| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2004 December 1 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 8 Number 19 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Girl Trafficking Aggravates AIDS Pandemic |
|
In the big red light districts of India, such as Sonagachi
in Calcutta, where at least 10,000 prostitutes make a
living, some men continue to insist on sex without condoms.
The trafficked girls are forced to oblige. Many come from
rural villages and do not know what AIDS is before they are
sold to pimps. As they are moved around the country they
can unwittingly spread the disease.
In eastern India, Calcutta has emerged as a hub for the trafficking of girls, who also arrive from Nepal, Bangladesh and Burma. From Calcutta they are often sold again to brothels in Mumbai (Bombay). Some will go on to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Aklina Khatoom is a small, pretty 15-year-old girl from a village outside Calcutta. In a soft voice, she recalls how a year ago a woman drugged her, kidnapped her and sold her to a madam in Mumbai: "I was then told that I would have to become a prostitute and I said that there was no way I would do that. But I was beaten so much, I was slapped, my whole body was covered in bruises, then they used hot iron rods to hit me -- eventually I had to agree to it." Aklina could not escape, as she was guarded by the sister of the woman who sold her. "My day began at six in the morning, and I had about 12 to 14 customers on a daily basis, and my day ended at 3am." Her luck changed when a customer let her call her parents from his phone. Finally she was rescued. Fortunately she tested negative for HIV, but she was an exception: According to one estimate, 70% of prostitutes in Mumbai are infected. Poverty and illiteracy often force families to part with their daughters for false promises of work or marriage. In return the families receive as little as $10. Even after they are rescued, girls like Aklina face the stigma of having been forced to become prostitutes. But those who become infected with HIV are shunned completely. The isolation can affect the families so severely that a girl may feel compelled to go back to the brothel to save her family. In Sonagachi, the efforts of the local sex workers' union to promote the use of condoms have won worldwide acclaim. The group's secretary, Swapna Gayen, says the women will not have sex with men who refuse to use condoms. But, says prostitute Mituraj, "sometimes what happens is that we don't get any customers if we use condoms. ... It has happened to me that for three or four days I haven't had any customers, so then I have had to accept sex without a condom." AIDS is spreading rapidly beyond the boundaries of red light districts. So long as the trafficking of young girls continues, there can be little hope this huge number of infected people will go anywhere but up. Source: BBC |
| Social Security Is Not In Crisis |
|
President Bush supports a proposal from his Social Security
commission that hits workers with large cuts in their Social
Security benefits. The proposed cuts are phased in over
time, but an average wage earner who is 20 today will see
their total Social Security benefits cut by close to
$160,000 over their retirement. They will have the option
of trying to retrieve a small portion of these cuts by
seeking higher returns in the stock market -- with the
additional risk this implies.
Virtually everyone agrees that Social Security is a great system. It is also extremely efficient. The administrative costs of Social Security are just 0.6 cents of every dollar that gets paid out in benefits. By contrast, the administrative costs of systems of private accounts, like the one in England, eat up 15 cents of every dollar in benefits. Social Security also has a minimal amount of fraud and abuse, as numerous government audits have repeatedly documented. Why would anyone want to change a system that works so well? The main reason is that President Bush and the financial industry have managed to convince people that Social Security is on the edge of bankruptcy. It would be better to rely on the actual numbers than accept President Bush’s claims. The Social Security trustees' report shows that the program can pay all scheduled benefits through the year 2042, with no changes whatsoever. Even after 2042, the program would always be able to pay a higher benefit (in today’s dollars) than what retirees currently receive, although less than the full scheduled benefit. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office did an independent investigation of Social Security’s finances and came up with an even brighter picture. They found that it could pay all benefits through the year 2052 with no changes. Furthermore, according to both sets of projections, the changes required to keep the program solvent through its entire 75-year planning period are smaller than the changes made in any of the decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. Source: TomPaine |
| 20 Years Later, Bhopal Still Unwhole |
|
Survivors of the Bhopal chemical plant disaster are marking
its 20th anniversary this week. The survivors "still await
just compensation, adequate medical assistance and
treatment, and comprehensive economic and social
rehabilitation," says a new report from Amnesty
International. "The plant site has still not been cleaned
up so toxic wastes still pollute the environment and
contaminate water that surrounding communities rely on.
And, astonishingly, no one has been held to account for the
leak and its appalling consequences."
