One Good Deed a Day

Happy Ramadan!

2010-08-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ramadan began this week for Muslims around the world. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a month of fasting from dawn to sunset. This fasting, or refraining from eating or drinking, is meant to teach Muslims about humility, patience, and spirituality. The breaking of the fast, also known as Iftar, is an important part of Ramadan; every night, families gather to eat, visit, and pray.

However, In some Sahelian countries, this year's feasts may be cut short due to the 2010 Sahel Food Crisis. Frequent food shortages have troubled the Sahel, an area south of the Sahara desert which includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. Niger is said to be hit the hardest by the poor rains at the end of 2009 and failed harvests. 7.1 million Nigeriens -almost half the country's population- now face moderate to severe food insecurity. This food crisis comes at a time when the vast majority of Nigeriens, as well as Africans all across the Sahel, are celebrating Ramadan. When Ramadan ends on the 9th of September, the daily hunger felt by these Africans may persist.

The United Nations World Food Programme and other, more local grassroots organizations are working to alleviate some of the hunger in Niger and other parts of the Sahel. There is even a group of Boston University students and alumni who have created a fund raising effort, called Niger Food Relief, to provide financial support to food-aid groups in Niger, such as the Nomad Foundation. Hopefully these efforts will be effective and improve the quality of life for those living in the Sahel. As Ramadan helps Muslims appreciate their daily food and water, may the plight of the victims of the Sahel Food Crisis help us appreciate ours as well.

The Importance of Sustainability: A Lesson from Niger

2010-07-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things that drew me to Blue Kitabu was its emphasis on sustainability. While studying abroad with Boston University’s International Development Program in Niamey, Niger in West Africa, I was able to work at Centre Koubia, a school and food shelter for street children which is very similar to Blue Kitabu’s free school project in Asebu, Ghana. However, unlike Blue Kitabu’s project in Ghana, I quickly learned that Centre Koubia was not sustainable.

As of 2009, Niger is ranked last on the United Nations Human Development Index, which takes into account life expectancy, education and adult literacy rates of each country. The capital city is full of non-governmental organizations dedicated to improving human development in Niger. Another Blue Kitabu intern, also named Emily, and I decided to do the Community Placement aspect of our study abroad program at VALPRO, a Nigerien NGO which runs Centre Koubia and another similar school named CASE-D. Both of these schools were extremely well-run, had amazing and charismatic teachers who never discriminated based on gender (sometimes a problem in Niger), and served delicious food for the mid-day meal (though sometimes a little too spicy for my weak American taste buds). Their only problem was funding, or the lack thereof.

VALPRO had recently lost funding from UNICEF but luckily, a former BU Niger Alumna helped VALPRO obtain funding from Berklee College of Music here in Boston. When we started working at Centre Koubia towards the end of September, an average of 80 children were attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays and receiving lessons in math, literacy, and hygiene and lunch of rice and beans or rice and fish. However, towards the end of November, we noticed that the number of children showing up at Centre Koubia had been cut in half and the mid-day meal wasn’t always being served. We found out that due to dwindling funds, the NGO could no longer afford to open the school to all children, so classes for only the youngest group of children were being offered and lunch was only served once a week. When we asked what they were going to do next, we were told that we must now wait patiently for more funding. To me, simply waiting didn’t seem like the right solution. If this NGO could create a plan to generate funding for itself, it could go from being a really good program to a great program.

Blue Kitabu promotes sustainability as an essential element to educational development. Our project in Rwanda is a huge success and our Asebu Free School Project in Ghana aims to provide 200 orphans with a self-sustained, year round school complete with vocational training. The school will be used as an Internet café and community center after school hours and the profits will fund the project. We hope to hand the project over to the people of the Asebu community and end the cycle of foreign aid dependence. I hope that someday the schools at VALPRO may be funded by a sustainable project to improve its efficacy.

