Posts Tagged ‘Poverty’

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Teaching and Learning in the South Bronx

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

evan-piekara.jpg Evan Piekara is an alumnus of Teach For America, a national organization that works to ensure educational opportunities for students of all backgrounds. During his 4 years as a corps member, he taught 6th and 7th grade in the South Bronx. He’s also worked as an Institute Staff Member, helping to train the 2008 and 2009 corps. As a result of his classroom experiences, he developed some interesting views on education in America and the importance of gaining financial understanding at a young age.

TILE: What inspired you to become involved with Teach for America?
Evan: I was inspired by its mission that all children deserve an excellent education, and the fact that TFA works tirelessly to ensure that your income level or where you grew up does not determine your future.One thing that has always impressed me about TFA is that it is constantly looking to improve and become more effective. It has both a short-term strategy of getting people involved in education who may not have entered in the first place with a long-term mission of them using these experiences whether as teachers, business leaders, lawyers, doctors, politicians, or advocates to continue to support the mission and improve education for all.

TILE: What qualities do you look for in teachers who become part of your organization?
Evan: TFA places a huge emphasis on leadership, teamwork, resilience, and achievement. These are all qualities that are utilized in the classroom and help you to work towards becoming a successful teacher who will move students forward.

TILE: What are some important things you have learned while working for Teach for America?
Evan: It’s helped me learn a great deal about myself, grow as an individual and as a professional, and it’s really helped me to become much more analytical, reflective, and use out-of-the-box thinking to find a solution to any number of problems or obstacles.

TILE: What kinds of core knowledge, skills and values do you hope to instill in students?
Evan: I want to instill in them a sense that they can succeed on every level and although things might not always be easy, through hard-work, determination, and using their education they can be successful in whatever they aspire to do. A lot of our discussions center around goal-setting, mutual respect, using strong communication skills, independence as well as working in a team, and being a leader.

TILE: Why might it be important to help students obtain financial literacy?
Evan: It is important because it can help them to avoid the pitfalls that many people struggle with, and also to open doors for them in the future. For example, they might realize that college is a viable option through managing scholarships and student loans that they can pay-off once they start their professional careers.

TILE: What advice would you offer to your teenage self (financial or otherwise)?
Evan: Education is so important and each day in class and outside is an opportunity to learn and grow.For me, I was fortunate to have parents who instilled those values in me, and who financially stretched money, made me work for money, and taught me the value of a dollar.

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Water Changes Everything

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Check out this inspiring new video by our friends at charity: water!

Is Earth Day your favorite day of the year? Do you care more about the sky or the trees?

Go to Your Nonprofits to find the perfect organization to support!

p.s. There’s an awesome fundraising contest going on right now – if you can pull together the most money for charity: water, you get to go to Africa with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett.

Bienvenidos a Malawi! (Gettin’ filtered with it? The Fresh Prince of Fresh Water?) The current leader has raised less than $12,000. You can beat that, right?

Get Spent!

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

Ever wonder how people end up homeless or hungry? It’s easier than you may think.

Think it could never happen to you? Play SPENT to get a sense of what life is like for the 55% of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck.

High Cost Of Food Causing Riots, Widespread Poverty Around The World

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

“The World Bank says food prices are at “dangerous levels” and have pushed 44 million more people into poverty since last June.

According to the latest edition of its Food Price Watch, prices rose by 15% in the four months between October 2010 and January this year.

Food price inflation is felt disproportionately by the poor, who spend over half their income on food.”

What do you think?

As a philanthropist, how would you approach the problem of unaffordable food?

Careful when you hear the word “average…”

Friday, February 18th, 2011

when-income-grows-who-gains.jpg

Depending on who you ask, it could mean very different things.

(A little grandfatherly wisdom from your friends at TILE.)

They Wanted The World To Change, So They Did It Themselves

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Ever been frustrated by how slow things are to change, when people are suffering right now? If you’re anything like the latest crop of social entrepreneurs, you may be able to turn your frustration into something much more meaningful.

  • Today’s social entrepreneurs are taking on the world’s problems a bit at a time. Their successes show that it’s not necessarily the biggest, wealthiest organizations who make the small incremental changes that matter.
  • These individuals tend to identify specific problems and then do whatever they can to meet the need. One invented microfinance. Another is focused on making menstrual supplies available where a woman’s period causes her to miss school and work. And another pressures U.S. companies to stop buying from African warlords, effectively funding terrorism and horrific violence directed at women in Congo.
  • They’re often naive at the beginning, expecting too much and consulting with local people too little. And success is never assured. But the rewards are real – both for entrepreneurs and the relatively small number of people whose lives they are changing.

Facts & Figures

  • DoSomething.org provided $100,000 to help 23-year-old Maggie Doyne build a school in Nepal.
  • Lisa Shannon carried 45,000 pennies to Intel’s headquarters, offering to pay the extra penny it would cost Intel to source their materials outside of Congo and avoid 45,000 more violent deaths at the hands of warlords.
  • $300 sends a Nepalese child to Maggie Doyne’s school, with health and dental care included.