The report confirms survivors' claims that far more died in the immediate aftermath of the gas leak than the figure of 2,000 claimed by the Madhya Pradesh state government. Amnesty found that 7,000 died in the immediate aftermath, and 15,000 more have died of related diseases since. It reveals that 100,000 people still suffer from chronic or debilitating illnesses. "The company decided to store quantities of the 'ultra- hazardous' MIC in Bhopal in bulk, and did not equip the plant with a corresponding safety capacity," the report says. "Unlike in the USA, the company failed to set up any comprehensive emergency plan or system in Bhopal to warn local communities about leaks." Union Carbide [UC] has since been taken over by Dow Chemical. "Both companies used the new ownership structure in an attempt to avoid further responsibility for the Bhopal disaster". The report is severely critical of the Indian government for agreeing to a "derisory" settlement with UC in 1989 without consulting survivors, and for agreeing that this settlement ended UC's liability. In 1989, the Indian government abruptly agreed to end legal proceedings for a settlement from UC of only $470 million, $330 million of which remains in the hands of the Reserve Bank of India, leaving 16,000 claims outstanding and most of the successful applicants having received only minimal amounts. Source: The Independent |
| How to Close the Achievement Gap |
|
Affirmative development contends the purpose of learning is
to gain knowledge and develop human intellect. A report,
"All Students Reaching the Top", supports the idea that
intellective competence is developed, not fixed, and can be
nurtured among all students, including African Americans,
Hispanics, and Native Americans.
The report summarizes the work of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability. To ensure all students reach academic success:
|
| Worsening War in Haiti and What Must Be Done |
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Nine months after an armed uprising and international
pressure forced President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to resign,
the security situation in Haiti is worsening. The UN
Mission, established on June 1, has deployed only two thirds
of its authorized force and failed to disarm armed
supporters of the disgraced leader and members of the
equally disgraced disbanded army. International
intervention may fail for the second time in a decade,
leaving Haiti a failed state hemorrhaging refugees to the
US.
In a year that was supposed to have been dominated by celebrations marking the bicentenary of their victory over slavery and colonization, Haitians have had to contend with political violence, an abrupt change of government, and humanitarian crises resulting from two tropical storms. Early in the year, after several years of fruitless diplomatic efforts to bridge political polarization, Haiti was again convulsed by political violence. Pressured particularly by France and the US, Aristide left the country on February 29. His fall led to a dangerous reconfiguration of a fragile political landscape, including the alarming re-emergence of the former military and their civilian allies who had led a successful coup against him in 1991. At least 80 Haitians -- including 11 police officers (3 beheaded) -- have been killed in unrest and often violent pro-Aristide protests that began on September 30, the anniversary of the 1991 coup d'etat. Most were shot in heavily populated Port-au-Prince slums where armed groups battled with the Haitian National Police, who have been accused of summarily executing young men in the Aristide strongholds. Urgent:
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| Service and Advocacy Both Needed in Christian Work |
|
Adapted from a piece by social service intern Anna Scott:
I come from two traditions that say direct service is not enough. I was raised in an extremely politically active liberal family -- a background I remain proud of, despite its notorious lack of popularity in my faith community -- where I learned the importance of political action and structural change. When I was 12, I chose to follow Jesus, a decision I think my parents hoped I would grow out of. I didn’t grow out of it. I now attend a Christian college in Massachusetts. My adoptive community, evangelical Christians, emphasizes the individual, personal relationship with God and the primacy of faith. For many evangelicals, knowing Christ and sharing that knowledge with others is the answer to individual problems and social ills. This is the same attitude that was content with sharing Jesus with slaves without working against slavery. It's the attitude shown by many Christians I talked to after a summer volunteering in Nicaragua with street children: They would say, "That’s good, but did you get to share the gospel? Do you think your work was ultimately important if you just gave them a place to learn and play during the day, but didn’t give them the chance to know Jesus?" Because our faith separates the saved from the lost, charity means nothing without the message of salvation, and oppression in this life is tolerable because we are promised heaven in the next. This is what I have learned from the Franciscans: Christ tells us unequivocally to serve the poor, not by requiring conversion or professions of faith, but by first providing for their basic needs. Working and living among the "least of these" inevitably leads to a desire to seek earthly justice. When I came to San Francisco to participate in Westmont College’s Urban Program, I wanted to work on a grander scale, to change the world right now, not work in a social services program. Frankly, I saw the homeless as so hopeless that I would not be inspired -- they were already lost, somehow less human. When our group of students spent a day serving in St. Anthony’s Dining Room in the Tenderloin district, though, I experienced something I had never seen or heard about -- a day of volunteering that began with an orientation about the root causes of poverty, the reality of homelessness, and the neighborhood, and ended with a debrief session, applying what we saw to what we knew about our society and government. Charity and justice cannot exist apart. This is especially true if we want to follow Jesus and take Him seriously. That is why, everyday when I walk to work across the street into the city’s unofficial homeless district and pass men and women huddled in sleeping bags on the sidewalk, I remember something my supervisor tells volunteers during orientation: "What you see today will put a lump in your throat, and our hope is that it moves downward and becomes a fire in the belly." Source: Call to Renewal Source: St. Anthony Foundation |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extra |
| Lower Income Means Less Routine, More Trouble for Kids |
|
Regular routines, such as consistent bedtimes and mealtimes, can provide a sense of security, comfort, and control to children and can help them develop self-confidence. Routines can decrease behavioral conflicts by allowing young children to anticipate what will happen next and can help ease transitions between different activities and different caretakers. Routine interactions are an opportunity for parents to teach children social behaviors such as sharing and waiting and for children to develop communication skills and self-control.
