dead through physical contact, both of which are exceptionally high-risk activities with regards to the spread of Ebola, since the virus is still present in the corpse. Controlling the Ebola outbreak must address these cultural issues.

Finally, around the world, food deserts are scattered around urban centers, usually located in areas of poverty. Food deserts are areas with a dearth of supermarkets and other sources of healthy foods, forcing people living there to travel further for quality foods or to settle for cheaper unhealthy foods. Since many food deserts are in areas of poverty, the people living in those areas usually have no choice but to buy cheap foods with subpar qualities. The unhealthy diet of many in those areas lead to higher rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Structural violence affects food deserts, as the economic disincentives for healthy food sources to serve low-income areas show that society does not provide adequate support to them. In northern Ireland, food deserts are especially pronounced since 32% of households do not have a car. Some food deserts are the result of years of neglect of marginalized communities. Failure of the UK government to provide adequate public transportation in northern Ireland demonstrates that neglect.

Simply treating disease without regard for the underlying causes of it will not eliminate the issue. To eliminate hookworm, proper sanitation services must be implemented. Containing Ebola means educating local communities about safe methods to bury the dead in a way that does not denigrate their culture. To eliminate obesity, focus should be on providing access to healthy foods instead of just telling people to change their diet. It is important to treat diseases as complex issues instead of having a singular focus on the cure. Removing societal barriers to good health is instrumental in ensuring the physical, social and emotional health for all.

To Get Involved

The organization Partners in Health serves to improve healthcare in developing countries through patient-provider partnerships. Partners in Health works to create sustainable healthcare systems that serve all, emphasizing healthcare as a human right.

Often, the best way to remove the societal factors that affect health negatively is by advocacy. Writing to your elected officials is a good way to draw attention to those issues, which may spur them to act on your recommendations. To find your representative in Congress, click here.