FEAST OR FAMINE

Josephine wakes in the night and checks her email before going back to bed. Melissa has a $500 telephone bill for exceeding her monthly usage time on the internet. Shana has been, quite literally, ‘unplugged’ from the internet in the middle of her university course for abusing her time allocations. Are these women addicted to the internet? Anecdotal evidence indicates that some people are heavy users of the internet and may be addicted to one or more of its functions, such as information searching (‘surfing the web’), chat groups and electronic mailing. But is it a pathological addiction? John Suler of Rider University believes that “almost anything could be the target of a pathological addiction – drugs, eating, exercising, gambling, sex, spending, working, etc”. He says “in truly pathological addictions … the bad outweighs the good, resulting in serious disturbances in one’s ability to function in the ‘real’ world”. Psychologists are presently grappling with this phenomenon...

The United Nations and other humanitarian organizations, and the international community, have voiced their concern over renewed tribal violence in Southern Sudan. I was in Jonglei State in the eastern area of Southern Sudan in 2005, months after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in which many tribes were commencing to prepare their own local peace agreements with neighboring and feuding tribes.  It was hoped then that cohesion between tribes across the region will lead to greater strength for self-determination for Southern Sudan during the elections in 2011. But water is a major issue and a major cause of conflict. Calls for more assistance to build a durable peace within tribes, and to comprehensibly and sustainably address water issues in Sudan is an imperative.

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world, currently with 826 people per square kilometre. Let’s put this in perspective. Australia has only 2.4 people per square kilometre. Physically, Australia is 53 times larger than Bangladesh, but Bangladesh has 7 times more people. Bangladesh has one doctor for every 9,000 people and one nurse for every 20,000 people. In Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, there is a staggering 64,000 people per square kilometer. By comparison, Australia’s capital, Sydney, has 35 people per square kilometer. Bangladesh is geographically flat with the largest estuarine delta in the world. It has an annual rainfall of 2,540 mm. Adelaide, in Australia has an average rainfall of 500 mm, while Sydney has, on average, 1,180 mm per year. With seventy-five percent of the land less than three metres above sea level, Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to flooding and cyclones. Deforestation on the slopes of the Himalayas in the north has increased...

The tabloid format of The Canberra Times, Canberra's only daily newspaper was announced and produced in May 2000, a change from the large broadsheet paper. It was touted that it would be a 'serious tabloid.' But the tabloid was only introduced for the Sunday edition! The phrase ‘serious tabloid’ is an oxymoron – a figure of speech in which contradictory ideas are combined. To my mind, there has never been a serious tabloid in Australia. Tabloids, historically, have been ‘entertainment’ newspapers. They have big headings and short stories. The Canberra Times advocated, and delivered, 36 percent more space, devoted to lifestyle, news and sport. Is it any better? Better than what? With only one newspaper in Canberra, there is no local competition. There is, however, some competition from Sydney newspapers which continue to sell well on weekends. The Canberra Times is not a great newspaper by any standard; not even a 'good' newspaper. My concern with the newspap...

I am a life member of FairShare International, established by my friend Pam in Adelaide, South Australia. FairShare International (FSI) is a diverse, global community where everyone, individuals and families and businesses, take everyday action to distribute the world's resources (money, water, energy, minerals, etc) more equitably. The aim is to: (1) decrease the gap between rich and poor; (2) use the earth's resources more effectively; (3) create more ethical connections with others; and (4) conserve the natural environment and threatened species. The motto is simply - 5.10.5.10 (five, ten, five, ten). What does this mean? It's an easy formula to help members achieve the 4 aims of FairShare International: - 5 ( redistribute your own personal wealth by donating at least 5% of your income to a cause) - 10 (reduce your use of water, energy and minerals by at least 10%) - 5 (contribute at least 5% of your time to assist a local or international communi...

Given the impetus and opportunity, communities will join together to help their children achieve success. It begins with their education. And it begins with re-building children’s self-esteem. Few had heard of the USAID-funded Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and the Stabilization of Education (RISE) Project. Even fewer had heard of the concept of accelerated learning in the months after the end of Saddam’s regime. News of the Accelerated Learning Program in Iraq spread via three channels: regional directorates of education, community outreach workers, and more importantly by parents, particularly mothers. The promise of a one-year pilot program to accelerate long-term out-of-school youth to catch-up their schooling by undertaking two years of study in only one year was a second chance at education. Parents seized the opportunity immediately and at once began to promulgate the program. As the program commenced, the children themselves told their friends and wished for them what th...

Muzaffarabad stretched for four kilometres through the basin of the Lesser Himalaya in Kashmir. It was split lengthwise physically by the Neelum River and cut at the waist conversationally by a brilliant yellow Lipton sign. The Lipton sign was a landmark by day and a beacon by night. Intimidating and large on the landscape, it was floodlit in a glorious display of luminescence that outshone Mother Teresa. The straight white teeth of the smiling Pakistani woman, her shiny, thick black hair, her glowing skin and glinting eyes were the epitome of health and of wealth: an extreme contrast to the people passing underneath. The sunny Lipton woman could have been reciting the words of Sir Thomas Lipton himself: Work hard, deal honestly, be enterprising, exercise careful judgment, and advertise freely but judiciously. The Neelum River poured through the city, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It was the power and the glory of Kashmir, gathe...

Child labor awareness raising and sensitization are major catalysts for social change within communities. Community Welfare Committees established by communities are major catalysts in bringing people together and providing common goals for child labor interventions, community development projects, and income generation schemes. Effective leadership of community members is a powerful tool towards gaining community respect, motivating communities into participating in child labor interventions. Economic empowerment through training in best practice business skills and effective implementation mobilizes communities towards income generation, self-sufficiency and sustainability, if followed-up and continually encouraged, which may mitigate the likelihood of parents engaging in child trafficking. Basic functional literacy skills enables community members, particularly youth and women, to converse, write their name, record measurements (i.e. carpentry and tailoring), and document sim...