Regular bedtimes help to make sure children are getting adequate rest. Establishing a bedtime reinforces a child's internal biological clock, helping them to fall asleep more easily. Research shows that a regular bedtime can reduce sleep problems, which are associated with lower academic achievement during elementary school. Consistent mealtimes help ensure that children will become hungry at regular times. In addition, regular bedtimes and mealtimes may positively affect school readiness. Children living in families with low incomes are less likely than children living in families with higher incomes to have the same bedtime and mealtime every day. 47% of children in families with annual incomes up to $17,500 had both a regular bedtime and a regular mealtime, compared with 56% of children in families with incomes from $17,501 to $35,000, 64% of children in families with incomes from $35,001 to $60,000, and 70% of children living in families with income more than $60,000. In the context of this indicator, a child has a regular bedtime if his or her parent reported that the child's bedtime is usually the same everyday. Similarly, a child has a regular mealtime if his or her parent reported that the child's mealtime is usually the same everyday. Source: Child Trends |
| America Adrift |
|
By "the Master, through Benjamin Creme":
It is only a matter of time before the people of the United States realize that they have made a grievous mistake. They have reinstated, albeit with the aid of many stolen votes, a man and administration dedicated to the creation of division and hatred, both nationally and internationally. They will ruefully watch an attack on their proudly held freedoms; they will see a steep decline in their standard of living as the government, of necessity, strives to tackle their enormous debts; they will witness a loss of confidence in their currency and a sharp reversal of trade with their traditional trading partners. The calamitous invasion of Iraq will continue to fester, both in Iraq and elsewhere in the world. Reacting to the fear and hatred which this administration has engendered almost universally, the tendency will be for the people to look inwards, and to turn their backs even more squarely on the world. A major problem in dealing with this administration is the powerful illusion under which it works: that it is God-inspired and so in divine Grace, helping to restore the Christian world and message to its former power and glory. Thus has the USA taken a huge step backwards, isolating itself from the true concerns of much of the world: environmental pollution and the demands of a planet suffering under the strain of impending disaster. The United States will find that the world will not stand still. With or without American co-operation the nations will proceed as best they can to deal with the many ecological and social problems which beset us, and which so urgently must be addressed. America will find itself left behind and ignored, and only then will it be prepared to ‘lead’ the way. This administration is, even now, relishing its victory, and weighing the pros and cons of subsequent action. Thwarted and taken unawares by events in Iraq, it must pause awhile before considering further violence. But the bravado and rhetoric will doubtless continue, hoping to bully and conquer by threats alone. Meanwhile, great changes in many countries are under way, leading to a profound shift in the balance of power in the world. China and India, South America and Russia, are finding their feet and economic potential. Africa is beginning to receive, at last, the concern and goodwill of powerful governments and agencies, and can look forward to better times. Thus the world is turning away from the dominance of American power and wealth, and charting another path to fulfil its destiny. If the United States insists on its right of unilateral action, it will find itself neglected and ignored in international plans and projects, its economy will further decay, and its people will lose confidence and trust in government action. Without friends, and with ebbing strength, it will be forced to change, and to renew dialogue with its former friends. The emergence of Maitreya will speed the process of this transformation and assure its welcome completion. [Deut. 18:21-22 --RZ] Source: Share International |
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