- Emily, Intern

Education in Kenya: Bringing together traditional Maasai culture and Western principles of education

2010-06-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Maasai (also called Masai) tribe is perhaps one of the most famous tribes in Africa, well-known for its distinctive culture and lifestyle that is still prevalent today. Numbering about 800,000, most of the Maasai live in Kenya and Tanzania. The Maasai are traditionally nomadic, herding cattle, and are very proud of their warriors, who protect the tribe and conquered the territories they roamed.

The Maasai have historically had an aversion to Western education, believing that this style of education will strip them of their culture, language, and traditions. During the period of British imperialism, many English schools were developed in Kenya and the Maasai were forced to attend. This disrupted their traditional lifestyle and caused great animosity between the British and the Maasai. As a result of this historical feud, very few Maasai felt the need to pursue a Western education after Kenya gained its independence. They chose instead to follow their traditional system of education and to practice their unique cultural ceremonies. Even after the government of Kenya instituted mandatory primary education for all, very few Maasai attended schools.

The current dilemma for the Maasai is how to retain their traditional culture in the face of modernization. The government, NGOs, and nonprofits are now searching for a way to use education to reconcile the differences between traditional Maasai culture and Western principles of education by creating “bicultural” educations models. These models teach modern skills, such as agricultural skills, along with traditional ideas. The theory behind this model is to allow students to embrace both systems by emphasizing the ways in which they can coexist and work together, rather than forcing them to choose between the two systems. Many of these schools incorporate instruction by teaches and tribal elders, and also place an ethical emphasis on developing students to be role models to future Maasai generations. Some Maasai leaders have argued that education does not require them to surrender to mainstream culture; rather they can change some aspects of their culture- such as the treatment of women and girls- to allow their traditions to thrive in the modern world.

Many organizations are now using this model and searching for ways to make education more affordable and accessible to the Maasai community. These areas are in great need of primary and secondary schools, as most are too expensive and too far away from rural communities. Families are also being encouraged to send girls, who in accordance with Maasai tradition often receive less education than boys, to school to obtain educations. Organizations such as the NGO Maasai Education Discovery, which has sponsored over 800 girls in 32 Kenyan schools since 2006, are working to resolve these gender disparities.

Blue Kitabu is currently building a schoolhouse for 50 children in a very remote Maasai community located in the Loita Hills of Kenya. The nearest school these children presently have access to is 10 miles away; thus very few children have had formal schooling. Blue Kitabu hopes to create a sustainable school supported by a corn mill, which will help offset some of the school’s operating costs. In developing necessary infrastructure, including finding and training educators, Blue Kitabu hopes to bring these two cultures together and help this community to have affordable and accessible education.

Sources:
Maasai Education Discovery (http://www.maasaieducation.org/maasai-culture/maasai-education.htm)
Worlds of Difference: a radio documentary project of Homeland Productions (http://homelands.org/worlds/maasai.html)

The Status of Female Education in Kenya

2010-05-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

This summer, Blue Kitabu is expanding to Kenya, specifically Loita Hills, an area that lacks educational opportunity. The closest school to this village is 15km away. We plan to support the school with a corn mill and other small businesses and once open, the school will provide 50 children with an education which they would otherwise not receive.

Female education is a catalytic tool for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Current trends of female primary education in Kenya are progressing towards equality, and the statistics for Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi are extremely similar. Gender equality in primary schooling in Kenya and its neighboring countries is extremely feasible for the future if current trends continue.

According to Joni Seager’s Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, over 95% of girls are enrolled in primary school as of 2005 in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Compared to Central and West Africa, these rates are very high. However, enrollment does not necessarily ensure attendance. In Kenya, the percentage of girls enrolled in primary school who make it to grade five, 85.1%, is greater than for boys, which is 80.9%. Only in Kenya’s poorest areas is there a gender disparity between male and female attendance in primary school. Muhuru Bay, located in Kenya’s poorest province, Nyanza, is an example of an underprivileged area and it has the highest incidence of malaria and HIV infection in the country. Non-profits such as the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER) are working in areas like Muhuru Bay to provide girls with educational opportunities. UNICEF’s projections to 2015 show the expectation that the primary net attendance rate for girls is predicted to keep rising to 90% in 2015. In Kenya, girls make up 47.6% of high school students, so the ratio of girls to boys in secondary school is almost equal. The rate of survival to the last grade, which has risen to above 75% of all secondary students, is the nearly same for girls and boys.

