LIFE-NET NEWS

by Ret Z.

Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices

December 17, 2008	No Profit; No Proceeds
Volume 12 Number 14	All-Volunteer

"Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal;  give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life."

High School Students Become Microfinance Investors

Over sandwiches and pizza, a group of Las Vegas NV high school students debated the pros and cons of combating poverty in five desperate nations. They scrolled through Web sites, analyzed statistics, and considered how much they knew about the economy, language, and culture of each country.       This was no mere academic exercise. The students, at the Meadows School, had real decisions to make and, they hoped, real people to rescue. By the time they scattered after their lunch period, the group had deferred until this month the decision on where to spend the $25,000 they had raised, but they seemed to be leaning toward Peru.       That may seem like a lot of money for a student group, but it was the entry fee for the school to become investors in Pro Mujer, a nonprofit lending institution based in New York that issues small loans to poor women in foreign countries for the purchase of tools to start or expand small businesses. The average loan is about $220 and buys things like sewing machines or milk cows, which recipients then use to produce and sell goods and commodities.       The founder of the Meadows Microcredit Action Group, Justin Blau, 17, and its faculty adviser, Kirk Knutsen, have bigger plans for their endeavor. Pro Mujer will mete out the $25,000 to recipients in the country the students select and return to the school both regular status reports as well as a modest amount of earned interest. The group plans to use that interest and other money raised locally to invest in smaller, more specific projects through Kiva, a microfinance lender with no minimum entry requirement.       After Blau and Knutsen began the club a year ago, more than 50 of the 250 students at the $20,000-a-year private school in the upscale northwest region of Las Vegas joined. By spring, students had begun weekly sandwich sales during lunch, netting a monthly profit of about $800. Blau's father and uncle each gave $5,000, as did Knutsen; other parents contributed lesser sums. Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV) kicked in $250 after Blau talked up the concept of microfinance while working for her as a page over the summer. Two ninth-grade girls raised $750 in part by operating a lemonade stand in a neighborhood where customers pulled up in BMWs and Mercedeses.       The project surprised Pro Mujer's founder, Lynn Patterson. She said her agency had never been approached by a high school before.       Source: New York Times

Elmer NJ Dentist Helps Needy in Israel

Jacob Bagley DDS left his Elmer NJ practice in November to spend about two weeks in Jerusalem volunteering his dental skills to underprivileged children aged 5 to 18. He was part of Dental Volunteers for Israel, a nonprofit that offers free dental care to Jerusalem children.       "This was an immensely fulfilling experience," Bagley said. "I was working with dentists from the UK, the US, and Norway, and we knew we were making a difference. These children have nothing. The children and their parents couldn't say thank you enough."       Holocaust survivor Trudi Birger founded DVI in 1980 in response to the fact that dental care in Israel is not paid for by a national plan as health care is. Since then, more than 4,500 dentists from around the world have offered their time to help about 20,000 children in Jerusalem, according to the group Web site. Each month, the volunteer dentists perform between 1,000 and 1,200 treatments.       "I may not be able to be a big philanthropist," said Bagley, "but I can give my time and skills."       Bagley said he worked with an "interesting mix of volunteers." But the differences in nationality have no impact on the work, Bagley said. "All the barriers fall apart, all the politics melt away when we walk into the clinic."       DVI doesn't just attract an eclectic mix of dentists. It also serves a variety of patients, including Jews, Palestinians, Russians, and Ethiopians.       All the dentists receive in return for their time is internal gratification and gratitude from their patients. Bagley said some of the children drew pictures for him to show their appreciation. Those pictures now hang on the walls of his Elmer practice.       Bagley said he was happy to be able to volunteer in such a standout way, but he says anyone can volunteer. "I challenge anyone who has the time or the skills to do something, to think about volunteering where there really is a need."       Source: Today's Sunbeam

