Saturday, December 23, 2006

Homelessness in South Africa by Yu Jihun Study Abroad Class of 2008




A Profile of South Africa

Population: 42.5 million people (as of mid 1997)
Population Density: 35 people per square kilometer
Birth Rate: 27 per thousand population each year
Death Rate: 12 per thousand population each year
Natural Increase: 1.5 % each year
Doubling Time: 46 years at current rate
Infant Mortality Rate: 53 deaths per thousand live births
Total Fertility Rate: 3.2 children during a woman's lifetime
Younger than 15 years old: 35 % of population
Older than 6o years old: 5 % of population
Source: http://www.alsagerschool.co.uk/subjects/sub_content/geography/Gpop/HTMLENH/country/za.htm


Causes of Homelessness in South Africa.

1. Low opportunity for employment
“The unemployment rate is passing 30% and the 44 million people of that country rely upon a total workforce of 15 million. Job opportunities are virtually nonexistent and the economy of South Africa continues to fall below third-world standards - 4.4”
2. Settler problem
“An estimated seven million people in South Africa live in 'informal settlements' or ‘squatter camps’ - and that number is set to grow as more rural dwellers flock to urban areas, escaping drought and seeking jobs. The problem is compounded by illegal immigrants from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi - about 5 million - who are fleeing drought, economic difficulties and political oppression in their own countries. These refugees come on top of an already frightening growth rate Africa's population is projected to double in 23 years."

Source:http://www.alsagerschool.co.uk/subjects/sub_content/geography/Gpop/HTMLENH/patp/pp86.htm

3. Gap between small income class and large income class.
In South Africa, the gap between the small income class and the large income is very big. The people who earn much money are very few, but poor people in South Africa are numerous, so, South Africa’s society is very unbalanced, in my opinion.


Agencies working in South Africa to help the homeless?

1. AAPCI/AFRICA
According to the AAPCI website AAPCI/AFRICA is, “an independent subsidiary of the African American Planning Commission, was conceived in 1998 as a nonpartisan, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). AAPCI/AFRICA's mission is to collaborate with established NGOs on the African continent in an effort to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which continues to decimate whole communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

“AAPCI/AFRICA's strategy is to develop a community healthcare center and provide healthcare services to the most marginalized, vulnerable and underserved. In addition to medical services, the health center will serve as a means by which AAPCI/AFRICA can disseminate information to local communities through Outreach efforts and public information campaigns.”

Source: http://www.aapci.org/about/index.htm

2. UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund. Works to help poor children.

Source: http://www.unicef.org/whatwedo/index.html

What these agencies are doing in order to help the homeless

APPCI/AFRICA

Serenity House
“The goal of this important project is to develop safe, permanent, affordable housing with on-site support services for homeless families. With our financial support, the African American Planning Commission can develop much needed affordable housing.”

Source: http://www.aapci.org/about/founder_bio.htm

UNICEF

1. Child protection
“UNICEF believes that the protection of children is crucial to their survival, health, and well-being. Everyday millions of children are exploited, abused, or are victims of violence. Bought and sold like commodities, children are forced to be soldiers, prostitutes, sweatshop workers, and servants. Abuse, exploitation and violence, occurring usually in private, are often elements in organized crime and corruption. Only time reveals the consequences: children uneducated, unhealthy and impoverished.”
2. Early childhood
“Every child must be ensured the best start in life – their future, and indeed the future of their communities, nations and the whole world depends on it.
Every year, some 132 million infants around the world begin an extraordinary sprint – from defenceless newborns to becoming proactive young children ready for school. And every year, countless numbers of them are stopped in their tracks – deprived, in one way or another, of the love, care, nurturing, health, nutrition and protection that they need to survive, grow and develop. Nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday each year and tens of millions more are left with physical and/or mental disabilities or learning impairment – solely because they and their caregivers lack the basic conditions needed for young children to survive and thrive.”
Source: http://www.unicef.org/whatwedo/index.html

What we can do to help the homeless in South Africa.

Research the AAPCI‘s activities and try to contribute a little money.
I think that we should know about the homelessness problem and try to help the homeless around us.


