The Forgotten International

Congratulations to Three Courageous Women

The Forgotten International — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:33:04 +0000

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.

In October 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. The resolution for the first time made violence against women in armed conflict an international security issue. It underlined the need for women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes and in peace work in general.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first democratically elected female president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women. Leymah Gbowee mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections. She has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war. In the most trying circumstances, both before and during the “Arab spring”, Tawakkul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.

It is the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s hope that the prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realise the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.

Oslo, October 7, 2011

“The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 – Press Release”. Nobelprize.org. 20 Oct 2011

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/press.html

Subsistence Fishing

The Forgotten International — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:49:49 +0000

Looking out over the Mekong River in Phnom Penh you will see what appears to be floating villages. The “villages” are actually groups of fishing boats—they look like long rowboats with a cover over the mid-section. Families have built their lives upon these boats, joining together their home and their livelihood. Our team spent the day on the river meeting and speaking with some of these families about their life on the river.

Families who make their living fishing on the river seem to be somewhat more secure in their economic position in the sense that at least they have a meal to eat every day.Anything extra that they might catch can be sold to acquire some additional food, such as rice, but fish is their primary source of protein. Everything they own is with them on the small boat; they have no other home. An entire family eats, sleeps and works on the boat to survive. This means the loss of a family member due to illness or injury also means losing a breadwinner. Also, the children are not in school and are wo

rking alongside their parents every day in order to have food to eat and perhaps to earn a dollar or two at the market.

The livelihood of subsistence fishing families, like that of subsistence farmers, depends largely on environmental factors. If the river becomes so polluted that fish cannot survive, the families also cannot survive. In times of flooding or drought, again they are affected. Even the sanitary conditions of the water can lead to illnesses since the river water is what they eat and drink from. Also, unregulated industry can have an effect on their precarious situation since over-fishing by large commercial boats can threaten the basic food supply for the individual families.

With so many factors affecting the health of the rivers and the daily lives of these families, it is a struggle to get through each day, and it will be harder still for future generations. Because the children grow up on the boats, fishing is the only way of life they know. Certainly the work these young kids do every day is difficult and dangerous, but it is also robbing them of an education, such that their options for the future are limited and the cycle of poverty continues.

Certainly the river is beautiful, and to some this may seem like a simple life free of many of the modern complications of our Western city living, but with no social safety net, such as education or basic healthcare, these families and their way of life will always remain vulnerable. Unfortunately, this is far too regular for communities like these, and a situation we hope to shed light on.

From our President, Tom Nazario:

The Forgotten International — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:52:16 +0000

I just wanted you to know that I just got back from my trip to New York to meet with publishers about our upcoming book, “Living on a Dollar a Day.” While there, I met with three publishers and a prospective literary agent. The three publishers all found our proposal quite compelling.

The literary agent that I met with is a top notch agent and has worked in and around Manhattan for some years. She would like to see the next iteration of the proposal and had some suggestions for me. It’s not clear whether she’ll take this on as a project, but she certainly found it very worthy and timely because of all of the things that are happening in the world.

This is all good news, but I anticipate that finding the right publisher and cutting the best deal possible will take at least two or three visits to New York, so bear with us. I also plan to contact publishers in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.

For now, I am going to update our book proposal and talk to some additional agents. At many of the big publishing houses, they won’t even meet with you unless you have an agent, so this is a work in progress. I thought, however, I would give you an update on how our first trip to New York went. That’s it for now.

Forced Evictions

The Forgotten International — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:13:55 +0000

Our team went to Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, a city of great disparity. While part of the city is filled with upscale hotels and modern government buildings, the view changes drastically just on the other side of town. This area is comprised of over-crowded slums with too many people just struggling to survive. They live on swamp-like land in small tin shacks. These communities display the extreme poverty that exists, and it is a sight that the Cambodian government wants to hide.

Local authorities have been relocating these families, without any option or much notice, to outlying areas of the city so that luxury apartments can be built for businessmen and other affluent members of society. The problem this presents goes beyond stripping these families of their homes and communities. The relocation areas are so far out of town that these individuals find it difficult to maintain their jobs or to access any sort of government services, such as health care and proper schooling for their children. The only thing this accomplishes is to push the poor out of sight and hope they will be out of mind.

The slum we visited had been warned that any day they could be relocated to one of these outlying areas. Our team spent time meeting some of the families who lived in this area and who faced an uncertaint future. One family who lived in a small tin house was surviving off the income of the two oldest daughters who worked in the flower market. Their mother was dead and their father lost his leg in an army injury. We believe he also suffered from HIV and, therefore, needs to be close to a hospital where he can receive treatment. If this family is forced to relocate, the young women would lose their jobs and the younger children would no longer be able to attend school. The father would also not be able to keep up with his needed medications without access to the hospital. The fate of this family lies between trying to keep what little they have and losing it all. This also means they have no hope of creating a better life in the future since the next generation, the children, are losing their chance for an education.