School Lunch Program Sees Rise in Demand

Almost 80% of schools surveyed by the School Nutrition Association are reporting an increase in the number of free lunches served this year. With federal and state funds, the National School Lunch Program fed more than 30 million children in the 2006-07 school year.       Crystal Fitzsimons of the Food Research and Action Center in Washington said more families are signing up for free school lunches for their children as they look for ways to trim their food budgets. "One of the easiest things families can look to for support is the school nutrition program."       Children from families with incomes at or below 130% of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Children from families with slightly higher incomes are eligible for reduced price meals, which are also being served in greater numbers. The organization said an average of 425,000 more students are participating in the programs overall.       As those numbers rise, schools could feel their budgets stretched as well. Most schools receive free fruits and vegetables from the Agriculture Department and $2.57 per free lunch served -- a reimbursement that many school nutrition directors say is not enough to produce a meal. Many have been calling on Congress to boost the reimbursement, especially as food and energy prices have fluctuated in the past year.       "We want to make sure Congress understands the importance of these school-based nutrition programs," said Dr Katie Wilson, president of the School Nutrition Association and a school nutrition director in Onalaska WI. "The money being reimbursed to schools continues to fall short of the actual costs."       Good nutrition is key to the program, but as school budgets tighten, some have suggested they may have to offer less-nutritious meals to make ends meet. A USDA report earlier this year suggested that nutrition and costs do not have to be at odds but the economics of providing school meals should be further investigated.       The Senate Agriculture Committee is preparing to re-examine a variety of child nutrition programs, many of which expire next year. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, the chairman of the panel, said he wants the program to help low-income children avoid diet-related problems such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.       Source: Associated Press

Running Businesses, Women Escape Domestic Violence

When a Swazi women's rights organization noticed that many women stay in violent relationships because they are financially dependent on their abusive partners, they knew something had to change. They started self-help groups that assist women in breaking away from gender-based violence (GBV) by gaining financial muscle.       Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) helps women to start up and run small businesses in and around the country's commercial hub of Manzini. The organization teaches them about bookkeeping, financial and business management, customer care, and public speaking. As a result, about 500 women in 47 groups have gained financial and personal independence.       SWAGAA project officer Dazi Dlamini said that apart from mitigating financial constraints, the groups address social issues around GBV and women's rights: "The self-help groups are not only looking at the economic development of women. We also try to address issues, such as domestic violence and HIV/AIDS, in our weekly meetings."       After setting up their businesses, the women pay part of their earnings into a mutual savings and credit fund aimed at helping them grow their enterprises. From contributions as small as 20 cents per week, 500 women have generated close to $15,000 in just more than a year, Dlamini said.       Members can borrow between $5 and $50 per month at a 10% interest rate from this fund, if they want to expand their businesses. Apart from each member paying $0.20 per week into the savings account, the women make a monthly contribution of $2 towards a separate fund set up to help pay their children's school fees. They put in a further $0.20 a month towards a funeral scheme for members and their families.       As a next step to generating returns on investment, SWAGAA plans to form a number of Cluster Level Associations, which will be made up of 15 self-help groups per community. Each CLA will pay $30 a month into yet another savings account, which will earn extra interest on profits generated.       The self-help groups are set up in a non-hierarchical manner, with rotating chairpersons, to ensure that all members are treated equally, said Dlamini. "We don't have an executive committee because everyone is supposed to participate fully and in the same way. We encourage each woman to stand up and speak, which is a way of cultivating self-esteem."       As a next step towards ending GBV, SWAGAA is planning to include men in its workshops on GBV-related social issues. Dlamini said, "Our goal is to sensitize entire communities about issues of gender-based violence and abuse."       Source: Inter Press Service