The school that Blue Kitabu is building in Loita Hills will benefit both female and male students and will further contribute to the encouraging status of female education in Kenya!

2010-05-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

A recent NY Times article cited a Save The Children's report, which names Norway as the best place to be a mother and Afghanistan as the worst out of 160 countries, including 43 developed nations and 117 developing ones. Both the NY Times and Save The Children highlight the importance of trained healthcare professionals present during childbirth, and notes that in very poor countries, survival of both mother and child is contingent on whether or not there is a trained female healthcare worker present during the birth. In many of these countries, husbands prevent their wives from seeing male doctors, and without the presence of any trained healthcare worker, the probability of mortality for both mother and child increases significantly. Without the presence of a male doctor, trained female midwives, nurses and doctors can play a crucial role in decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates.

In order for women in developing countries to participate in fields such as healthcare, education is a necessary component. However, in many of these lower income countries, female education is just not a priority. Many communities do not see the value in education, especially if their communities are labor intensive and require the manual labor of all members of the family. But education, as seen from the above article, can be the key in significantly decreasing maternal mortality, which remains one of the most staggering collection of statistics in international health today.

Many people and organizations worldwide are beginning to recognize the importance of women as contributors to society:

-One NY Times blogger, Nicholas D. Kristof, has written several articles about the situation of women all over the world.
-Studies have been done that show how female education improves maternal health.
-Organizations such as Build A Nest worldwide, Rencontre et Action in Niger and others focus on involving women in economic activity separate from their husbands so that they too have a say in economic life for their families.

We can also support these women by recognizing the importance of female education in our own societies by looking at what is working and what we can improve. Supporting organizations such as the ones above that focus specifically on women is a great way to become involved in the lives of women all over the world. Women can and should be an important part of society and this realization is crucial if countries want to fully develop in all aspects of society. Once, when asked if Saudi Arabia would reach one of the top 10 countries in the world in technology by 2010, Bill Gates replied to an audience that was 4/5 men and 1/5 women: "Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you’re not going to get too close to the Top 10".

Earth Day 2010: 40 Years Later

2010-04-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Earth Day 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the modern environmental movement. The idea behind Earth Day was conceived of by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (a Democrat from Wisconsin). In 1969, Senator Nelson announced his plan to create a nationwide teach-in day on environmental issues. He hopes that creating a grassroots movement focusing on the environment would show Washington D.C. that Americans cared deeply about the vast harm being done to the planet.

The first Earth Day was observed on April 22, 1970. Approximately 20 million Americans participated. Protests and events were staged around the country and once unrelated groups lobbying against causes as varied as the extinction of animals and wildlife, oil spills, toxic materials and general deterioration of the environment came to realize they shared very similar goals.

Senator Nelson explained the power behind the movement:

“Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”

Earth Day participants have grown in huge numbers over the last 40 years and today more than one billion people in 190 countries are taking action for Earth Day. While it’s important for all of us to observe Earth Day each April 22, it’s even more important to make an effort the other 364 days of the year. Here are a few small things that you can do to help out the planet:

*Buy local- shop at a farmer’s market and purchase organic food.

*Pay bills online.

*Use a reusable water bottle.

*Buy environmentally friendly cleaning products.

*Use public transportation, walk, ride a bike or buy a hybrid car.

*Skip the plastic bag, use a reusable canvas one instead.

Here at Blue Kitabu we’re getting into the Earth Day spirit too! We received some beautiful fabric samples which were going to be thrown in the trash and we’re turning them into adorable handbags and clutches. It’s an example of one easy way to turn something that was headed to the dump into something that can be used for years to come. Do you have ideas about ways to re-use old fabrics or household goods? We’d be happy to hear from you if you do!

World Malaria Day

2010-04-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

The third annual World Malaria Day falls on April 25 this year. A preventable and treatable disease, there are about 247 million cases of malaria each year, 212 million of which occur in Africa. About 881,000 people die every year from malaria, 91% (801,000) of those deaths occurring in Africa. Check out Roll Back Malaria's website for more stunning statistics on this easily preventable disease.