I researched homelessness in South Africa. In my research, I found that there are many homeless in South Africa. There are many causes of homelessness. About seven million people are settlers from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi because of economic problems, drought, political problems and so on. Also, according to the UN, about 500,000 families have been evicted from their homes and many people, including children, have been killed in the chaos surrounding the evictions process. Therefore, low opportunities, economic problems, and the settler problem are the causes of homelessness in South Africa.

My research is based on official agencies’ research. So, these numerical values are not exact. I think there are more homeless in South Africa than the research shows. I think all of the people in the world should try to help the homeless because they also have human rights.


Sunday, December 17, 2006

Homelessness in the Philippines By Yuka Ikegami Study Abroad Class of 2008


I researched homelessness in the Philippines. First, I’ll tell you about the population of the Philippines. According to the 2000 census, the population of the Philippines was 76,504,077 and the population growth rate was 2.36% per annum. Now, the population of the Philippines is 87,857,473. That’s very surprising, I think. Second, there are only 14,891,127 houses, and 14344 homes have no walls, Also, in the Philippines, between a third to a half of the urban population doesn’t have a good place to live. So they live in informal settlements, conditions that are illegal, and so on.

There are several reasons why people become homeless in the Philippines, One reason is poor people lose their houses, Also unemployment causes homelessness, and I think there is a relationship between “migrant workers” and homelessness because they come there from another place.

There are agencies that help reduce homelessness. One example is “PHPF”- Philippine Homeless People's Federation. These agencies have programs to develop “savings & money”, “income and livelihood”, and “government partnerships” So, they are very kind.,







Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Homelessness in Ethiopia by Lisa Ishii Study Abroad Class of 2008






I researched about Ethiopian homelessness. There are many homeless people and street children. However, nobody knows the truth because many Ethiopians sometimes become homeless but at other times, they are not homelessness. Some street children are homeless but others are not, they just work on the street. So it is difficult to count the real number of homeless people and street children.

In Nazareth, which is a town in south-eastern Ethiopia, there are 5,138 street children living there. The average age of a street child is 12.9 years old. 90% of them are boys and the other 10% are girls. About 50% of this town’s street children left their families before their 10th birthday. Most of them have jobs to keep them living.





Many agencies help Ethiopian homeless people and street children. For example, UNICEF helps street children to keep them healthy. It is an extremely important thing for them to keep helping homelessness and street children.



Statistics on Ethiopia

  • 50,000 to 60,000 street kids in the capital alone (Source: http://www.oneworld.net/)
  • 5,138 street children in Nazareth, a town in south-eastern Ethiopia
  • 4,626 (90%) were males
  • 512 (10%) were females
  • average age is 12.9
  • 312 (52.3%) of the children left their families before their tenth birthday.
  • 109 (18.3%) went to school at that time
  • 326 (54.6%) of the children had a house to sleep in at night
  • 271 (45.4%) were completely homeless.
  • 530 (88.8%) of the children had at least one of their parents alive.
  • Most of the street children have jobs to keep a living. Only 76 (12.7%) were found to be living on begging. (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/)

Friday, December 08, 2006

Homelessness in Japan by Emiko Itai Study Abroad Class of 2008


1. What is the population of Japan?

127,333,002

2. How many people are homeless in Japan?

24,090

3. What is the cause of homelessness in Japan?

Many people lose their jobs and new jobs have been decreasing. So many people can’t find
jobs.

4. What agencies are working in Japan to help the homeless?

THE BIG ISSUE 


This is The Big Issue’s logo


http://www.bigissuejapan.com/

5. What are these agencies doing in order to help the homeless?

They make a job for the homeless. ‘BIG ISSUE’ is a magazine for homeless to buy. They get it for 90 yen from BIGISSUE JAPAN. Then, they sell it for 200yen. So they can get 110 yen.

6. What can we do to help the homeless in Japan?

There are two things we can do to help the homeless in JAPAN. First we can buy a BIG ISSUE. When we buy it we can learn some things about the world, and a homeless person can get money. These are both good reasons to buy the BIG ISSUE. Next, we shouldn’t do senseless things. For example we should eat everything every meal. We shouldn’t put food out in the garbage. This is a very rude thing to do when there are homeless people who can’t find a good meal. We can eat when we are hungry but they can’t eat anytime they want.