New Jerseyans Testify About Prison System

Countless concerned citizens sat in Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton last week to testify about problems that they see with the New Jersey criminal justice system. Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman presided over the public hearing, the second in a series of hearings that will be held around the state.       Some 15,000 people enter the NJ prison system each year at a cost of more than $1.25 billion a year. Of those incarcerated in 2003, nearly half were incarcerated for drug offenses. Blacks from the state's inner city communities make up 70% of those convicted for drug offenses, even while they comprise only 13% of the state's population. In some inner city neighborhoods, half of all men are on probation, on parole, or incarcerated.       The USA accounts for 5% of the world's population but 25% of its prison population. According to prison population numbers over the past 20 years, the prison percentage is growing -- "at an alarming rate" according to Roseanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey. "We are in a country where more people are incarcerated on drug offenses than the European Union has incarcerated for all offenses."       In NJ, much of this growth can be tied to Title 2-C mandatory minimums, said experts, which force judges to comply with strict sentencing guidelines for certain offenders. These practices have cost New Jersey taxpayers billions over the years as the prison system's annual budget continues to outstrip the budget for education.       "We can be smart about how we spend our money. We can do simple things, like granting judges discretion as we used to," said Scotti. "Letting judges be judges is never wrong."       Only 2% of the state's corrections budget is dedicated to education for those behind bars, according to Lois Young, co-director of the ABC Prison Literacy program. In the past 16 years, restrictions have become so tight that many programs have been canceled.       "Even if you have an education, even if you have a degree, even if you have a trade, it doesn't matter with the box," said former offender Deynia Edwards, senior coordinator for the area Community Education Center, referring to the section on most job applications that asks whether the applicant has ever been convicted.       Source: Today's Sunbeam

Major League Baseball Joins Alliance to Help Poor

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Peace Corps have signed an alliance with six well-known Dominican nonprofit organizations to use baseball as a catalyst for sound community development activities. Baseball is America's game, but it is also the passion of the Dominican Republic and will be helpful in bringing a host of new ideas and contributors to help alleviate the many challenges facing poor Dominicans.       On November 19, P Robert Fannin, the US Ambassador in the Dominican Republic, and Joe Garagiola Jr, MLB senior vice president, announced the alliance during a ceremony held at the Ambassador's Residence in Santo Domingo. Many Dominican former and active baseball players and key MLB representatives participated.       USAID is committing a total of $1,000,000 over 3 years to serve as a matching fund for any donations received to help fund community development activities. The alliance hopes eventually to get every signed Dominican player to give something back to his community and also for MLB teams to help the communities where their academies are located.       The alliance seeks to mobilize the entire baseball family (fans, players, teams, sponsors). If a player decides to donate, for example, $1,000, to the alliance, USAID will then match this with another $1,000. The Peace Corps will provide a full-time volunteer to assist the project. The alliance has two principal goals: improve the quality of life in Dominican communities, and foster long-term relationships between baseball people and community members.       Projects under the alliance will focus on education, health, youth development, and small-scale economic development (job creation for the poor). The alliance will enlarge the impact of the considerable charitable efforts in which Dominican players are already engaged. The alliance has an honorary Board of Advisors co-chaired by the US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and a vice president from MLB. The members of the Board comprise active and former MLB players, the Dominican private sector, as well as Dominican journalists, MLB teams, and Dominican nonprofits.       Source: Dominican Today

Vineland Tree Helps Families in Need

Barbara Panzino decorates a tree in City Hall every year to encourage her fellow employees to help local needy families. Panzino, Vineland NJ's recycling coordinator, usually includes five families in the Memory Giving Tree project, but, because of the worsening economy and many people facing financial hardships, she only included four this year.       "I didn't know how it would be," she said, "but it seems like people wanted to help more because of that."       Panzino started the city tradition of the Memory Giving Tree a decade ago in memory of her husband, Sal. When Sal was a Sun Bank executive, he set up a similar project in his office.       Each needy family member -- identified not by name, but with a number and letter -- has a yellow star on the tree. Panzino asks participants to register which star they select so no child or family member is overlooked.       Panzino said that though the presents weren't due until Friday, all the stars were gone. The gifts eventually would be taken to Catholic Social Services on E Montrose Rd for distribution.       When city workers bring back the gift they purchased, they place it under the tree and pick up a paper angel to hang. The angels are meant to fill the blank spots where the stars were. On each angel, Panzino asks participants to write the name of a person they want to memorialize. The tree already includes an angel in memory of her husband from the Panzinos' daughter, Dawn Bevilacqua.       There are enough stars for each child to get three gifts, Panzino said, and the tree usually has roughly 100 gifts surrounding it once the project is complete. "This will be filled," she said, pointing beneath the tree she set up on the sixth floor. "Every year it's amazing. We need a truck to get all of these."       Source: Vineland Daily Journal

