Poverty

The Problems:

 * Child Labor
 * Blood Diamonds
 * Recovering from a civil war (Sierra Leone)

Fundraising activity ideas: Fundraising for fall (school): Something we could do here: **School Supplies:** Put together a package of colorful school supplies for a classroom in need in your community. New crayons, markers and other goodies are a treat they’ll treasure.
 * Movie Night (Blood Diamond)
 * Riverbend Pre-Party
 * Each teacher puts a jar in the cafeteria. Whosever jar has the most money has to dance in front of the school for 2-3 minutes.
 * Guess age of teacher.
 * Guess baby picture of teacher.

ISHMAEL BEAH! Former child soldier in Sierra Leone. [|http://www.alongwaygone.com] (I e-mailed the people for the speaking thing.) Author of A Long Way Gone , Beah tells a riveting story of his childhood in Sierra Leoneans and his struggle to regain his humanity and re-enter the world of civilians. Beah is now an advocate, speaking on behalf of UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, UN Secretary General’s Office for Children and Armed Conflict.

People to keep in mind:

Ishmael- former Sierra Leone child solider.



Mamusu Thoronka-hurt by RUF rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war. "The rebels cut off my hand on 22 January 1999 in the capital, Freetown. I heard the rebels were coming and tried to hide in a building but they caught me.They put my left hand on a table and chopped it off with a machete.I begged for mercy and asked them to think of God. They told me to point to God with my right hand and they tried to chop that off, too. They tried three times but could not cut it off. But I cannot use three of my fingers on my right hand. The rebels said I should get another hand from [President Ahmad Tejan] Kabbah. They said he had lots of spare hands. I was in agony - I thought I would die. I went to hospital but all the doctors had run away. The city was full of corpses. My left hand was hanging by the skin and started to rot. After a week, I saw a doctor, who treated my wounds. Since then, my husband has grown distant from me - I am sure he has taken another wife without telling me. I think he's worried about what our six children would say to him. I try to support the children by buying goods such as this palm oil in the countryside and selling it in Freetown. But I cannot afford all of their school fees - already the two oldest have dropped out because their fees are more expensive. As well as palm oil, I also sell vegetables and beans. With that money, I buy things such as clothes, salt and household goods which are more expensive up-country than in Freetown. It is difficult to carry all these things, so I ask other people to help me. I would like to go to Guinea, where some goods are cheaper than here. Maybe the customs officials would take pity on me and not charge me too much duty. I also keep a few chickens. We normally eat them ourselves but we sell them if we need money quickly. Once, one of the rebels came to our village near Freetown and said he would finish us off. They say they will kill us amputees so that if the government no longer sees us, they will stop talking about the rebel atrocities. If that carries on, I am worried there could be another war. I am not too interested in punishing those who cut my hand off but I want my children to be taken care of. The former rebel fighters are being well looked after, with skills training and free education for their children. The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission said we amputees should get a pension but we have seen nothing, although a Norwegian charity built this house for us.I cannot cook on my own any more, so I have to get one of the children to help me, while I tell them what to do. Sometimes when my children get into an argument at school, people say to them: "Your mother is a half-person." It is really upsetting. We amputees are really discriminated against in Sierra Leone." (Joseph Warren, BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_sierre_leone_amputee/html/8.stm

Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007 is now trying to be passed. It will prohibit the recruitment or use of child soldiers.

Mohamed Bangura has been living in a bridge since the civil war.

Research Assignments: **Kelsey**: Soil (Some 4.2 million people live in Sierra Leone. Most of the work force works in agriculture. Even though Sierra Leone has very poor soil, and there is not a lot of good land for farming, the crops that are able to withstand the soil are usually able to live with the weather. Sierra Leone is tropical and extremely humid. The summer is the rainy season. Summer is May through December. Winter is the dry season. That is December through April. The best crops are always grown during the summer.) (http://library.thinkquest.org/J002335/SierraLeone/sierraleone.html) Medical Help More kids in Sierra Leone die before their fifth birthday than anywhere else in the world. Sierra Leone is the country with the highest child mortality rate in all the world. They need more doctors and better medical conditions. **Nisha**: Poverty as a cause of child labor ==== Child trafficking is a big problem in West Africa. Because families are in poverty, the parents often believe it would be better to send or sell their kids. Parents are often promised that their children will be taken care of when they are sent away to work. This is not the case. When children work in these places, they are mistreated. This also prevents them from going to school and the wages are still barely anything. The cocoa market is a big player in child labor. The US Congress pressured the chocolate manufacturers to stop child labor in Cote d'Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast. This happened in 2001 and they were given until 2005. They did not meet their goals, so instead they were given until 2008. Now, if the child laboring continues, it is anticipated that congress will draft legislation against the chocolate industry. The government of the Ivory Coast is using the village, Petit Yammousoukro as model for cocoa production without child labor. This village has a school that has students ranging in ages that had all been farming cocoa in the past. ====