Unfortunately, this has been the story of too many Cambodians for too many years now. People are continuing to have their homes taken from them and forced to live somewhere they are not prepared for. It too closely resembles the state of Cambodia decades ago when many were forced to leave the homes and jobs they knew and expected to make do in a foreign environment with no support. Of course the poor have the smallest voice in any society, and for that reason their story must be told. This article from 2006 is an indication how many years this has been going on and the thousands of people affected by forced evictions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5392474.stm

*All Photos provided by George Rosenfeld

“Living on a Dollar a Day” at Bingham

The Forgotten International — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:03:24 +0000

On August 19, 2011, the law firm of Bingham hosted a presentation of the Making of “Living on a Dollar a Day” at their Silicon Valley office. Professor Tom Nazario and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Renée Byer gave our guests a sneak peak of some the stories and photographic profiles that will make up the book to be published next fall. The Forgotten International will be making several presentations around the Bay Area in advance of the book’s release. Renée Byer and videographer George Rosenfeld returned from their final trip abroad in May, wrapping up travel to 10 countries on four continents. They interviewed individuals and families around the world who survive on about one dollar per day. They met subsistence farmers, factory workers, prostitutes, fishing families, herders, garbage recyclers and beggars, starting in India in June 2010, moving through Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Liberia, Ghana, Romania, Moldova, Peru and finally Bolivia this summer. In addition, they visited charitable clinics, community centers, foundations, and other aid organizations trying to help the poorest of the poor to not only survive another day, but try to improve their lives through education, healthcare and job training. Our hope with this book is to shine a light on the plight of these people and communities and create a call to action so that anyone who wants to can get involved. (Photo by Paul Kitagaki, Jr.)

Past and Present Cambodia

The Forgotten International — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:41:42 +0000

Years of conflict, civil war and corruption has left Cambodia deeply scarred and only recently able to experience some stability. Cambodia with its shocking history, and repercussions of which continue to play out in its present state, is where our team headed to next.

Cambodia’s circumstances cannot be fully understood unless one knows the horror that existed not long ago leading to mass genocide of its own people. The Khmer Rouge was a brutal regime that gained power in the 1970s when Cambodia was struggling to stay neutral during the Vietnam War. This communist regime took over under leader Pol Pot in 1975 and set out to transform Cambodia into an agrarian utopia. All educated individuals and professionals were executed, along with ethnic minorities. Temples and all Western symbols were destroyed. Everyone was forced to move out of the cities into rural areas where farming was to become the core means of the country. While the exact numbers are uncertain, it is estimated that over two million people perished from executions, extreme labor and starvation. It was not until four years later that the regime was overthrown by the Vietnamese, but the damage caused by the Khmer Rouge’s brutality would last decades. The 1984 film, The Killing Fields, depicts this horrific period in Cambodia’s history.

Cambodia now faces the aftermath of years of destruction and upheaval. The land has been raped by its own citizens struggling to survive, and its children have suffered from the increase of trafficking into the sex trade. The economy has shown growth over the last decade due to the country gradually opening up internationally to business and tourism. However, the response of the government has been to push the poor out of their homes in the cities and in order to build luxury apartments in their place.

Our first story is about the forced evictions of the residents in Phnom Penh who live in the impoverished areas. This practice is on the rise and is creating further civil unrest. Of course, development cannot take place without removing the slums, but the people who lived in the slums are being moved so far out of the city that they have few means to survive, which for some brings up memories of the not too distant past.

Here is a recent video of people standing up against the government’s orders for land evictions: http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/video.php?perm=22

Mae Tao Clinic

The Forgotten International — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:11:46 +0000

In the previous entry we mentioned the free medical clinic that both the father and mother of the Burmese family used. This clinic in Mae Sot is the Mae Tao Clinic also known as “Dr. Cynthia’s Clinic.” You can check out the clinic here at www.maetaoclinic.com It was founded by Dr. Cynthia Maung during the re 1988 to serve the Burmese immigrant community, but is open to anyone who needs care. This small clinic offers extraordinary services to these struggling people. Some of these include: pediatric and adult outpatient clinics, inpatient facilities, surgery, maternity and sexual health services, dental offices, free medication and vaccinations, and prosthetics fittings, a pretty amazing feat to provide such extensive treatments at such a humble clinic. They do not stop there—if they cannot meet the needs of a patient, they will transfer them to the city hospital and cover the costs of the patient’s medical expenses. If only health care could be like this for everyone. This clinic is the only access to healthcare this community has, yet for some it is still too costly just to get there.
Another organization meeting the needs of the Burmese people in a different way is a social service group called the “People’s Volunteer Association.” They are a grass roots organization made up of individuals who tried to stage a revolution against the oppressive Myanmar government and now are serving the people of Mae Sot.

