In City of God, St. Augustine–who was, at times, something of a political pragmatist–wrote that “if you expel prostitution from society you will unsettle everything on account of lusts.” I suspect there is some merit to this. Legislating vice into non-existence is, after all, an impossible proposition. Certainly, the American experiences of prohibition and the war on drugs suggest this. 

Augustine was talking about prostitution as a necessary evil within the context of a singular political entity. Today, individual nations have made large, if imperfect, strides to limit the abuses inherent in sex work through regulation, monitoring and STD testing. However, in the global economy, things look far more complicated. In this week’s New Yorker, Nick Finnegan reports on sex trafficking from the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. One is left with a troubling sense of the damages done to individuals by the commodification and trade of human life across international borders. There’s honestly very little I can add to Finnegan’s excellent reportage, so I’ll let it speak for itself. Full text here. 

On the heels of the arrest of two musicians in Cameroon, (click here to see full article) the executive director of the Media Foundation of West Africa is asking for freedom of expression supporters to send letters of protest to the Cameroon Embassy in support of the release of the musicians.

Both were arrested for criticizing amendments to the country’s constitution that would allow the President exemption from “any acts committed on him during his time in office.” According to Freemuse.org, the amendments would also “allow an unlimited number of presidential mandates, which according to critics empowers president Paul Biya to continue to rule for life.”

To encourage the release of the musicians and support the right to freedom of expression, write to one of the following:

Embassy of Cameroon in the U.S.:
Fax (202)387-3826
E-mail: cdm@ambacam-usa.org

Embassy of Cameroon in France:
Fax : +33 1 46 51 24 52

Embassy of Cameroon in Belgium:
Fax: +32 (0) 2 345 18 70
E-mail: embassy@cameroon.be

In a recent article in The Wilson Quarterly, Samia Altaf reports on a troubling issue that stands to be the perfect example of exactly why we need agencies like Globalhood.

The article discusses an aid program in Pakistan, aimed at training and producing nurses to meet the demands of the shortage. While the funds are by all means well intentioned, the lack of assessment of the sociological, economical, and political circumstances of the country has led the program down a dead end.

The most obvious example of this is the fact that the international assistance funds only provide monetary support for the training of the nurses, and not the salaries to employ them. Since local governments don’t have the ability to pay for the nurses after they’ve graduated from the program, the program nearly defeats its own purpose. Most of the nurses trained by the program apply for a No Objection Certificate from the government upon graduation, which allows them to leave the country and practice nursing elsewhere–somewhere where they can actually make a living. After a few years, they often return to Pakistan after securing a decent savings and nursing experience, but cannot be hired because their own government has a ban on rehiring them.

“Any nurse who has worked outside the country in her private capacity cannot work for the government again,” explains the director of the Pakistan Nursing Council.

Through the aid agency’s eyes, the program is a success because it does in fact graduate nurses. But it stops short of evaluating the ratio of the nurses it graduates to the number of them who actually go on to work as nurses in the country.

Sadly, there are many similar programs that fall very short of their potential. If aid agencies focused on taking a multi-dimensional approach to their international assistance efforts, programs such as this one could do so much more than look good on paper.

On a lighter note, today is Earth Day. If you haven’t already gone green (and we hope you have), check out this article on ten simple ways you can.

On April 5th, Globalhood project Global Potential hosted the Art for a Purpose fundraiser at the Casa Frela Gallery in Harlem to raise funds for their current project. Over 100 people attended the event and bid on art from around the globe, raising close to $4,000, which will fund training, travel, room and board for the ten students chosen to participate in this program.

The students, themselves at-risk, low-income children, are currently undergoing extensive training in a vocation of their choice, as well as leadership training. This summer, the students will take their skills to the small, rural town of Batey 8 in the Dominican Republic where they will use their training to enhance the quality of the community. Upon returning home, the students will then use their newly-learned skills to become catalysts for social change in their own communities.

Please visit the online auction http://global-potential.org to bid on the remaining art, which will be on auction until next Friday, April 25th.

Happy Bidding

Sometimes the internets provide little gems that make us smile. The other day, while trolling the blogosphere, I came across this: 365 Days of Trash.The blog’s proprietor, Dave, has taken upon himself the task of storing all of the trash he produces for a year in order to better understand, and perhaps curtail his waste footprint. He explains the point in a rather hilarious faq section:

The point is to better understand and therefore limit my footprint on the planet as far as my waste stream is concerned. It’s my belief that we are all so far removed from things (waste, oil, water, consumption) that we don’t see the consequences, but if we did, we would change our ways. It’s my hope that by going through with this project, others will begin to think about their own consumption/waste streams and learn from my experience, and that I will in turn learn from theirs.  

Fair enough. I’m always amazed at how patient spouses can be. I could do this, but my roommates would probably kill me after three or four days.