Blog 10

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/31/world/americas/mexico-anonymous-threat/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

According to this article, the drug wars in Mexico just keep getting worse and worse. Mexico is becoming a target and battle field from all the drug wars occurring in the country. People are battling about drugs and are bringing in people from other countries to get involved. People from all over the world are coming to Mexico to receive and fight for the drugs. Gangs are kidnapping and killing people for no reason. The main issue now is finding out who is using cartels. An anonymous person knows and is about to release it to the country, but it is scaring people because they are afraid of what can happen.

I believe the drug wars in Mexico need to be stopped now. For the last couple of years this has been a huge concern and it has continued to happen anyway. The UN needs to get together and find a way to solve this issue because if it is not solved the results will be awful. More people are continuing to die due to drug wars and it needs to be stopped now. People are not being educated about the concern of having drugs and weapons in Mexico and they think it is okay what they are doing. If the drug wars are not stopped soon, Mexico is going to be completely torn to shreds. It is also really sad to think that people know what is going on and how to stop it, but they are not willing to release information because it can result in them and their entire family dead.

blog 9

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/24/world/europe/turkey-quake/index.html?npt=NP1

According to this article Turkey just underwent an awful, natural disaster. Turkey was hit with an earth quake leaving many people injured and dead. Not only were people destroyed, but so were 90 buildings. One of the buildings that was destroyed was a hospital.  Since so many people are dead or injured, it is really inconvenient that the closest hospital was destroyed. Along with the hospital, one of the main health centers was destroyed too. Many of the injured people are being hospitalized in the garden of the hospital. Because the temperatures are so cold in Turkey, people are beginning to get really sick. Citizens of Turkey are frightened with what can happen since the weather is so freezing and barely anyone has places to live. Trucks filled with rescue aid have been driven into the country to help people, but have not reached many small villages that need the aid. Many of the rescue workers are having a hard time finding people because they are hidden under so many objects.

It is so sad to see such an awful tragedy like this occur. It stinks to see so many people get hurt because of a natural disaster. The worst part is that people are helping all over, but the help is not enough. It is even sadder to think that some people are buried under items and cannot be found.  I think the world as a whole needs to find better ways to deal with natural disasters. Every year several people are injured and killed because of a natural disaster. I am well aware that natural disasters are not preventable, but I do believe there is a way to help and aid people better who have been hit by a natural disaster.

Blog 8

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/16/world/asia/thailand-flood/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

According to this article, Thailand is suffering major from floods. The water raised so much in two months that 61 provinces were affected.  Although the streets are completely flooded, military trucks have been going down the streets handing out aid to all the people. People with boats have been transporting neighbors and their stuff to safe land or at least to get the aid they need.  Countries around the world have donated $2.07 million in aid to help all the people in the flood. The United States of America has sent over 26 helicopters to help with relief.

Although it is such a shame to see the country go under because of the rain and canal closing in, it is great to see people all over the world helping. We spend so much time looking at the awful things in the world that need help, but we never really look around and accept and acknowledge all the wonderful things.  It is unbelievable that the world was able to donate $2.07 million in aid to this country. It’s even greater to see America sending over the helicopters. I personally believe the best part of all this is that the people who own boats are using all their time and effort to help the neighbors survive. People are going out of the way to help everyone in such a tragic time period. Although the situation is lousy and should not be looked at positively at all, I really think it is so good to see people from all over the world working together to help everyone out.

blog #7

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/09/tech/mobile/mobile-phone-poverty/index.html?iref=allsearch

According to this article, cell phones have been one of the best steps to ending poverty in Africa. In 2004, people in Africa began using cell phones, and it has improved many of the people’s lifestyles.   The reason it has improved their lifestyles and been a step toward ending poverty is because their cellphones are used strictly for necessities. They use their phones to call emergency health clinics and to reach family for emergencies. The GDP in Kenya has grown so much since the use of mobile phones.  Kenyans are now making $1 million a month in transactions because of phones.

I found the idea that phones are helping poverty so unbelievable. I never thought in my entire life that the expansion of mobile phones could solve poverty. If anything I thought it would start it. To think so many people are given great opportunities because of phone usage is crazy.  I think it is great to see that they only use their phones for important things. If developed countries used their phones the same way they are being used in Africa, maybe poverty really would go down. I think this topic needs to be promoted to more people because I guarantee no one knew this was happening.  If poverty can really be cured through mobile phones, that would be awesome to see. Technology is creating so many wonderful opportunities in the world. If phones are helping so much in Kenya, then phones should be used in more underdeveloped places as well.

Post # 6

On Thursday I went to a lecture concerning international health. I learned about Wuqu Kawoq which is an organization that was started in 2007. They fund projects and provide health care programs, language revitalization, and community development.  This organization is for providing care in Guatemala.  The main project they talked about was the Guatemala water project.  75% of people from Guatemala use water from the Chichoy River (which is very dirty) and 25% use water from the wells.  The goal from this program is to provide a better water system in Guatemala. At first they had several ideas on how they would clean it. The ideas were chlorination, boiling, solar disinfection, clay pot filtration, and sand filtration.  After testing how all the ways they found out that sand filtration worked the best and they set up proper filters all over Guatemala. Not only did they build filters, but they gave house evaluations to check to see if the houses fit health inspections.

I think going to this lecture gave me a lot of hope on international health. In class and online we always hear about the problems occurring, but we never hear about the treatments to fix them.  To think so many people spend their time and money trying to help resolve the water issues in Guatemala is great.  Although there are so many international health problems going on in the world, it’s good to hear about the international health problems being fixed.