Poverty speaks

2010-03-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

Pictures!!!!!!!!!!! (Finally)

The Democratic Republic of Congo is in central Africa, it is yellow on this map. Somalia is on the gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It is also in yellow on this map. And lastly Zimbabwe is in southeastern Africa, It is in brown on this map (it's kind of dark, sorry)

Here are the flags of the three countries in the order of Somalia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(more later)

2010-02-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

Modified Research Question*

Why are Zimbabwe, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia so poor? What kind of aid do they need?

*We put our research questions on the wall in the Library today!

2010-02-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

The Democratic Republic of Congo: Why is it so poor?

The Democratic Republic of Congo became an independent country in 1960. It had formerly been a Belgian colony

In 1965, Joseph Mobutu seized power and renamed the country Zaire.

Mobutu got support from the U.S. by letting our troops gather in Zaire in preparation to invade Angola. Mobutu's government was very corrupt.

After the Cold War the U.S. lot interest in Zaire

Rwanda invaded, and helped Mobutu's enemies overthrow him.

The rebels then helped Laurent Kabila become president. He renamed the country The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kabila started a massive war when he had a disagreement with the government of Rwanda, his former allies, who had helped him gain power.

This war took place mostly in The Democratic Republic of Congo, and was mainly Rwanda and Uganda against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

A peace deal was signed in January 2008, but in August, fighting broke out again, In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo between Hutu rebels from Rwanda, and Congolese General Nkunda.

Kabila asked the Rwanda government to help stop the fighting

The Rwandans helped to arrest General Nkunda, but there has still been fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2010-02-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

Information Links

Lists of poorest countries in the world\Africa:

http://www.aneki.com/poorest_africa.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908763.html

Somalia:

http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar519540&st=somalia

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1072592.stm

http://blogs.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/2009/04/24/pirates-and-poverty-in-somalia/#more-1512

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/africa/22iht-somalia.4295219.html

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/somalia/index.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/restore_hope.htm

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/Events/Somalia93/Somalia93.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/africa/02somalia.html

Zimbabwe:

http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar616875&st=zimbabwe

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/zi.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1064589.stm

http://blogs.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/2008/11/25/the-collapse-of-a-country/

The Democratic Republic of Congo:

http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar129340&st=the+democratic+republic+of+congo

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1076399.stm

2010-02-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

More Important Developments

Sorry to keep doing this, but I have decided to switch my countries AGAIN

The new (and I hope final) countries I am doing are . . .

1. Somalia

2. The Democratic Republic of the Congo

3. Zimbabwe

2010-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Its Time to Think of Research Questions!

1. Why are people in Africa so poor?

2. How can we help them?

3. Why does it seem to be so hard to escape from poverty?

2010-01-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Important developments:

I have decided to switch one of the countries I was going to be working with. I am going to switch Sudan with Ethiopia :)

2010-01-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

The Chosen Research Question:

Why are people so poor, despite how much governments and charities have been trying to help? In other words, what kinds of help are working, and why?

2009-12-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

What Are Some of the Poorest Countries in Africa?*

1. Chad
2. Mali
3. Ethiopia
4. Mozambique
5. Somalia
6. Sudan
7. Uganda

For my project I have chosen to mainly research Mali, Somalia, and Sudan

*I have decided to focus in on Africa because 21 out of the 30 poorest countries in the world are in Africa.

2009-12-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

Vocabulary copied from Geography Alive!

Gender based division of labor: the division of work into two categories based on gender. the result is that men and women do different kinds of work.

informal economy: the part of the economy in which goods and services are exchanged outside of government control. People who work in the informal economy often sell goods on the street or in a street market.

Micro-enterprise: a very small business with few or no employees

Micro-entrepreneur: a person who starts and runs a micro-enterprise

2009-12-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Charity Links*

http://www.mybednet.com/AboutUs_CharityStatus.aspx

http://www.brac.net/index.php

http://www.girleffect.org/

* not all of these links relate to my project, but they are good charities

(more later)

2009-12-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

What are some health issues caused by poverty in Africa?

1. Undernourishment. When kids are undernourished, that often stunts their growth

2. AIDS. They can't afford new drugs to help with AIDS. By 2010, 20 million children will have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. Most children drop out of school, and sell things on the street to keep them, and often their brothers and sisters alive, once both their parents have died

3. A lot of people get sick from their water. In the U.S. our water is filtered before it comes through our taps. But with poor, and often corrupt governments, they can't afford to filter the water.

4. Malaria. Malaria is a disease spread by mosquitoes. It causes headaches, and muscle pains. It also causes fever, and chills of and on. it is estimated that every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria. There are many charities that buy bed nets that keep mosquitoes from biting people at night (see link on links post)

2009-12-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

Project Details

I think that I am going to do my project on poverty. I think that I will mainly focus on Africa, (because 21 out of the 30 poorest countries ion the world are in Africa) but this could change. I think that I will definitely have a section about women, and the micro-loans that they can start small businesses with. I think that it is amazing that they can go so far with such a little amount of money. I think that I will try to focus on more than one country in Africa, because they do different things in each country. But I don't think that all of my project will be about the women. I think that I will do some about how poverty affects the childrens lives. For example, most of them can't afford any medicine, or vaccines. Some little kids die of diseases that in the U.S. we could treat very quickly, if we weren't vaccinated already, like Measles.

2009-12-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

1. A pseudonym is a false name that people use when writing blogs, books, etc.

2. Watermusic

3. i chose this name because I love swimming, and music/theater