Speakers put face on poverty

By Jenn Snow Print

CLARION, Pa., Nov. 17 – The Study Abroad Club sponsored the Poverty Around the World presentation Nov. 17. The program spotlighted six speakers who all discussed different subtopics concerning poverty.

Julie Cloak a junior Spanish and English education major, discussed the project Heart for Uganda, a nonprofit organization that is working to provide schooling to children in Uganda as well as health care.
“There are eight doctors for every 100,000 people,” Cloak said.
Heart for Uganda is working to establish orphanages, adequate water supplies, medical clinics, school ministries, hospital ministries and elderly care programs.
Joseph Croskey discussed enhancing worldwide poverty awareness. In 2009, the United Nations launched 1billionhungry.org a project designed to raise poverty awareness through statistics.
“Every 30 seconds around the world, another baby is born into poverty,” Croskey said. He also said the homeless rate between 2007-2008 increased 12 percent, and that one in six American children are poor.
Kamal Belmihoub, a senior international transfer student from Algeria majoring in English, divulged poverty statistics around the world.
“UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children die every year because of poverty,” Belmihoub said. Since last year, this number has increased by 5,000. He added that more than one billion people are estimated to live on $1.25 a day. The number of people who suffer inadequate water supplies is 1.1 billion people and 2.6 billion people lack access to proper sanitation facilities.
Belmihoub was able to provide some insight into the lives of the people around the world who are living like this. This is real, he said. “I have seen it first-hand; I too lived in a village such as this.” Belmihoub said his parents have practically sacrificed their home for him to have the opportunity to get his education in America.
Martie Haynes spoke about her experience as a translator in the Dominican Republic on a medical outreach program. The trip was in April 2009 to Sabaneta d Yasica, not far from Puerto Plata. The group took $20,000 worth of drugs, which was more than the Puerto Plata hospital had.
She said each person was “charged roughly 30 cents to visit the doctors. We kept the prices low in order for everyone to afford a visit.”
Haynes said there are 26 deaths per 1,000 live births in the Dominican Republic, which makes the country ranked 83 in the world. The Dominican Republic is ranked as number 99 with a life expectancy of 74 years. The U.S. is ranked at 50 with a life expectancy rate of 78.
The other two speakers were Dr. Laurie Occhipinti who discussed poverty in different cultures, and Dr. Sandra Trejos, who spoke on the topic of the economics surrounding poverty.