Vulnerability in women due to climate change
In developing countries, women do the majority of the agricultural work leaving them the most vulnerably when a change in climate takes place. This is because they have little access or chance to an income earning opportunity like men do. Since women do most of the manual labor, when there is a drought they are stuck with having to find food, water, and everything else for the family. They also say that with that, the slow population growth will help to cut green house gas emissions.
This was close to one of our topics we discussed in the forum. Living in America we dont really look as who would be effected by a climate change because I know that I do not think about that very much. Here we dont have to worry about that as much because we depend on many other things to bring us what we need. It is almost like we dont expect anything to get in the way of our farming or how we do things.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Fuzzy Fly
Rediscovered hairy fly
Ewww. In the Kenya's Ukazi Hills, scientists found a Mormotomyia hirsuta, also known as a hairy fly. This has been the first discovery since 1948. It is funny looking with wings eventhough it cannot fly, and it looks like a spider. This insect has only been discovered 2 times before in history as far as anyone knows. In 1933 and than again in 1948.
There is not much I can say bout this because they do not give me much information on the web page, but this interested me mainly because on TLC there was a guy whoses baby had fly larva crawling out of the skin on her hands due to some gross fly so I was interested in this. Also, I think that the fact that there are researchers and scientist discovering things in Africa, it helps the continent look somewhat better. And I believe that if people in America see that there are things to be discovered in Africa still, it helps them look past the myth's of Salvage Africa.
Ewww. In the Kenya's Ukazi Hills, scientists found a Mormotomyia hirsuta, also known as a hairy fly. This has been the first discovery since 1948. It is funny looking with wings eventhough it cannot fly, and it looks like a spider. This insect has only been discovered 2 times before in history as far as anyone knows. In 1933 and than again in 1948.
There is not much I can say bout this because they do not give me much information on the web page, but this interested me mainly because on TLC there was a guy whoses baby had fly larva crawling out of the skin on her hands due to some gross fly so I was interested in this. Also, I think that the fact that there are researchers and scientist discovering things in Africa, it helps the continent look somewhat better. And I believe that if people in America see that there are things to be discovered in Africa still, it helps them look past the myth's of Salvage Africa.
Pain Killers & Medicine
IS IT REAL, OR FAKE?
So to tie in with what i was saying about Malaria, I have also found that they are having issues in Africa with drug companies. The medicine that would normally be used to treat malaria and other deadly diseases would get watered down and this dents the effeciency and would not really help the sick. Apparently 10-15% of all drugs are believed to be fake, but in Africa they say that up to 50% of all medicines are fake. Now there is talk about using text messages via cell phones to prove that the drugs are genuine.
This ties in with my recent post about Malaria, but it also ties into several things we have discussed in class. Now that there are all these problems with medicine, we go back to my groups presentations on cell phones and technology in Africa. Medical issues are a big thing in Africa, and now through the use of cell phones, it is opening many doors. Now the people in Africa with cell phones can use this new scratch off code on their medicine and text it to find out if it is genuine. This is amazing. We should do more stuff like that in America but then we would probably have issues with some genius hacking into the system. That is to bad that one cant even trust drug companies to be truthful about the medicine you are receiving.
So to tie in with what i was saying about Malaria, I have also found that they are having issues in Africa with drug companies. The medicine that would normally be used to treat malaria and other deadly diseases would get watered down and this dents the effeciency and would not really help the sick. Apparently 10-15% of all drugs are believed to be fake, but in Africa they say that up to 50% of all medicines are fake. Now there is talk about using text messages via cell phones to prove that the drugs are genuine.
This ties in with my recent post about Malaria, but it also ties into several things we have discussed in class. Now that there are all these problems with medicine, we go back to my groups presentations on cell phones and technology in Africa. Medical issues are a big thing in Africa, and now through the use of cell phones, it is opening many doors. Now the people in Africa with cell phones can use this new scratch off code on their medicine and text it to find out if it is genuine. This is amazing. We should do more stuff like that in America but then we would probably have issues with some genius hacking into the system. That is to bad that one cant even trust drug companies to be truthful about the medicine you are receiving.
Malaria
Well, they were using a drug called quinine in Africa to treat Malaria, but now they have tested out a better drug called artesunate. The amounts of deaths annually range from 70,000 to 100,000 in Tanzania alone. With this new drug, they believe that they could save up to 25% more of people affected by Malaria. When this test was done, less children who were given the drug Artesunate died as opposed to Quinine. Although there are still side affects as per every type of drug, with this new drug, there was less of a chance of going into a coma,
and a less chance of convulsions.
This is another large problem over in Africa. Not nearly the amount of people in Africa have access to any treatments as we do here in America. I personally never knew that there was a way to treat Malaria so I wanted to research this topic a bit. It excites me to know that people are still researching new and better medicine even though most people in Africa can't pay normal prices for it. Something else that is significant to me, is that here in America we dont see much of Malaria (at least I dont hear about it) and it is nice to know that even though America doesnt have a problem with the disease, people are still working their butt's off to help save the people in Africa.
Well, they were using a drug called quinine in Africa to treat Malaria, but now they have tested out a better drug called artesunate. The amounts of deaths annually range from 70,000 to 100,000 in Tanzania alone. With this new drug, they believe that they could save up to 25% more of people affected by Malaria. When this test was done, less children who were given the drug Artesunate died as opposed to Quinine. Although there are still side affects as per every type of drug, with this new drug, there was less of a chance of going into a coma,
and a less chance of convulsions.
