Published on Nov 1, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
Researchers are warning that rising global temperatures could see a shift in the world’s traditional staples and who grows them. They predict that maize, wheat and rice will decrease in many developing countries – forcing farmers to replace them with crops more resistant to heat, drought and flooding.
new report — released jointly by three U.N. agencies and the World Bank — says that despite progress by health programs worldwide in reducing infant mortality, prospects remain dire: a child still dies every five seconds somewhere in the world. The new report calls for renewed international commitments to child survival. VOA’s Vidushi Sinha has more.
In Lao People’s Democratic, women and girls are faced with the hardship of collecting water for multiple purposes. They travel far distances and make numerous trips—often across uneven terrains. Ms. Buakham’s story is one of many whose life has changed as a result of an ADB-financed water supply system in Sing district. It has helped to ease women’s domestic burden and enhance their economic role through local markets and ecotourism opportunities. The system supplies piped water to more than 1,700 homes and businesses since it began operations in 2010.
The video was filmed in front of a live audience at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on August 10, 2012. … She performed on a high-rise stage with a big screen behind her. As she sang, the screen filled with images of U.N. aid workers on the scene in various wars, famines, and floods around the world.[46]
Baffled by his dad’s reluctance to change his traditional soul food diet in the face of a health crisis, filmmaker Byron Hurt sets out to learn more about this rich culinary tradition and it’s relevance to black cultural identity. He discovers that the love affair that his dad and his community have with soul food is deep-rooted, complex, and in some tragic cases, deadly. Through candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians and scholars, as well as doctors, family members, and everyday people, Soul Food Junkies puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its benefits and consequences. Hurt looks at the socioeconomics of predominantly black neighborhoods, where it can be difficult to find healthy options, and
Bankrate.com hosts a calculator that estimates the cost of raising a child from 0-18. The defaults are based on data from the USDA, but you may adjust them.
Good website to visit in class, or to assign as part of homework.
The United Nations says there is enough fresh water for everyone on earth. Yet nearly 1.6 billion people still face water shortages, due to inadequate infrastructure, uneven distribution and wasteful practices. There’s an organization in California, (called “Well Done,”) that is working to lessen this global water crisis, by implementing new approaches to an old problem. VOA’s Monaliza Noormohammadi has more.
“There are people starving in the world and I drive an Infiniti. That’s really evil. There are people who just starve to death–that’s all they ever did. There’s people who are born and go like ‘aw, I’m hungry,’ then they just die.”
Ooh ooh ooh aah
Gotta make a change
For once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good
Gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right
As I turned up the collar on
A favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin’ my mind
I see the kids in the street
With not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind
Pretending not to see their needs
A summer’s disregard
A broken bottle top
And a one man’s soul
They follow each other
On the wind ya’ know
‘Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change, yey
Na na na, na na na, na na na na oh ho
I’ve been a victim of
A selfish kinda love
It’s time that I realize
There are some with no home
Not a nickel to loan
Could it be really pretending that they’re not alone
A willow deeply scarred
Somebody’s broken heart
And a washed out dream
(Washed out dream)
They follow the pattern of the wind ya’ see
‘Cause they got no place to be
That’s why I’m starting with me
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make that change
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
(Man in the mirror, oh yeah)
I’m asking him to change his ways, yeah
(Change)
No message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make the change
You gotta get it right, while you got the time
‘Cause when you close your heart
(You can’t close your, your mind)
Then you close your mind
(That man, that man, that man)
(That man, that man, that man)
(With the man in the mirror, oh yeah)
(That man you know, that man you know)
(That man you know, that man you know)
I’m asking him to change his ways
(Change)
No message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself then make that change
(Na na na, na na na, na na na na)
Ooh
Oh yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
(Na na na, na na na, na na na na)
Oh no
Oh no, I’m gonna make a change
It’s gonna feel real good
Sure mon
(Change)
Just lift yourself
You know, you got to stop it yourself
(Yeah)
Oh
Make that change
(I gotta make that change today, oh)
(Man in the mirror)
You got to, you got to not let yourself, brother oh
Yeah
You know that
(Make that change)
(I gotta make that make me then make)
You got, you got to move
Sure mon, sure mon
You got to
(Stand up, stand up, stand up)
Make that change
Stand up and lift yourself, now
(Man in the mirror)
Make that change
(Gonna make that change, sure mon)
(Man in the mirror)
You know it, you know it, you know it, you know
(Change)
Make that change
Detroit is a U.S. city that has been hit hard by poverty and dilapidation in recent decades. But its citizens are working on a grassroots strategy to rejuvenate their city with urban farming. As Selah Hennessy reports, urban farms and gardens are popping up all over the city.
I find this unreasonably fun to play in class (especially my 150-200 student auditoriums). It takes 20-30 minutes as long as I keep it fast-paced. I start off as if I’m excited (celebrate when I pass the typing test), and after a few choices the class starts to act like a game show studio audience. After it’s over, I sometimes ask them to write their reaction to the game and then summarize the game in one sentence. They have fun, then the written exercise cements the big-picture point.
…designed to help people understand the challenges and trade-offs faced by low-income people with insecure employment. The “game” begins when you’ve been unemployed, have only $1,000 left in your bank account, and need to get a low wage job.