Best Quote

“If your own children were born orphans in Nepal, you wouldn’t wait for the U.N. or the government to do something about it while they were hungry and cold and breaking rocks by the side of a riverbed.” – Maggie Doyne

Rising Income Inequality Hurts Everyone

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Research shows that inequality is bad in any number of circumstances. So why are we so reluctant to look at the effects of excessive wage inequality in the U.S.?

  • Unlike economists throughout history, modern economists seem unwilling to address the negative effects of rising income inequality. There is no convincing evidence that shows it supports economic or individual success in America, but experts in this case avoid making value judgments when it comes to money.
  • Studies show that money can buy happiness – up to a point. But because of hugely inflated wages for the extremely wealthy, Americans become trapped in a cycle: their peers spend ever-increasing amounts of money on their lifestyles simply because they can, and everyone who can afford it follows suit.
  • This cycle trickles down from class to class in “expenditure cascades,” until soon enough everyone feels the psychological distress of never having enough. This distress results in higher divorce rates, longer commutes, and voters who are less interested in spending on public services like road rehabilitation.

Facts & Figures

  • In 1976, 8.9% of the country’s income went to the top 1% of earners.
  • In 2007, 23.5% of the country’s income went to the top 1%.
  • Between 1976 and 2007, the average hourly wage went down by more than 7%.

Development Goals In Africa May Not Be Met By Deadline

Monday, September 20th, 2010

The U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals were created to fight poverty and stimulate economies in Africa between 2000-2015, but whether the project will be a success remains to be seen.

  • Several new reports are suggesting that U.N. Millennium Development Goals will not be met by their deadline unless leaders of both developing and developed nations step up their involvement and investment.
  • The goals for Sub-Saharan Africa, which were agreed upon by 190 countries in the U.N. in 2000, include reducing poverty, hunger, disease, and early deaths by a certain percentage by 2015.
  • There are many reasons why the initiative is in danger of failing: Donors have failed to fulfill their pledges, some African leaders have been uncooperative, and many African governments have failed to increase health spending to the mandated 15% of their gross domestic product.

Facts & Figures

  • The death rate for mothers has barely shifted since 2000.
  • The total number of people living in poverty has grown to more than 400 million.
  • The U.S. has pledged an additional $63 billion to improve healthcare in target countries, $3.5 billion for agricultural initiatives, and $30 billion to help countries prepare for global warming.

Best Quote

“Unless an urgent rescue package is developed to accelerate fulfillment of all the MDGs, we are likely to witness the greatest collective failure in history.” – Oxfam

Freedom Schools Try A New Approach To Literacy: Fun

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

A summer literacy program with a “let’s pull together” philosophy is engaging kids across the country.

  • From 8am – 3pm every day, 200 kids in Los Angeles are attending an unconventional six-week course in learning to love the written word. These so-called Freedom Schools are based on programs from the 1960s which attempted to address the educational achievment gap between white and African-American students.
  • Students read several books each week, and studies have shown the program to improve reading ability for second through fifth-graders. In addition to reading lessons, students are also taught critical thinking, healthy eating habits, creative arts, and social skills. The schools serve food, lead field trips, and require parent involvement.
  • Despite its unconventional approach, the program’s emphasis on literacy has caught the attention of politicians like Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose office contributed $150,000 to fund five new Freedom Schools in LA.

Facts & Figures

  • Children’s Defense Fund, a child advocacy non-profit, has been creating Freedom Schools around the country since 1995.
  • Nationwide, there are 9,600 children participating in the program this summer.
  • Expenditures for each Freedom School site amount to about $60,000 for the six-week duration.

Best Quote

“It’s different than real school; you’re doing work but at the same time you’re having fun. The best part is, we can just be free here.” – Jaylen Chairez, 8 years old

India Battles Poverty With New Food Distribution System

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

India, a country pulsing with the potential for economic power, wavers under the weight of poverty.

  • India debates whether or not to implement a new food distribution system that will give out food coupons and cash to citizens.
  • The plan is part of a movement that aims to gives every citizen a constitutional right to food.
  • The new food distribution system will allow every Indian family a monthly 77-pound bag of grain, sugar and kerosene.
  • Though it is possible that issuing food coupons will greatly improve poverty in India, many are concerned that the new freedom of choice it allows recipients will encourage corruption.

Facts & Figures

  • 42% of all Indian children under the age of 5 are underweight.
  • 70% of the $12 billion food budget is wasted, stolen or absorbed by bureaucratic and transportation costs.

Best Quote

“The question is whether there is a role for the market in the delivery of social programs. This is a big issue: Can you harness the market?” – Bharat Ramaswami, Rural Economist, Indian Statistical Institute.

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