Make Social Change A Reality

After its debut over a decade ago on PBS , David Sutherland’s documentary for Frontline, The Farmer’s Wife , remains a unique and compelling glimpse of an American family struggling to survive. Juanita and Darrel Buschkotter are Nebraska farmers caught in a cycle of debt and never-ending work, that leaves them exhausted, on the brink of financial collapse and both dreaming of a better life for themselves and their three young daughters. The debt and lack of revenue from the farm force both Darrel and Juanita to find jobs “off the farm.” In addition to their responsibilities on the farm, Juanita cleans upper middle class homes while Darrel works on an assembly line. Not surprisingly, this leaves both husband and wife no time for relaxation, but gives them much time for reflection. The Buschkotter’s story is all the more relatable 11 years later at a time when many Americans are caught in a financial struggle. The current U.S. unemployment rate hovers around 9.5% and presidential eco...

Author Ellen Ruppel Shell, after spending years researching the cost of stuff, has recently published a thrilling book entitled Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture . Her book examines not only the impact of cost on the direct consumer — high debt, low incomes, job losses and a whole slew of other troubles — but also the price for the people that produce the goods. This is particularly interesting to me today as her book outlines specific examples in which the exploitation of both human labor and the environment is clear. One example given in a New York Times review , explains the surge in the shrimp market from the 1970s to today. The impact on the change in shrimp farming and our subsequent shrimp consuming has triggered loads of troubles. The article explains: “for a while, there were some newly affluent shrimp-farmers along the coast of Thailand as traditional operations were transformed into gigantic factories with the help of international lenders and investors. Massive onsla...

In a recent article Washington Post’s DeNeen L. Brown examines the cost of being poor . Brown states in the first few lines: “ The poorer you are, the more things cost ”. The cost, of course, comes in the form of money, time, convenience, and energy level. Brown points out that many of America’s poor are stuck with an unfair bill when it comes to the essentials like food, transportation, and housing. Photo courtesy of This Fffire The cost differences paid by the poor at their local corner store compared to a grocery store are likely to be huge. However, for many people without the time and transportation to get to big box stores, the $2.00 savings on a loaf of bread is hardly worth the hassle. The prices in these corner markets are, according to the article, almost always higher because their cost of doing business has a high overhead cost. Tasks like grocery shopping, laundry, and getting to work become a juggle of both time and money and often leave the poor with a higher bill than m...

It seems that there is always a shortage of teachers in big cities across the United States. Additionally, there seems to be overcrowding schools in these same cities. One example that I know of is in New York. Every fall, the newspaper headlines focus on overcrowding schools in low-income communities and the shortage of teachers in those same schools. Ultimately what ends up happening is that the schools stay overcrowded, the teachers under populated, the problem moves out of the headlines and gone until the following fall, when the cycle repeats itself again. However, this year, things might be a little different. For the first time in maybe the history of New York and public education, the poorer communities are not the only ones struggling with this problem. Upper-class New Yorkers are finding themselves being turned away from their neighborhood schools or being put on a waiting list for schools that they are zoned for. It’s rare the problems that affect the poor also affect the r...

Bilaal Rajan, twelve year old author, fundraiser and UNICEF Children’s Ambassador is going barefoot for National Volunteer Week to raise awareness about global child poverty. What's his goal? “...to inspire one million children to take action and help create a more peaceful and caring world. I want kids to find their passion, get involved and make a difference in the lives of others.” Learn more about this inspiring twelve year old, the Barefoot Campaign, or purchase his manual , Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever , at www.makingchangenow.com . You can also see a video on YouTube about this initiative from Rajan himself. Will you join Rajan and go barefoot this week to help raise awareness for less privileged children around the world? Have other plans to celebrate National Volunteer Week? Feel free to share stories about your National Volunteer Week celebrations in the comments. This post was written by Chanelle Carver , acting Editor for Make Social Change A Rea...

In follow up to our “ American Women and the Great Recession ” series, we here at Make Social Change a Reality wanted to give you some simple, yet important, things that you can do on your own to become an advocate for women’s economic justice and affect change ! So, where should you start? Well, there will be many opportunities in the coming year to make your voice heard and join the movement to create economic justice for women, and we have listed the top five…read on for more information and follow the links below to take action ! (1.) Get educated and know your facts. What are the issues, and what are the policy changes that need to occur in states and on the federal level to give women a better shot at economic equality? There are some fantastic organizations out there in the non-profit world that conduct research, gather information on women and families, and produce great resources on women’s economic issues and getting women and families out of poverty . Check out a few ...

“If the wars of [the 21st] century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” —Ismail Serageldin, former VP, World Bank, Newsweek, 1995. The 5th annual World Water Forum was held in Istanbul this past week to facilitate discussion of international water policy among corporations, NGOs, and international financial institutions in the context of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Waiting to meet them were throngs of demonstrators holding banners reading “Water for Life, Not for Profit,” looking into the face masks of riot police three deep. Underlying the strain is the contentious issue of water privatization. In the 1990s governments began inviting private corporations to run their water infrastructure for a profit, the idea being that private enterprise would be much more adept and efficient than any government bureaucracy at getting the water to where it had to go. Unfortunately, many of these huge transnational corporations, a major player be...