Indigenous Filmmakers Arise in Argentina

Indigenous communities in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco are learning how to make films as a way to inform the rest of the world about their way of life and the problems they face. "Just as indigenous people once adopted writing, which allowed others to get to know us, we now want to make use of this," said Juan Chico, a historian from the Qom community in Chaco.       "Whites tend to show images that cast us in a negative light," said Chico. "For example, in the Chaco provincial government building, there are photos of malnourished indigenous people taken without the subjects' permission. Perhaps the aim is to awaken pity. But no one ever shows that there are also excellent writers, musicians, and artists among us."       The idea arose this year in the Under-Secretariat of Culture in Chaco, one of Argentina's poorest provinces. Chaco is home to around one million people, including 60,000 members of the Qom, Mocoví, and Wichí indigenous groups.       "Indigenous people in Chaco province have always been neglected, and many are living in critical conditions," said Marcelo Pérez, who heads the recently created department of films and audiovisual productions (DECEA), set up to promote filmmaking and access to films in the province.       Pérez said that representatives of the indigenous communities requested that films be shown in their villages and towns, where there are no cinemas, and that people in the communities be taught filmmaking techniques. That gave rise to the first indigenous film festival in August, in which mobile broadcasting units toured 6,500 km in three days. The response from the public was "very strong," he said. In the post-film discussions, an interest in learning how to operate video cameras arose.       Traditional teaching methods would not be used. "We did not want to introduce the 'virus' of 'transculturization', which is why we turned to CEFREC," said Pérez, referring to a Bolivian filmmaking center that for two decades has been training indigenous people in film and video production.       CEFREC gave an intensive three-day introductory course to 25 young people from indigenous communities in Chaco. More courses have been scheduled.       Milton Guzmán, with CEFREC, gave the workshop. "The ancestral cultures of the Americas have been maintained by means of their oral culture," he told the participants. "Now it is time to adopt the audiovisual culture."       The young people taking part in the course worked day and night on 65 filmmaking exercises, which included narration techniques. "They are interested in showing the plight of pregnant teenagers, for example," said Pérez. "They want to film the protest marches and struggles for their rights, or to simply film a conversation with a grandparent. The issues are broad, and the productions will never be the same as they would be if they were filmed by a white person."       Source: Inter Press Service