This year, hundreds of organizations are intensifying their efforts to educate and equip citizens of high risk nations with the information and tools they need to protect themselves from the deadly disease. The main way to protect oneself from malaria is investing in and using an insecticide-treated bed net, which costs about US $10. Malaria is not only a deadly disease, but the extent to which it affects the livelihoods of people of developing nations is serious - malaria keeps children from going to school and adults from being able to work and provide for their families. Malaria contributes to the ongoing cycle of poverty for the most impoverished countries and communities.

Word is spreading fast about World Malaria Day - Anderson Cooper's recent tweet (which was retweeted by thousands of people) cited the World Health Organization's statistic that every 30 seconds, a child dies of malaria.

We can all help out by spreading the word about malaria and raising awareness for this preventable killer. Organizations like Malaria No More, The Global Fund, Against Malaria Foundation, Nothing But Nets, and Surfaid International are great resources for finding out more information or making a donation that could save a life.

Updates from Asebu!

2010-04-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

Blue Kitabu's first school building project in the community of Asebu, Ghana is moving right along! The foundation of the school is finished, and the walls are going up this month. The project manager, Elvis, sent us some recent pictures that show the progress. We are very excited that the building is continuing after some minor set backs. The school will be ready to welcome students in August, and will also be the site of our teacher training sessions this summer.

To continue to support our school for orphans and vulnerable children, visit our website and make a donation, or join us on Friday, April 23, 2010 at our Second Annual UnWINEd Wine Tasting event!

A little bird told me...

2010-04-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

If you're not already on Twitter, maybe you should think about jumping on the bandwagon. Here at BK, we have been doing our best to utilize the fastest growing networking tool out there. We tweet, we retweet, we follow trends, and we at-reply. But the coolest thing about Twitter is the simple ability to find out about people, places, things, organizations, events, and opportunities without having to navigate through the mess of Google or the blog-o-sphere.

Our interns scour Twitter for like-minded organizations and interesting information. Recently, we have been very intrigued by one 'tweeter' (twitterer?) that we follow, called charity: water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. If their super fantastic website isn't enough to draw you in, check out founder Scott Harrison's story, or look closer for their newest project, called Unshaken. Aiming to provide about 40,000 Haitian people affected by the earthquake with safe, clean drinking water, charity:water is teaming up with other philanthropic organizations to fund 11 large-scale water projects.

Charity:water is the kind of organization Blue Kitabu aspires to be. With a few more years and a lot more experience under our belt, we hope that our mission will reach into the hearts and minds of more and more people, enabling us to grow our organization and our projects. Your support of Blue Kitabu, and of other organizations such as charity:water, makes a difference where it really matters. If you haven't done something to support those in need lately, right now is as good a time as any.

Helping our Neighbors

2010-04-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

If you haven't looked at a map of West Africa lately, maybe now is the time to refresh your memory. Right smack in the middle of the Sahel and Sahara deserts is a country called Niger. The UN Human Development Index lists Niger as the least developed country in the world, an honor that brings less attention than one would expect. The CIA World Factbook describes Niger's geography as landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture.

Recent political conflict plagues the capital, Niamey, where a coup d'etat in March took the president and his supporters from power. President Tandja, although elected to office democratically, had single-handedly abolished his own term limits and was attempting to unconstitutionally stay in power. The coup leaders claim to be re-instituting a democratic government, although only time will tell how truthful and successful this claim will be.

In the midst of this conflict, Niger faces another potentially dire situation: a food shortage estimated to affect about 7.8 million people, which is about 60% of Niger's population. International aid organizations are asking for millions of dollars in order to help the already struggling rural populations, many of which have been forced to leave their homes and villages because of the complete depletion of food supplies. The UN is predicting there will be approximately 1.5 million cases of malnutrition in children under the age of 5, and another 35,000 cases among pregnant and lactating women.