==== World Savvy's Mission (from www.worldsavvy.org): ** World Savvy's mission is to educate and engage youth in community and world affairs. ** Greater international awareness has always been needed, and recent events have demonstrated that we must all develop a comprehensive understanding of world events. To this end, World Savvy provides educational programs and services with the aim of informing young people about issues such as poverty, conflict and peace building, human rights, and the environment. World Savvy's goals are to develop students' skills to prepare them for their future as global citizens, enhance their understanding of world affairs and develop their sense of responsibility and global citizenship. World Savvy's vision for the future is one in which all members of society are well informed about contemporary international affairs and act as responsible global citizens. We believe that change will occur if youth are educated about international affairs and are given the tools to think critically about such issues. Additionally, we believe that we must inform and empower youth to see themselves as lifelong global citizens and recognize their related rights and responsibilities. ==== ====  **Haylee**: History of Ghana   Despite being rich in mineral resources, and endowed with a good education system and efficient civil service, Ghana fell victim to corruption and mismanagement soon after independence in 1957. In 1966 its first president and pan-African hero, Kwame Nkrumah, was deposed in a coup, heralding years of mostly-military rule. In 1981 Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged his second coup. The country began to move towards economic stability and democracy. In April 1992 a constitution allowing for a multi-party system was approved in a referendum, ushering in a period of democracy. A well-administered country by regional standards, Ghana is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa. Cocoa exports are an essential part of the economy; Ghana is the world's second-largest producer. The discovery of major offshore oil reserves was announced in June 2007, encouraging expectations of a major economic boost. However, oil is not expected to flow for some years. Ghana has a high-profile peacekeeping role; troops have been deployed in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and DR Congo. Although Ghana has largely escaped the civil strife that has plagued other West African countries, in 1994-95 land disputes in the north erupted into ethnic violence, resulting in the deaths of 1,000 people and the displacement of a further 150,000 .====

==== Blood Diamonds : Ok, so basically blood diamonds (or conflict diamonds * same thing *) come from the west african coast around sierra leone and Ghana, workers are essentially enslaved by rebel militia forces despite attempts to stop the trafficking of these diamonds they are still smuggled out of the area and then disguised as being from other regions. and i think we all know what child labor is but children are forced to work because their families cannot support them so they need money from somewhere, often children are forced into labor. ====

Sierra Leone Websites:

 * 1) [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1061561.stm 
 * 2) [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/africa_getting_an_education_in_sierra_leone/html/1.stm
 * 3)     [|http://www.stopblooddiamonds.org/sierra-leone-conflict-diamonds.asp 
 * 4)     [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_sierre_leone_amputee/html/8.stm
 * 5)     [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/africa_amputee_cup/html/1.stm 
 * 1) [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7202278.stm
 * 2)     [|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/africa_sierra_leone_bridge_house/html/1.stm
 * 3)     [|http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSL243625
 * 4) [|http://article.wn.com/view/2008/04/09/In_Support_of_the_The_Child_Soldiers_Accountability_Act_of_2/ <--- Good site about child soldiers and what is being done about it.
 * 5) [|http://www.sierraleonenews.com/
 * 6) [|http://www.sierra-leone.org/index.html 

GHANA WEBSITES
 * 1) [|www.**ghana**.gov.gh/]
 * 2) [|www.news.bbc.co.uk/2**...**/1023355.stm]
 * 3) [|www.news.bbc.co.uk/2**...**/1023444.stm]
 * 4) http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21241709~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html
 * 5) http://earthtrends.wri.org/povlinks/country/ghana.php
 * 6) http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/africa/gha/index.htm
 * 7) http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=6514
 * 8) http://www.imf.org/External/NP/prsp/2002/gha/01/Index.htm
 * 9) http://poverty2.forumone.com/library/view/8693/