#  LNN  #  Small  #  Hauls  #

From 1999 to 2005-07, the poverty rate increased in 70% of US cities and towns with populations of at least 20,000, according to the Census Bureau. The cities with the biggest jumps in poverty: Kinston NC, 23.0% (1999) to 36.6% (2005-2007). Milledgeville GA, 24.0 to 35. Kannapolis NC, 10.5 to 21.5. Asheboro NC, 15.8 to 26.7. Muskegon MI, 20.5 to 31.2. Chester PA, 27.2 to 37.8. Portsmouth OH, 23.6 to 33.9. Emporia KS, 17.9 to 28.1. McMinnville OR, 12.9 to 23. Dolton Village IL, 8.4 to 18.3. Myrtle Beach SC, 12.0 to 21.9. Charleston IL, 30.1 to 40.0. (Associated Press) More than 800,000 children die each year from accidents, according to a UN report. The top five causes of injury death: Road crashes, 260,000 children a year. Drowning, 175,000. Burns, 96,000. Falls, 47,000. Poisoning, 45,000. Millions more suffer injuries that leave them disabled for life, said the joint report by two UN agencies, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. "Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of childhood death after the age of nine years," said UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman, "and 95% of these child injuries occur in developing countries." (BBC) Some 30 million Americans now receive food stamps, according to new USDA figures. That total surpasses the previous record set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Every statistic related to poverty and hunger, as well as anecdotal reports from food banks and charities, points to a sharp growth in social misery in America. Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America, commented, "Our food banks are calling us every day, telling us that demand for emergency food is higher than it has ever been in our history. They are serving a significant number of new clients -- people who were once their donors." The majority of the statistics do not take into account the rapid economic deterioration of the past several months. The number of those using food stamps rose 9.6%, or some 2.6 million people, from August 2007 to August 2008. The total is expected to continue rising sharply. Already in 25 states, at least one in five children is receiving food stamps. (World Socialist Web Site) The number of undernourished people worldwide has risen to 963 million, compared to 923 million in 2007, says an annual report on world food insecurity released on December 9 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Two-thirds of the difficulties are spread across seven countries -- India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia. More people are likely to be tipped into hunger and poverty as a consequence of the financial crisis, the report says. A sharp increase in food prices is responsible for reversing a previously positive trend. "As a result of rising food prices that started in 2006, 75 million people were pushed into chronic hunger," said FAO director-general Jacques Diouf. "This trend has continued. ... Food prices in local markets are still at unprecedented levels." (Inter Press Service)

Life-Net News Extras

Cooperative Solutions to Crisis Needed

Adapted from a published op-ed by Life-Net Radio regular Tino Rozzo:       During the Democratic National Convention, all I heard was Amway-like philosophy such as entrepreneurialism and competition. The global economy actually needs to change to a more cooperative economy based on need, rather than profit. Starting with the United States, what we need to do first are these things: Have the government nationalize all the major industries. They should become partly government-owned. Also, they should exist as democratically controlled agencies. When workers control the means of production, there is quality in the workplace and quality for consumers. Place salary caps on all professional executives, eliminating excessive salaries with golden parachutes. Decentralize the confiscated companies, and keep them as they existed as separate corporations. Replace the executives who created this mess with new executives with regulated contracts controlling and making their efforts available to public inspection. Accountability and responsibility is the main feature. No one will be able to take a bath in the people's money. Arrest and confiscate all the assets of past executives and their golden parachutes. Return that money to the people. The government can use these assets to counter costs of the buyout. Future allocations of money for new enterprises, such as solar and ecological initiatives, should be implemented with a special program that allows for public enterprise of newly created corporations that are democratically controlled. No more handouts for millionaires and billionaires. Have the CEOs and executives stand trial for their crimes, and have them sentenced in a just and speedy trial. Make privatization unconstitutional, and take back all entities sold off without our permission.       It is time to end the millionaire/billionaire mentality as the only answer to economic stimulation. It seems Reaganomics finally reared its head and nothing trickled down for anyone who doesn't have power or influence. It was a disaster 20 years in the making.       If our forefathers had only seen this, our constitution would be different today. Maybe they should have experimented with socialism. Conservative Alexander Hamilton did when he founded the Paterson Society of Useful Manufacturers -- one of history's great businesses and co-operatives that was worker owned and operated.       Source: Vineland Daily Journal