The People’s Volunteer Association functions a little like a neighborhood citizens’ watch, whose mission includes aiding the Thai police in settling disputes, providing refugee care, mediating domestic abuse issues, labor rights, health and education issues, and, really, to help solve migrants’ problems any way they can. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20374

This area is home to many abused women and children who have been left homeless to fend for themselves. This group adopts them and helps them get through their misfortune by providing them with help towards a better future. One woman our team spoke with had been abused and beaten by her husband. She suffered a severe head injury from his attacks and was abandoned along with their 3-year-old son for another woman. She is one of the many who has been left in a desperate situation. She is living in a small garage space with her in-laws who feel responsible for what their son has done to his family. She constantly is leaving work early because of dizziness that occurs since her husband’s attack. Her beautiful boy is young enough that hopefully he will not be as affected by the misdeeds of his father, and rather know the strength of his mother.

With all the suffering that many of these immigrant families endure it is good to know that there are places like the Mae Tao Clinic and People’s Volunteer Association working to create a real difference in their lives.

Burmese Refugees in Thailand

The Forgotten International — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:28:07 +0000

The team left Bangladesh and flew to Bangkok, Thailand, greeted by skyscrapers and luxury vehicles, well aware that this was not where most individuals in need resided. It is the Burmese migrants living along the Western border of Thailand whose story must be told next. First, one must understand the difficult circumstances of people escaping Burma. This war torn country has long been a place of conflict between the many ethnic groups, forcing some to migrate to Thailand and live as refugees in border towns. The terrible conditions of persecution and torture at home cause many Burmese to flee, but they are met by discrimination and exploitation in Thailand. Still some choose this life over their previous situation under the military junta, and do what they can to support themselves even if they are treated poorly.

Our team visited a Burmese family living near Mae Sot, working on a farm owned by someone else and getting paid half the amount the Thai workers earn. They are a family of 9 living in two small rooms with some pots and pans and each other. The father of the family is the sole provider who works in a corn field spraying weed killer every day. He takes a bus to work an hour each way to get to the farm, and then hikes up and down the fields spraying a mix of chemicals with little in the way of protective clothing. His work is hard, but it supports his family. However, if he was to miss a day due to illness or injury, the family could be pulled so far behind financially, it may be impossible to catch up. We found out while we were there that he had malaria but was unable to seek proper care because it would mean missing several days of work. The wife takes care of their children, but also suffers from medical problems herself. Fortunately, there is a clinic in this area that serves this community (more on this later). This family creates a little extra income by farming a small plot of land at home to sell some of the food and also feed themselves, so they are just getting by. The kids attend a make-shift school which seems more like a babysitting group, but is better than no education or supervision at all.

This family is struggling through each day and if one little thing changes in their lives they risk losing all security. The lack of safety nets is a major problem for the poor around the world. They cannot afford to get sick or miss work, or they may not be able to pay their rent. Their precarious situation can go from bad to worse very quickly. Many have similar stories, and unfortunately, this is the situation for refugees the world over. They live not only with the hardship of their meager financial circumstance, but also with the constant feeling of being outcasts in a foreign country. These migrants receive no help from the government because they are not legal citizens, and they cannot return to their home country knowing the dangers that await there.

More than 140,000 refugees from Burma live within Thailand’s borders. Thailand’s government has been considering closing the camps along the borders and sending the refugees back, but this would be a certain humanitarian crisis for these people. You can read more about this situation here http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2065397,00.html

Coming Home…

The Forgotten International — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:36:25 +0000