This is another large problem over in Africa. Not nearly the amount of people in Africa have access to any treatments as we do here in America. I personally never knew that there was a way to treat Malaria so I wanted to research this topic a bit. It excites me to know that people are still researching new and better medicine even though most people in Africa can't pay normal prices for it. Something else that is significant to me, is that here in America we dont see much of Malaria (at least I dont hear about it) and it is nice to know that even though America doesnt have a problem with the disease, people are still working their butt's off to help save the people in Africa.
WATER WELLS
Drop in the Bucket
This is a site where people can read up on the projects people are doing in Africa to help get them clean drinking water. You can view pictures about what they look like, and the children and the people in their community helping to drill and get these wells produced. You can also read about what their project goals are. They want to have accomplished 100 wells by the end of this year and are asking for donations. They are really close to their goal.
I really like this story because Africa is in need of water very badly. Over 4500 children die a day from water related diseases they say on this page. That is terrible for children to have to go through that. In a way I think this could tie to having cell phones. If Africa can produce the use of cell phones, hopefully they can successfully produce enough wells so there will be clean drinking water, and possibly this can even tie onto stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.
This is a site where people can read up on the projects people are doing in Africa to help get them clean drinking water. You can view pictures about what they look like, and the children and the people in their community helping to drill and get these wells produced. You can also read about what their project goals are. They want to have accomplished 100 wells by the end of this year and are asking for donations. They are really close to their goal.
I really like this story because Africa is in need of water very badly. Over 4500 children die a day from water related diseases they say on this page. That is terrible for children to have to go through that. In a way I think this could tie to having cell phones. If Africa can produce the use of cell phones, hopefully they can successfully produce enough wells so there will be clean drinking water, and possibly this can even tie onto stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.
AIDS
Women and AIDS
More that half of people with HIV/AIDS are women and 98% are from developing countries. This is because of their role in society, and more importantly, they are biological vulnerability to the infection simply because they are 2 times more likely to get infected from unprotected sex. This is due to women in developing countries having little or no voice when it comes to voicing opinions. They also deal with childbearing and many children are born with HIV already.
This draws my attentions also from discussing it in class, but because I am a female. I never really would have guessed that women would have it more than men because I just assumed that it was equal. I think that it would be terrible to be pregnant and than be forced to have sex with someone who you thought could be + but since in Africa that women dont dare ask the man to get checked, you would than get HIV, and you baby would be infected as well. This is very sad because living in America, you wouldnt think that just walking down the street, if you got raped, 9 times out of 10 you would get HIV because it is not that large of a problem. But this should help open the eyes of females everywhere to fight for their human rights.
More that half of people with HIV/AIDS are women and 98% are from developing countries. This is because of their role in society, and more importantly, they are biological vulnerability to the infection simply because they are 2 times more likely to get infected from unprotected sex. This is due to women in developing countries having little or no voice when it comes to voicing opinions. They also deal with childbearing and many children are born with HIV already.
This draws my attentions also from discussing it in class, but because I am a female. I never really would have guessed that women would have it more than men because I just assumed that it was equal. I think that it would be terrible to be pregnant and than be forced to have sex with someone who you thought could be + but since in Africa that women dont dare ask the man to get checked, you would than get HIV, and you baby would be infected as well. This is very sad because living in America, you wouldnt think that just walking down the street, if you got raped, 9 times out of 10 you would get HIV because it is not that large of a problem. But this should help open the eyes of females everywhere to fight for their human rights.
Fight against aids
General overview of how AIDS is affecting Africa and its people
Africa is the hardest hit continent where HIV/AIDS are a problem. 28 million are affected which is more than 68% of the HIV+ population. Women are more affected due to several things. There are alot of organisations working to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS like AMREF which is slowly helping to improve health in some of the most marginalised areas in Africa.
This draws my attention no only because we discussed it in class, but because even growing up in school (well high school) they talk briefly about the problem with AIDS in Africa and they tell us to be aware and all of that, but I never really paid attention to the fact that women are greatly hit with it over men, or that there are so many people and organizations out there who are trying to help stop the spread of AIDS. This site is awesome I think because it lets us see at least one person who is trying to get people to donate and assist with getting AIDS stopped.
Africa is the hardest hit continent where HIV/AIDS are a problem. 28 million are affected which is more than 68% of the HIV+ population. Women are more affected due to several things. There are alot of organisations working to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS like AMREF which is slowly helping to improve health in some of the most marginalised areas in Africa.
This draws my attention no only because we discussed it in class, but because even growing up in school (well high school) they talk briefly about the problem with AIDS in Africa and they tell us to be aware and all of that, but I never really paid attention to the fact that women are greatly hit with it over men, or that there are so many people and organizations out there who are trying to help stop the spread of AIDS. This site is awesome I think because it lets us see at least one person who is trying to get people to donate and assist with getting AIDS stopped.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Cell phones in Africa
This picture still stunns me. How is it possible that more than likely, in that village, no house is made out of anything that sturdy and yet they have a little cell phone shop set up right out in the middle of market. WOW. It is also amazing that cellphones offer opportunities through voice services but on top of that, they are bypassing the need for a computer by emerging the technologies and bringing internet access to phones, making it possible for people everywhere to have access to the world wide web without ever having computers.They even estimate that 97 percent of people in Tanzania have access to a cell phone when only 28 percent could access a landline. Another odd fact relating to that is Africa has seen faster growth in cell phone subscriptions than any other region of the WORLD in the last 5 years. This was a short study released in march of 2005 found on the same website as the link above.
Even though the handsets are one challenge that was faced, Africa overcame it with the help of international handset makers who mid for a contract to supply up to 6 million handsets for less than $40 each. Even though they are a low cost mobile phone, they still have all of the features any other cell phone would have.
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