Finally, a picture of homeless people in JAPAN




Thursday, November 30, 2006

Homelessness in Canada by Suzuko Tanoiri Study Abroad Class of 2008



There are about 32.4 million people in Canada. Canada doesn’t have reliable data regarding the number of homeless people. Each year, there are homeless people who freeze to death. There are three causes of homelessness. First is high unemployment. Second is the increasing number of poor people. Third is the decrease in the amount of housing that is cheap.

“The Mission” is working to help homeless people in Canada. Its work is to respond to homeless people in need with food, clothing and shelter. What we can do to help the homeless people is to take part in volunteer work, donate materials, and learn about their problems. The most important thing is that we shouldn’t give money to homeless people because money can’t solve their problems and they may use money to buy drugs or alcohol

Monday, November 27, 2006

Homelessness in Columbia by Megumi Saito Study Abroad Class of 2008



I researched homelessness in Colombia. Colombia is located in the west part of South America. The population of Colombia is 44.6million and there are more than 35million homeless people there. There are many causes of homelessness. The biggest reason is wars, and civil wars. The people of Columbia have had many wars that produced a large death toll. Other reasons are related to the present state of Colombia including domestic violence, illness and unemployment. Regrettably most of these homeless people are children.

To help these people many organizations have been established. For example: Colombian Commission Jurists (CCJ), Colombia Support Network (CSN) and, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Nevertheless, still now, there are increasing numbers of people dying. However, even the few funds that we raise will save their lives. We should join the work to support the homeless more positively, even if we cannot help directly.



This is the logo of CSN












Some homeless people in Colombia




Sunday, November 26, 2006

About Homeless People in Russia by Shota Hamamoto Study Abroad Class of 2007



I researched homelessness in Russia. There are a lot homeless in Russia, about 700,000 persons or more. The number one problem is street children. While there are homeless people also in Japan, most homeless people in Japan are adults. However, there are many homeless children in Russia. The reason that they become street children is that they are maltreated by their parents. The number of street children increases every year. When it becomes night, the temperature in Russia becomes minus 20℃. Homeless adults and the street children have died of the cold. Homeless people and street children always live in manholes. They eat things they find in garbage cans and other people's leftovers. Some children living in the street are as young as eight years old. Children that young get sick living in a dirty manhole.


This is a picture of a homeless child coming out of a manhole

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Homelessness in Latin America By Yuka Komatsu Study Abroad Class of 2007


There are an estimated 100 million street children in the world. There are 50 million street children in Latin America. They are six years old or older. They are abandoned by their parents and they live on the streets without either hope or a future. They make their living by various means including selling things on the streets, cleaning car wind shields and shining shoes.

Homeless in the Republic of Indonesia by Haruka Goto Study Abroad Class of 2007




I lived in Indonesia from 6 years old to 10 years old. When I lived in Indonesia a surprising sight made an incredible impression on me. It was the sight of a child the same age as me standing by the road and singing songs as the car passed by in order to sell things and earn money. In Indonesia, there were quite a lot of street children.
Children earn money in the road and offices every day. They cannot go to school also.
They work hard to live a hard life.

Friday, November 24, 2006

About Homelessness in China by Sayaka Eguchi Study Abroad Class of 2007





Homeless people are people who do not have a house to live in. The problem of homelessness is taken up in a lot of countries in the world. It is known well that a lot of people lost their houses by the tidal wave tsunami that happened due to the Sumatra coast earthquake. This is one example of why people lose their houses. In addition, people can become homeless because of poverty. For example, some children live on the streets and they can’t even go to school.
I researched the homeless of China and learned several things.
First of all, some homelessness is caused by natural disasters. In China, the number of people who lose their houses due to natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and floods has increased. Second, many children are poor, and not able to go to school. They live by selling things and getting food on the road. About 150,000 children are spending life on the road according to Correspondents Report and China 's homeless rate is growing (Taylor, J. (2004) China’s homeless rate growing. Correspondents’ Report 4 May 2004. Retrieved on 24 November 2006 from: http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2004/s1108983.htm.
To solve these problems, the Chinese government is taking measures to cooperate with international organizations including UNICEF and the WHO to decrease homeless. Concretely, construction and medical relief facilities are being given as humanitarian aid and the homeless can live on by spending money that the international organizations have collected.
In conclusion, it is necessary to consider homeless now as a whole, not as the problem of one country.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

The 5th Annual Kanto International High School 1st Year English Course Social Issues Project

The 5th Annual Kanto International High School 1st Year English Course Social Issues Project will begin soon. You can see previous projects on http://home.att.ne.jp/omega/worldschool/childlabor/childlabormain2.htm
This project is one of the best things about Kanto International High School. You will learn a lot and you will have a lot of fun.

