Breaking a Conspiracy of Silence

I am writing to you in desperation because we have lost ten of our best qualified nurses and midwives to International NGOs who do not support us during the training but who snatch the best from us with salary offers that we cannot match. Somehow, we seem to have become victims of our success because our nurses are the best in the country. We train four times what our hospital needs but still cannot cover the demand for good and responsible nurses.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23372

(New York Review of Books, Sue Halpern).

Slump pushes world hunger to 40-year high

The increase in the number of hungry people is not a result of poor harvests but is due to high food prices – particularly in developing countries – lower incomes and lost jobs.

"The rising number of hungry people is intolerable," said FAO director-general, Jacques Diouf. "We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever."

U.K. Independent Newspaper

* News * Technology * Google Google joins push to send Ugandans vital information through their mobiles

AppLab will give millions of Africans access to health advice, farming tips and trading services using only a mobile handset

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/29/google-launches-applab-in-uganda

I.T. goes Green

Information Technology goes green.

There are a lot of environmental issues concerning I.T.; a major concern is disposing of old hardware, which can contain toxic substances. This article in PCMAG.COM reviews eco friendly laptops, desktops, monitors, and disk drives:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345704,00.asp

More roads in Africa ?

Does Africa need more roads, more railways, or both ?, (or neither ?);

This article in the UK Guardian suggests that more roads are needed; China is investing in building more railways. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/katineblog/2009/apr/09/african-road-investment

Ecological debt: no way back from bankrupt

While most governments' eyes are on the banking crisis, a much bigger issue - the environmental crisis - is passing them by, says Andrew Simms. In the Green Room this week, he argues that failure to organise a bailout for ecological debt will have dire consequences for humanity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7988648.stm

fairtrade

Apparently the people who first came up with the idea of fairtrade took the idea to banking analysts who laughed at them, saying that it was ridiculous to think that anyone would pay more for coffee, chocolate, etc in order to help some poor farmers in a far away country.

"Britain's most popular chocolate bar, Dairy Milk, is to become Fairtrade certified in Britain and Ireland in a move that will double the amount of cocoa bought from smallholders in the developing world under the sustainable farming scheme."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/04/cadbury-fair-trade-dairy-milk

hope wins over cynicism (again)

Aid = bad ?

Dambisa Moyo is an economist who has worked as a consultant for The World Bank, and as head of economic research and strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa for Goldman Sachs.

She has written a book called "Dead Aid" about the aid industry.

reviews of her book are here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/feb/19/dambisa-moyo-dead-aid-africa

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dambisa-moyo-aid-dependency-blights-africa-the-cure-is-in-the-credit-crisis-could-be-the-cure-1522996.html

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article5674886.ece

Internet access = good ?

"Unicef said that when they set up public computer kiosks with educational material, a cached Wikipedia, basic health information, etc, in villages that the people using them are aged six to 60, but when adding internet connectivity the age range reduces to 14 to 18. They consume porn and it creates an environment unfriendly to others."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/15/this-much-i-know-clay-shirky-technology