An Italian Solution for the Hungry

Let them eat cheese. With data showing a growing underclass and food lines now in most major cities, the Italian government has come up with a way to help the needy while propping up one of its iconic industries. Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia has committed to buying 100,000 66-pound (30-kilogram) wheels each of Parmigiano Reggiano and the very similar Grana Padano cheese to donate to the needy.       Producers sought government help in the face of prices that have fallen some 25% over the past five years, said Giorgio Apostoli, who represents dairy farmers for the Coldiretti agriculture lobby. The producers faced pressure from distributors who offer sharp discounts on the grateable cheeses to lure shoppers into supermarkets.       The government said it will buy 3% of the annual production at market prices. The Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano consortia put the value at 50 million euros ($66 million).       "It's a help. It doesn't resolve the problem, but it is a help," Apostoli said Thursday. "This is a crisis of pricing, not of consumption," Apostoli said, noting that while consumption of the more expensive Parmigiano Padano has fallen slightly in the last year that of Grana Padano has risen slightly.       Apostoli said the measure doubles the usual government acquisition of Parmigiano and Gran Padano under an EU program to provide food for the poor. Italy was allocated 66.4 million euros in 2008, which will nearly double to 129 million next year, according to the Agriculture Ministry.       The government also plans to convene a round table with distributors to negotiate sales promotions that will be fairer to producers. It also plans to launch campaigns to promote Italian Parmesan abroad, where it can command higher prices.       An overwhelming 85% of the Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano produced is consumed in Italy. Coldiretti estimates that some 60% of that is sold at discounted prices.       Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano cheeses are produced according to very strict traditions tied to their geographic origins -- primarily the Po River Valley of northern Italy -- specifying everything from the aging process to the origin of the milk used. Italy is jealous even of the name Parmesan, having gone to the EU seeking to ban its use by copycats cashing in on the culinary tradition.       Source: Associated Press

Community Rushes to Aid of Nurses' Food Pantry

The holidays are surely in full effect for the Visiting Nurses in Pennsville NJ. The VNA food pantry received a surprising influx of donations after concerns about the pantry's empty shelves met the ears of the local community.       "The staff here was pretty upset. We talked with our board of directors and it looked like we were going to have to turn people away," said department head at the Pennsville Visiting Nurses Theresa Tilton. "But now we are stocked above and beyond."       What was almost a bleak Thanksgiving for the pantry continued, and an even worse Christmas lay ahead. Thanks to support from the local community, however, they were back on track going into mid-month, with shelves stocked full of items.       "I feel like we are just the organizers of this pantry," said Tilton. "It's the people who will spend the time and bring in the goods that have made the pantry successful."       Many local groups took part in the pantry's call for help. One in particular was the Pennsville School District. "We sent requests to our faculty throughout the school district," said superintendent Mark Jones. "The response from the staff and the kids has been great."       The school district has provided drop stations for the pantry at all of its schools. Tilton said they received an overwhelming response. "We got boxes and boxes of goods."       Other helpers included the Pennsville Rotary Club, Pennsville VFW Post # 1952, and other local churches.       Shirlee Manahan, a resident of Pennsville, helped circulate e-mails about the pantry's needs. "I got so many responses back from people telling me they were going out shopping and that they would go drop items off at the pantry."       Tilton, who has worked at the VNA since 2001, admitted this wasn't the worse situation the pantry has been in, but it was definitely close. The VNA pantry was able to provide for nearly 85 families during Thanksgiving, but when the number hit nearly 120 for Christmas, the VNA staff got worried.       "When I called to put in for turkeys, I was nervous at first if they were going to have enough," said Tilton. That was not the case though as she was told they could provide up to 200 turkeys.       "It's just real wonderful to get this response from the community," said Tilton. "We have a tight-knit kind of town and they responded to our needs."       Source: Today's Sunbeam

