Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis

Read the debate…here.

Hello world!

Welcome to the St Andrew’s College web blog…packed full of great information…eventually!

World Economic Forum…2009

BBC NEWS | Business | Davos 2009 | Live: World Economic Forum 2009

DR Congo…the crisis continues.

More stunning photographs form The Boston Globe…

Pregnant women are reflected in a puddle as they
stand in line to receive birth kits from a local NGO at a camp for
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Kibati, on November 12, 2008.
With a “schizophrenic” mandate and a lack of troops and logistics, UN
peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo are being accused of being
powerless and ineffective. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Congo’s crisis worsens – The Big Picture – Boston.com

A
boy looks on at the Mugunga displaced people camp, November 12, 2008 in
the outskirts of the town of Goma, DR Congo.

More links and information:

Confusion Reigns on Congo’s Front Line NYTimes.com 11/18
Mai Mai Fighters Third Piece in Congo’s Violent Puzzle – NYTimes.com 11/20
Doctors without Borders – Official Site
<Condition:Critical – DWB awareness initiative
DR Congo – Wikipedia Entry
Battle of Goma, 2008 – Wikipedia Entry
DR Congo – NYTimes Topics Page
MONUC U.N. Mission in DR Congo

DR Congo…the crisis continues.

More stunning photographs form The Boston Globe…

Pregnant women are reflected in a puddle as they
stand in line to receive birth kits from a local NGO at a camp for
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Kibati, on November 12, 2008.
With a “schizophrenic” mandate and a lack of troops and logistics, UN
peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo are being accused of being
powerless and ineffective. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Congo’s crisis worsens – The Big Picture – Boston.com

A
boy looks on at the Mugunga displaced people camp, November 12, 2008 in
the outskirts of the town of Goma, DR Congo.

More links and information:

Confusion Reigns on Congo’s Front Line NYTimes.com 11/18
Mai Mai Fighters Third Piece in Congo’s Violent Puzzle – NYTimes.com 11/20
Doctors without Borders – Official Site
Condition:Critical – DWB awareness initiative
DR Congo – Wikipedia Entry
Battle of Goma, 2008 – Wikipedia Entry
DR Congo – NYTimes Topics Page
MONUC U.N. Mission in DR Congo

Development Education

developmenteducation.ie

This website is a development and human rights education resource maintained by a consortium of organisations based in Ireland, including: 80:20 Educating & Acting for a Better World, Aidlink, Concern Worldwide, Irish Aid, National Youth Council of Ireland, Self-Help Africa.

The site contains a broad range of materials exploring a variety of development issues and topics such as genocide or fair trade that are discussed and debated, materials and ideas for teachers and educators, using cartoons and photographs in education, campaign actions such as on the Millennium Development Goals or Child Labour, plus a range of other materials including photo stories, Top 10s, annotated links and much, much more.

National Geographic – Wildcams

WildCam – National Geographic’s WildCam program is a conservation initiative to connect people to the world’s last remaining wild places via the Internet. Using cutting-edge, live-streaming remote video technology, WildCam allows viewers all over the globe to see animals—live and in real time—in the last strongholds of wilderness. Watch elephants teach their young in Africa, see grizzlies pounce on salmon in Alaska, or witness polar bears negotiating the Arctic ice.

National Geographic’s network of WildCam sites around the world is growing. Learn how you can help these animals, the ecosystems they thrive in, and the researchers who study them—so there will always be wild animals in wild places.

Africa, Live Streaming Video,WILDCAM Botswana, Wildlife, Animals

Kakadu, Kakadu National Park, Live Streaming Video, Australia

Belize Reef, Live Streaming Video, Belize Barrier Reef, Wildlife, Animals

Webcams…South Georgia

South Georgia webcam – South Georgia Website

Webcams at SANParks – South African National Parks
(You can get these webcams as an application on the Itouch /Iphone…just search for ‘webcams’ in the Itunes store…and it’s a free app.)

Urban Planning

3rd year Homework

a. For the site that you wanted…in your copy book draw a sketch of the site and in detail explain all of the reasons why you wanted it.

b. Explain why some groups (such as OAPs / Environmentalists / Farmers etc) might object to these plans.

Kisaru Maasa Community Projects

Simple sustainable development projects being adopted in the Mara Triangle by the Kisaru Maasai Community Project. This article also highlights alludes to the role played by the globalisation and its impact on culture.

Mara Triangle – Kisaru Maasai Community Project

Kisaru Projects

1. Toilets for Everyone

Kisaru has constructed long-drop toilets for five villages: Enkutoto, Enkereri, Ilkinya, Hard Rock and Olosinon. The goal is to construct toilets for another forty bomas.

We are currently accepting donations for the construction of four toilets: materials and labour cost 16,000 Kes per long-drop toilet. Tools for construction were donated by Linda.

2. Bio-Gas for Smoke Free Homes

This started as a project to build chimneys in traditional houses to vent the smoke from fires and the first chimney was constructed at Olosinon. The project then developed into the installation of the bio-gas at Enkereri with hopes for similar projects in other bomas.

It costs 700,000 Kes (approx. US $8,750) for a complete bio gas project, which includes the construction, the materials, piping, stoves and lights. The project not only reduces smoke inside the traditional houses but also reduces human wildlife conflict as woman no longer have to search for firewood and the project dramatically reduces the depletion of forest that surround the villages.

Background History

Until recent times the Maasai tribe were nomadic and hence the need for sanitation systems in the form of long-drop toilets were not necessary. Additionally Maasai cattle were always on the move and hence there was no build up of cow dung, like is now seen in the villages, that attract flies in large numbers. When the Kenyan government forcibly settled the Maasai into group ranches across Maasailand, effectively controlling their movement within administrative boundaries, the issue of sanitation was not considered.

The situation has now worsened as the Maasai have now been located on the same pieces of land for many years, and the health issues are now widespread. A recent health survey revealed high incidences of diarrhoea and typhoid in the villages, and that many of the villagers were suffering from chest and respiratory conditions and eye infections (some leading to blindness) as a result of smoke from the fires that constantly smolder in Maasai homes. These fires are used for cooking, for heating water, and as a deterrent at night against mosquitoes. Traditionally built Maasai houses have little ventilation and no chimneys, hence the smoke has no escape.