As you can see, on the right side of this page I have posted some links about homelessness in various countries around the world. I have collected these links from students who have done this project over the past four years. Soon I will post some posters made by students who did this project in 2005

Here is a great definition of homelessness:

Homeless

Beyond the Homeless Myth

People who don't have shelter are houseless - not homeless! Homelessness has nothing to do with a lack of shelter. Define Homeless: 'An inadequate experience of connectedness with family and or community.' This fact is now recognized by Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
Rebecca's Community (2005). Homeless:Beyond the homeless myth. Retrieved from http://www.homeless.org.au/ on 20 November 2006


Below is an interesting story about how the South Korean government has helped the homeless. I got the story from a blog. The original story comes from the British business newspaper Reuters. It was published in the "Oddly Enough" column on 22 February 2005.

Recycling In Style

"SEOUL (Reuters) - Some South Korean homeless are dressing in style after the government gave away thousands of fake designer garments confiscated by customs agents.
The Korea Customs Service distributed more than 3,500 fake pieces in the southern city of Pusan this month with the permission of the fashion houses whose designs had been pirated."

Monday, November 13, 2006

2005 1st Year Study Abroad Class Invention Projects





Last Year the students in the 1st year Study Abroad Class at Kanto International High School came up with some very imaginative projects. The presentations they did were very good too. I hope looking at these examples will motivate students in the 1st year Study Abroad Class this year and in the years to come to do good work.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Canada Day 2006


Last Saturday was Canada Day. Canada is 139 years old now. I went to Yayogi Park to celebrate. The party was very international. Many Japanese people were there. I met a woman who was a Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team fan. She was very interesting.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

My undergraduate university: The University of Windsor


Above is a picture of my favourite building at my first university. I spent a lot of time in this building. It's called Dillion Hall. The University of Windsor has the highest percentage of international students of any university in Canada. I was able to meet and hangout with people from Africa, Jamaica, Trinidad, Hong Kong, the UK, and of course the United States. Detroit, the Motor City is very close to Windsor. 














Below is a picture of the Ambassador Bridge. It's the bridge that takes you to Detroit. You can see it in Eminem's movie 8 Mile. 8 Mile is a road in Detroit. Watching 8 Mile brought back many memories for me.














When I wasn't studying I spent a lot of time at the campus radio station, CJAM-fm. I hosted a European progressive rock programme called "Gothic Rock" and I hosted a Jazz programme called "Jelly Roll Jazz". 


I was Assistant Station Manager, Director of Special Programming, and News Director. 
Many of my best memories of university come from my working at CJAM-fm.



Saturday, April 29, 2006

Neil Young: Living with War

I'm back!! Yes it's been a while since I've posted. I didn't keep my promise to make posts about the Olympics. Sorry, I must set a better example and keep my promises - or not make promises I won't keep. Anyway, I've just discovered that one of my favourite musicians, Neil Young, has made a new record. You can listen to it on http://livingwithwar.blogspot.com/ I think it's great. Please tell me what you think.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Hockey


Ice hockey, or simply "hockey" as it is known in Canada, became an Olympic Sport at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Canada didn't have a national team, so it was represented by the Winnipeg Falcons. The jersey that you see here is the way cool jersey that they wore when they won the gold medal.
Winnipeg is a great city in Canada. I really want to go there. Not only is it the home of Canada's 1st Olympic hockey champions but it is home of Canada's most famous Rock Star. The picture above shows how beautiful Winnipeg is.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

The Olympics

Now that the Olympics are on I think it ok to have a little national pride. I'll make a few posts about the great nation of Canada throughout the Olympics.