Doctors Graduate in Somalia, First in Years

They dodged firefights on their way to school, maneuvering through one of the world's most violent cities. Yet on Thursday, 20 men and women accomplished something that nobody in Somalia has done in nearly two decades: They graduated from medical school.       The graduation ceremony for 12 men and eight women was held inside the barricaded walls of the Shamo Hotel in Mogadishu, the bullet-scarred capital of a country that has not had an effective central government since 1991. "The graduation of these students shows something that nobody outside Somalia can believe -- that students can still learn despite violence and anarchy," said Mohamed Malim Muse, president of Mogadishu's Benadir University.       The new doctors are graduating at a time when Somalis desperately need medical care. The current government was formed in 2004 but has failed to assert any control as an increasingly powerful Islamic insurgency has taken over much of the country.       Civilians have taken the brunt of the violence -- thousands have been caught in the crossfire, killed or maimed by mortar shells, machine-gun fire, and grenades. Two classmates of the new doctors were gunned down recently in the street.       Early this month, Mogadishu got its first public ambulance system in 18 years. It raises hopes that residents will no longer have to resort to wheelbarrows to transport their wounded.       "Every morning I was risking my life to reach the university, and about seven times I was trapped under crossfire," said 19-year-old Hafsa Abdirahman Mohamed, whose mother lives in London and helped her pay the $1,500 annual tuition.       "But that did not stop me, and now my dream is real," said Mohamed, who like the other graduates will work at local hospitals, busy but poorly equipped institutions in a city that sees mortar attacks and gunfights nearly every day.       "The level of malnutrition in Somalia is higher than anywhere in the world, even higher than in Darfur," Christian Balslev-Olesen, the head of UNICEF for Somalia, said on December 4. But attacks and kidnappings of aid workers have shut down many humanitarian projects.       "If we get a good and functioning government we can be a leader among African universities, regardless of security, because we know how to survive in anarchy," said Abdirizak Yusuf, 25, head of the medical students' association at Benadir.       With the men wearing suits and ties and the women in Muslim headscarves, the graduates smiled for a portrait and hoisted their diplomas in the air after a six-year program. Given Somalia's chaos, it is likely the medical degrees will be recognized only in Somalia, not overseas.       Source: Associated Press

Salem Gearing Up to Get Homeless Census Right

As the temperature drops, the homeless of Salem County NJ have very few resources to keep warm. That is why gifts such as gloves, hats, and socks are being used as incentives for the homeless to take part in a statewide count on January 28.       There are at least 70 people without shelter and another 300 who are living in motel rooms and cars in Salem County, according to Ray Bolden, executive director of the Inter Agency Council, which is spearheading the count here. The survey, known as the Point-in-Time Count, will be held at the First Presbyterian Church on Market Street in Salem and at The Lighthouse Cafe in Penns Grove.       Last year, two street teams were assembled to help try to count some of the homeless that couldn't make it out to the locations, but this year there is hope to add a third team.       Kathy Lockbaum, chair of the Salem County Board of Social Services, sees this as an opportunity to help a lot of people in need, especially because of the recent economic downturn. "The number of people coming into the welfare department has risen tremendously in recent times. We have had lines coming out the door. I've been here 18 years and this is like nothing I've ever seen before."       An accurate count of the homeless is extremely important because the count in large part determines the amount of federal and state funding that goes to the county. Donations are largely the incentive for the homeless to come out and participate in the count. The suggested donations include blankets, non-perishable foods, hygiene items, drinks, and winter clothes, such as hats, socks, and gloves.       Some may believe that a poor economy could drive donations down, but Lockbaum doesn't see it that way. "We are in the planning and advertising stages of all of this," Lockbaum said. "We don't start collecting from everyone until January, but we don't have any reason to believe there wouldn't be a good turnout of donations."       Groups like the IAC and the Board of Social Services enlist different groups and organizations to do the collecting. "We rely on a lot of church groups and different school groups and students seeking community service to do a lot of the collecting," Lockbaum said. "After that, we collect everything they collect and organize it into gift packages."       The IAC also has the support of the United Way of Salem County. Said UWSC president Rebecca Purchase, "The United Way supplies some incentive-laden gifts for the day of the count."       Source: Today's Sunbeam