Our journey to create “Living on a Dollar a Day” came to a finish out in the field on May 30, 2011, as our journalists returned home from their final trip abroad. As we move to the next phase of the project, the writing of the text and the selection and editing of all the photos and video, we want to look back on the purpose behind all the travels, photographs, and incredible stories. It has been a full year of extensive journeys around the world including 10 countries, 4 continents, and innumerable lives encountered. The people we met were living in different circumstances from orphanages and hospitals, to outlying communities and farming villages, to the streets of major metropolitan cities, but all had a commonality–they make up some of the billion people that are desperately trying to survive on not much more than a dollar a day. These families struggle every day just to stay alive, and they are willing to work in jobs that most Westerners wouldn’t dream of doing in order to provide for themselves and their families. This is the core of why this project was created–to share the stories of the world’s poorest so we are aware of the poverty that exists and desperately needs changing. Poverty that we may never see day to day as we move through our lives, but that is a daily reality for many families just like our own. Our hope at The Forgotten International is that we, as a global community, not ignore the poverty and suffering that exists, but take the time to be a part of its change. We are excited about seeing the book come together chapter by chapter and to have a finished product of lives and stories to share with the rest of the world. If you are able to contribute to the finishing of the project in anyway, please visit http://www.theforgottenintl.org/donate.html to donate to the cause. Thank you for being a part of this journey and we look forward to continuing to share the stories we are fortunate enough to tell.

Indebted to a Dream

The Forgotten International — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:47:17 +0000

Bangladesh is known for a man who has created a system to help alleviate poverty based on the idea that the poor can work to make positive changes in their lives and that half the population should not be excluded from the economic marketplace. Professor Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank and “world’s banker to the poor” by pioneering micro-credit loans which gives small loans to the poorest of the poor without requiring collateral. What began in 1976 with a $27 loan among 42 families has grown to providing almost 8 million poor Bangladeshis, 97% of them women, with loans to start their own businesses. The bank has an estimated $25 billion at work around the world, lending to those who were shut out of traditional banking systems. Sounds like a dream solution for billions at the bottom of society to change their circumstances for the better, right? What happens when you take this Nobel Peace Prize winner’s idea and warp it into a capitalistic venture is the story that is in the news today. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2753

Our team wanted to finish up our work in Bangladesh with a positive story on the affects of micro-finance within the slums and how the families benefit from local NGO’s that provide this service. The situation they discovered instead was a portrait of the corrupted model. Our team was guided by a local into a ghetto that played host to different lending institutions. The guide warned them that the success stories would be on display, but if we wanted the real story we must look beyond the initial circumstances. It was not long before they came across a troubling scenario. A large pile of broken crates and furniture was being chopped up by a young boy around seven years old. He was swinging an axe nearly as big as him, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. The wood he chopped was held steady by his bare foot, and seated behind him was a well-dressed woman watching him while he worked. This was her firewood shop, which she started with a micro-loan and now was able to hire on employees to do the work. Work that very much resembled child labor—dangerous labor at that. The boy supposedly was filling in for his sick father, but his skill with the axe would suggest otherwise.
“Yunus believes that in developing countries, people should stop looking for jobs and start creating them. A poor person should take a small loan and start her own business — and that will make her big enough to employ others. That has been Grameen Bank’s philosophy since its inception.”
It’s hard to believe that this was the image that Yunus had in mind when he said the loans would start businesses amongst the poor which would grow to employ others. Those “others” were not meant to be young children denied an education. Grameen Bank created requirements for each loan at the beginning of its conception, one being that all children of borrowers must attend school so they can work towards creating a better life for themselves. This model is trying to eradicate the cycle of poverty starting with providing the women with the means to care for their families and ending with the children receiving the education that will equip them to move beyond their circumstances.

There are now over 3,000 institutions providing micro-loans worldwide. Some have followed the Grameen Bank’s model, but it seems some have lost site of the ultimate goal. There is recent criticism that certain lending organizations are charging exorbitant interest rates on loans which leaves borrowers who started with nothing, now worse off, in debt. Second loans are taken out to pay the first, and those who were struggling before are now left with further stressful conditions as some are allegedly being hounded by aggressive debt collectors.

It seems some in the industry of micro-finance have capitalized on the poor and exploited their needs rather than trying to meet their needs. The industry itself has grown so quickly and without much regulation of how the money that comes in is being distributed and handled. The founding concepts of Grameen Bank must be reestablished if the poor are to have any hope of improving their circumstances. At a time when the system needs Yunus the most, he faces removal from his position due to the country’s statutory retirement age of 60 years. Yunus is already age 70, but he and many others feel his removal is due to politics and the desire for the government to gain more control of his organization, of which they already own 25%.

In a time when there is such great need, yet so much corruption, it is important to remain informed and take an active role to help those without a voice. At The Forgotten International we will continue to support and aid organizations that are effectively changing the lives of the poor for the better. We also want to shed light on issues at hand so we can be part of making a difference, and we encourage you to join in this effort. By supporting our book project “Living on a Dollar a Day,” or our other programs, you will help make positive change for those in need around the world. Donate today at: http://theforgottenintl.org/donate.html

All photos by George Rosenfeld