Ayiti - What does it take to survive in poverty?

Haiti is one of the countries that has so many natural disasters. And recently in 2010, there was a massive earthquake that people can't imagine. Why do such big earthquakes have to hit poor, countries stuck in poverty? And the children in Haiti have still yet to recover from it. And also very recently, there has been a problem with Cholera in Haiti as well. Since Haiti is a country with not a lot of money, it can't fix the damage that that the natural disasters made and can't buy enough medicine to treat Cholera.

What human rights are being denied to them?

That people can flee to escape natural disasters, and they couldn't because maybe they didn't make it in time, they didn't have planes, or they didn't have any money.

What action is being taken to address this lack of rights?

People are donating and supporting Haiti and they have supporting action programs. So if they have more money, they could try and fix their lack of rights.

Discuss the difficulties faced by this country as it tries to recover from the earthquake.

1.) They don't have a lot of money to fix schools, build new hospitals and get more medicine for diseases spreading after the earthquake. 2.) People might run out of energy because now Haiti only has about 2% of it's natural resources because they had to use most of them, and they might not have a lot of shelter, and they might not have enough food for all the people living in Haiti.

Why can some countries rebuild faster than others, and what is it about Haiti that put it at a disadvantage?

They have more protection from their government because they have a lot of power, and they have more support to fix their damages.

Suggest how this country can cope in the forthcoming years.

They could try and move to the country next to Haiti so they can rest for a while and work if they can to get some money and maybe they can try and recover the natural resources so they can get more money.

1. What was it like playing the game?

The game? The game was really hard. If the game is that hard to keep going and not fall into extreme poverty, then how hard would real life be to live in?

2. What was the game about and how would you describe it to a friend?

The game was about telling people how hard it is to live in the real world out there and how the cycle of poverty can ruin generation to generations.

3. Which ‘primary objective’ did you choose, and why?

4. What types of decisions did you have to make about the family members while playing the game and trying to achieve your objective?

When they are sick, I tried to put them into the clinic but not the hospital because it was too expensive, and I tried to send all the kids to cheap school so they can have a better life later on.

5. What strategies did you use? For example, did you combine work and school, or did you send anyone to school? Which worked? Which did not?

Yes. I tried to send all the kids to school, and when there was no school, I just put them to work so the family can gain more money, but I tried not to overwork them and tire them out.

6. Why would parents choose to devote so much effort sending their children to school?

So that they would know how to live in life if they move out of the house and they would have good education so they can live a good life and know what to do with their life.

7. What obstacles did you face in trying to keep the children in school?

Money keeps on running out when I put them into school and it is hard to do because eventually my family might go into extreme poverty.

8. How do the situations and options in the game compare with those in your own community / country?

Well somethings that I can compare with Korea is that most of the kids go to kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school and mostly college in their lifetime.

9. Why is access to education a huge challenge as LEDC’s try to develop?

Since it is already a LEDC, people would need a lot of money to get education and it is really hard to get money when you are living in a LEDC.

10. Why is it vital to a country’s development to educate its people – especially women?

So when they have a family and have kids, they would know how to take care of their own family and take care of their own kids and know the basic needs of them.

11. Suggest some ways that countries could prioritize education, even for women, even in the countryside. How can they do this?

I don't know for sure, but maybe they can just give women a chance to learn.

12. Think back to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Look at the 8 targets.

Look at how Haiti is doing so far. What will the targets be in the next 5 years for this country?

Look at the MDG ‘Progress So Far’ website and search for Haiti to get the latest information.

Third World Farmer

Become a supporter of FARMERS FIGHTING POVERTY.

So far in the blog post, I learned a lot of things. I learned a lot of vocabulary. For example, I learned, Development Trap, Cycle of Poverty, Long Term goals and short term goals. I never thought that the cycle of poverty would be that hard to get out and hard to survive in. The Development Trap is when you are stuck in the cycle of poverty and if many people in your contry are stuck in the cycle of poverty, then the whole country will be too. That is the Development Trap. The Cycle of Poverty is first when your incomes are low, and then you won't be able to get enough money and education and the cycle goes on and on and on through generation and generations. It first starts small, but then it gets bigger and bigger until your entire family has to suffer pain. It makes me feel really bad because these things are going on all around us, and we don't realize that it is happening. I am pretty sure that it would happen to me, but it could. Since I am at ISKL for now, it won't happen. What makes me feel bad also, is that some kids that go to ISKL say, "I am like so poor." That kind of frustrates me because if you go to ISKL, you are definitely NOT poor.

How will playing the game help me in the future?

The game is really confusing and hard. Even though you want to buy animals and plants, you can't and it gets frustrating. But this is a game. And if a game is that hard, how will the real situation be? It is nearly impossible to get out of cycle of poverty with out help from the people outside. So when I grow up, I am thinking of supporting UN or/and Oxfam International.

What are the challenges faced by farmers in L.E.D.C's?

They don't have enough money to buy good food and good healthy water, so they become malnourished and they run out of energy and can't work as well.

What are the barriers to development that they face?

They don't have enough money to buy enough food to keep a lot of energy to themselves.

Which SLR does this link to and why?

Living Ethically. Because if you don't want to be in poverty, you have to try to conserve as much as possible.
What did I learn from the resources posted on the blog?

Well, most of the information that was on Ms. P's blog was information I didn't know at all. And I never realized that farmers would be so poor.
How will this affect me in the future?

I think that I am going to tell people about this problem and I think it is going to change my views of seeing farmers.

YouTube: Farmers fighting Poverty where is the promised money?

AIDS Day Reflection: Everything Starts Small

December 1st. World AIDS Day 2010. What we did was important. Because we helped change a life.

What are my reactions?

My reactions of AIDS day was very positive. I felt I really wanted to sell items so we could raise a lot of money for AIDS. I also thought the jar wars was a good idea because kids could have fun at being competitive at getting house points for their house by donating money.

What did our actions mean to you/other students at ISKL/around the world?

I felt really glad and proud of myself that I was able to help the AIDS kids and orphans. I think I contributed a lot because me and Monise went around the school selling ISKL bands.

What were my highlights yesterday?

I felt good when the ISKL community were buying our AIDS day campaign things and I think it showed how much our idea worked out. For example, a lot of kids bought the ISKL bands that me and Monise were selling.

What will you remember about the day?

I will remember how we did the assemble and we spent our time raising money for HIV/AIDS day. I have to admit our assembly wasn't the best we could do, and I think we could improve it by running the entire thing from top to bottom.

What do you think the GI students should do for AIDS day next year?

I think next year, the 6th graders (now) should run the entire assembly over and make more efficient, more eye-catching posters for everyone to know. So, when they do the assembly next year, I can think , "Last year, I did that as well!"

What did you learn by taking on a project like this?

Since I am in Green Guardians, I know how hard it is like to take on a project like this, (vermicomposting) and I know how hard it is. But I also learned that if we put a lot of effort in it, we can make it happen.

WORLD AIDS DAY OFFICIAL