Bangladesh Pushes Debt Relief, Climate Insurance

Bangladesh has demanded cancellation of overseas development assistance (ODA) debts of the least developed countries (LDCs) when they are affected by the adverse impacts of global climate change. The country that uses no less than 18% of its total annual budget to pay off foreign debts also demanded debt cancellation facilities for sectoral investments in countries affected by climate change.       The chief of a Bangladesh delegation raised the demands on behalf of LDCs in the 'workshop on risk management and insurance' at the 14th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland.       Over a billion people of 100 countries face a bleak future due to climate change, although those countries contributed the least to the causes of the change, a fact that provides them with the moral right to get compensations for the risks they are facing, the delegation argued.       In the workshop, delegates discussed mechanisms for risk management insurance. The delegates of LDCs demanded that developed countries pay the premiums of climate change insurance.       Focusing on relief and recovery, the current disaster risk management is based on post-disaster assistance that varies depending on how much media coverage the disasters get and the locations of the victims, they said. Mandated under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the risk-management insurance will be a kind of certainty for vulnerable communities that they will be compensated.       The workshop discussed some existing insurance models like area-based or individual farm-based crop insurance, index-based insurance for droughts and floods, Turkey's Catastrophe Insurance Pool, and Mexico's Natural Disaster Fund.       Bangladesh called for starting a few pilot micro-insurance projects and disaster index-based insurance in each LDC with their premiums subsidized by international and national private-sector sources.       "I raised at the workshop that insurance is not enough, there must be some link between ODA debt repayment and climate change insurance," said AKM Rezaul Kabir, secretary to the Ministry of Forest and Environment, who was leading the Bangladesh delegation.       The delegation argued that since the agriculture of LDCs is dominated by small holders, the coverage of the insurance will be like that of micro-insurance, involving small sums of money.       When asked about the concept of insurance, delegation member Md Reazuddin, director of the department of environment, said that the concept is pretty new. "A process is on to develop a mechanism for going forward with it."       Source: The Daily Star

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A New Jersey state audit shows more than $10 million a year intended for drug and alcohol prevention and education programs instead funded petting zoos, community fairs, and one agency's rent. Comptroller Matthew Boxer found the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse hands out grants with little oversight. The audit released on December 4 also found the agency is overstaffed and fails to meet basic responsibilities, such as following up on how money it distributes to the state's 21 counties is spent. Boxer said the agency frequently didn't question why grant money was requested or whether funds, once awarded, produced positive results. The audit is the first for the agency since it was created in 1989. (Associated Press) The Paris Club of creditor nations says it has struck a debt-relief deal with the Republic of Congo, leading to the immediate cancellation of $643 million in debt and the rescheduling of $119 million. The agreement concluded Thursday follows the approval by the International Monetary Fund of a new three-year arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, which is designed to make the objectives of poverty reduction and growth more central to lending operations in its poorest member countries. The Paris Club says several creditors intend to grant additional debt relief to Congo on a bilateral basis. Congo has pledged to devote the resources freed up by the agreement to priority areas. (Associated Press) A UN agency says poverty in Latin America stands at 33%, down from 34% a year earlier. The December 9 report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean says that the world economic crisis will mean reduced consumption in the region. It says the global economic slowdown will most affect countries that depend greatly on exports to and remittances from the US. Employment is expected to stagnate in 2009 while salaries should drop slightly. Finding jobs will remain especially difficult for women and young seekers. (Associated Press) The Batey Relief Alliance and BRA Dominicana just completed a week-long dental intervention inside batey Cojobal, delivering free dental care and medicines to more than 1,000 children and adults from 34 deep rural batey communities in the provinces of Monte Plata and Sanchez Ramirez. The mission, held from November 2-9, is part of the organization's mobile health intervention to provide preventive care and education to residents living in far-reached communities. The ten-member team of foreign dentists and assistants, headed by BRA dental chief Dr Thomas Beague, performed extractions and referred patients in need of extensive work to BRA's permanent dental clinic located at batey Cinco Casas. The BRA operates two modern medical clinics and runs more than 14 preventive health programs, attending to the health and social needs of more than 20,000 batey residents annually. (Dominican Today)

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