Haiti Earthquake

The Haiti earthquake was an absolute nightmare. It destroyed hundreds of buildings and made a massive impact on the economy. A vast amount of factories and industries were shut down meaning there were a large amount of redundancies and people were living in complete poverty. There was also a high amount of people left homeless meaning money from the government and services giving aid had to spend money not only on rebuilding and restoring the economy but supporting civillians in need. another factor that affected the economy was death, the death count was so high that rescue services had to be deployed from other nations to help retrieve bodies and rescue trapped survivors which meant restoration couldnt be started until all were found and acounted for.

The Pumpkin Revolution

The Pumpkin revolution is a project put forward by 'Practical Action'. It is a simple system to help people affected by river flooding become successful in growing and sustaining a food supply for them and their families. The way the system works is a hole is dug and a pumpkin seed is placed at the bottom surrounded by excrement. The hole is then filled and because  the pumpkins are then able to survive not just floods but droughts aswell they grow healthily underneath the ground and produce a large amounts of seeds aswell. The beauty of this project is its simplicity. It can be taught by anyone, to anyone and costs little or no money to sustain in the long term. The project started off in Gaibandha, India, a place badly affected by river erosion and flooding and this project turned the whole area around and brought it back to place filled with happy people

Giving Aid, Yes or No?

Although Giving Aid is mostly thought of as a good thing in helping other peoploe around the world have you ever thought of where the money really ends up? This news story might give you some idea of what sometimes happens when help is sent:

''The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said today it has halted all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip after the Hamas government seized thousands of tonnes of food and other provisions.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/06/gaza-un-aid-hamas <-- Full Story

Giving Aid to other countries is not as effective as setting up charities or training people as it is the people in need that know what they need, not the mostly selfish and corrupt leaders who deny their people the resources they need

Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is a dedicated charity and the leading researchers in their field. They rely solely on donations and fund many different fields of research in different areas of cancer. This is a statement from the charity which shows their strong feelings toward curing cancer and their pride in their work:

''We are the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research.
We’ve saved millions of lives with our groundbreaking work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. People’s chances of surviving cancer have doubled in the last 40 years, and we’ve been at the heart of that progress.
But more than one in three of us will still get cancer at some point. Our vital work, funded entirely by the public, will help ensure that millions more people survive.''

I think Cancer Research is a valuable charity and should be supported as much as possible so they can continue with their groundbreaking work and research.

The Poverty Trap

Grace is a woman living in complete poverty. She had 7 children but is now left with only 5. The terrible conditions and poor sanitation mean there was nothing that anyone could do for them and Grace was helpless. her and her family survive on tiny amounts of millet and dirty water between 6 people in what cannot be even described as a 'house' with possessions that you could count on one hand. Graces husband left the family to earn some money and hasnt been seen since. He could be ill. In trouble. Dead. Poverty is a growing problem in countries all over the world. In Graces case Uganda but also places in asia and the middle east, this problem is unnescassary as the charities set up such as practical action could stop this if they had the funding.

Geography - Development

Bhadrak Ropeway

The Bhadrak Ropeway is a gravitational transportation service used to transport goods and money to and from the market in Bhadrak. Bhadrak is a self sufficient village in nepal and most villagers reply on their products being sold at the market to survive, however, the market is a 2 hour walk down a dirt track on the side of a mountain. The gravity ropeway was installed so the people in the village could make a living without making the dangerous treck. The charity responsible for this ropeway is 'Practical Action' who have set up many projects like this in the past and still continue to do so in places with similar situations.