Niger is a country composed of many vibrant cultural groups, including those of the Tuaregs, the Fulani, the Hausa and the Zarma. Our intern, Emily, spent four months in Niamey last semester studying international development and immersing herself in the culture and society of Niger. More than anything else, it is the people she met there that have left an incredible impression on her.

In this awful time of widespread famine for a country already so stricken with the problems of under-development, we ask that you take some time to learn more about Niger and the ways in which you can help out the millions of people facing starvation and death.

Some organizations currently working in Niger to prevent the spread of the food shortage are Action Against Hunger, Catholic Relief Services, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A month of reflection

2010-04-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

It recently came to my attention that April has been named Genocide Prevention Month by many human rights and genocide prevention groups around the world. They are working together to plan events and create greater awareness for the ongoing conflicts in many areas of the world. I thought it would be relevant to take a minute and help spread some information about this cause.

April is a month of anniversaries for some of the worst human rights atrocities in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur and Rwanda, as well as events in the Holocaust. James Boyce's blog has a great description of the month, highlighting some of the events and suggesting other websites to check out. Find out more information about the on-going conflict in Darfur, as well as in Armenia. One organization working to change the way the world sees genocide is Stop Genocide Now, whose name says it all. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is also taking action in memory of millions already lost.

It is difficult to be far removed from these conflicts and to be able to conjure a sense of empathy that allows us to connect with the people suffering at the hands of awful oppressors. We often forget that much of the world is not only suffering from lack of water, food, or education, but from oppression and genocide as well. April may be a time to reflect on the events that have shaped our understanding of human rights. The spread of information and discussion is one powerful tool in fighting human rights violations. Maybe taking some time to share with your friends the history of genocide in the month of April will contribute to global awareness and concern for the lives of many forgotten people.

A little bit goes a long way...

2010-03-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

It's a cold, rainy, windy Monday here in Boston, and although we are (very) used to it, this weather still gets everyone down. You have to admit, waking up every morning to clouds and rain means you need something else to make you smile - and if you don't find it in your cereal, on your commute to work, in your Starbucks or your 8 AM class - you'll need to find it somewhere else.

According to a BBC article, research has found that spending money on other people may be the quickest route to happiness. The research asked people to rate their level of happiness and then asked them to provide a breakdown of how they spend their money. "Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not."

So maybe what you need this morning is to do something worthwhile with your money. Maybe that something that will make you smile isn't on this continent. Maybe she's in Palestine or Cambodia. Maybe he's in Azerbaijan or Uganda. Maybe you need to check out Kiva.org.

Kiva is a microlending organization. You lend your $25 to Kiva and they lend it to a man or woman in a developing country who needs the money to start a business for themselves and their family. That person pays the money back over time, meaning you get your $25 back and that person gets a fresh start. Check out this cool video by Kieran Ball that explains how exactly Kiva works.

Not convinced yet? Kiva has had years of success with lending. The coolest part is that you get to pick who you lend to - and you can follow that person as they repay the loan. Another video from CNBC follows John Larson as he travels to meet his loan recipient and see first hand the difference his money has made.

Also - don't forget our Uno's Fundraiser on April 3rd in Kenmore Square. More details on our website!

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

2010-03-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Rick probably wasn't talking about the relationship between a nonprofit organization and its new blog, but the sentiment remains the same. Welcome to Blue Kitabu's new site for all the updates you need to know about our wonderful organization!

We'll be letting you know how you can make a contribution to our efforts to improve education in developing countries around the world. We'll also be letting you know about ways you can make a difference everyday, in your own community or in communities thousands of miles away.

For your first good deed, you should check out our website or Facebook page, print out a voucher, and bring it to Uno's in Kenmore Square in Boston on April 3rd to help us raise money for our school in the Loita Hills in Kenya. And while you're at it, you might as well bring several of your friends to help us reach our goal of raising $1,000! What could be a better reason to eat out?

Speaking of Kenya... check out this incredible documentary. "A Small Act" is about a Kenyan man and his story of the vital importance of education. Our intern, Emily, saw it screened at the Coolidge Corner Theater last week and can't stop raving about it. Chris Mburu, the subject of the film, has started a scholarship fund worth supporting.