More than ten years after his death, rapper Tupac Shakur's influential track "Changes" is still in rotation. Known for being one of the greatest rappers of all time , it is no surprise that his lyrics carry messages easily relatable to current issues within our society. Tupac rapped in the mid-nineties that; "its war on the streets and the middle east / instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs ." Those two melodic bars touch upon issues that effect all of our daily lives. However, for a multitude of reasons these problems are often overlooked and devalued. Fortunately, we as a united people, have elected to recognize that these issues need to be addressed. Some have concluded that these problems will not go away without the right leadership. We have elected Barack Obama as our first non-white president. He presents to our nation a change in ideological properties, and breaks down many embedded stereotypes. Sadly, such a momentous part of history is tain...

“You need surgery” “SURGERY! I don’t have insurance!” “I’m sorry I can’t help you with that…” I severely fractured my finger and was given my options - perform surgery for $5000+ or cast it for $500 and risk recovering full function. Neither option is appealing. Forty seven million Americans are currently uninsured . According to CoverTheUninsured .org, people ages 25-34 are the most likely to be without coverage . Conversely, children, pregnant women, and the elderly are enjoying the actualization of subsidized coverage that’s long since been an obvious necessity with Federal programs such as Medicaid , SCHIPP , Medicare , and the recent passing of a Congressional bill to extend coverage for children. State programs provide even more support for the above niches and families. Meanwhile, twenty- and thirty-something’s wait for the new administration to slowly phase in universal coverage of some sort, but the hard truth is that we will be the last to see it . Many of us are not e...

As we celebrate an immensely historic election and inauguration this week, with President Barack Obama’s transition to the White House and Presidency complete, a sense of duty and great undertaking must motivate us all to work towards ending poverty and suffering in the U.S. Until now, this goal has been long-absent from a serious national conversation surrounding our priorities and direction in the 21st Century, with the exception of Hurricane Katrina’s dramatic, albeit short-lived, media spotlight on the poverty that persists in our country. With a jagged economic road looming ahead and predictions for a slow recovery reaching possibly into 2011, the great needs of impoverished communities , individuals, and families has never been more apparent . We must work on all fronts, including education, employment, and programs that will strengthen families, to generate solutions that will address the stagnant situations that many Americans continue to find themselves in, despite their eff...

Since I’m new to this blog, I’d like to open up with a post about why I feel personally vested in its mission. I’ve been laid off, twice. The first time was with two years notice, the second time was at 5:00 pm on a Monday with not even a sideways glance as warning. I received a severance package the first time, a pretty generous sum that gave me a nice cushion while I looked for my next job, enough to pay rent, groceries, maybe even take some time off. I put on my sneakers and corduroys and checked out for the next month. I figured I’d apply for a few jobs and temp once my severance ran out. The severance ran out in three weeks and I had clocked a total of four hours of temp time. No one replied to my solicitations, and my rent was due. So I decided to move back to mom’s house in New York. I should mention that I had conjured a formidable debt monster while living on my own (mostly resulting from three $1000 mattresses that I bought after each failed to conquer insomnia). In New ...

We are a few days away from Christmas and are undoubtedly being reminded about the joys of giving. But what if you don't have much to give? What if this year money has been more than tight—it has been nearly non existent? What if emotionally you have been so drained that most days you would like to just sit home and cry? What if the merriment of the season leaves you feeling disillusioned and excluded? Then don't give. We are told it is better to give than to receive and now is the time to put aside all selfishness and give to everyone you love and to the less fortunate. But it isn't that easy and for many people it never has been. Poverty doesn't take a holiday. The recession didn't go away on vacation. We are still struggling. Instead, reflect and open up. Openness is a gift in and of itself. It takes a great deal of our personal strength to open up to others and to listen to others. Too many of us are raised to value the suppression of negative emotions—...

There is a unique opportunity to make a difference and alleviate poverty all the way over in Swaziland (Southern Africa). Many children and families live in extreme poverty . Parents of many children living in poverty have died from AIDS and are being looked after by their old grandmothers far away from any cities or electricity. These grandmothers mostly have no income but are solely responsible for feeding and educating the children. Cabrini Ministries has done a great job providing help to many of these families over in Swaziland. YOU too can help these poor children and families have a better life by donating supplies to help them meet life's basic needs. Supplies Needed Clothing Medical Drop Off Location Supplies will be shipped to Cabrini Ministries the first week of January . They can be dropped off at The Hemingway African Gallery at the Manhattan Arts and Antique Center. The address is 1050 Second Avenue, Gallery 96 & 97, New York, NY 10022. The gallery is open Mo...

Save the Children’s mission is simple enough: to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of children struggling to overcome poverty. Poverty is a challenge that both the US and the world have yet to overcome. According to the 2007 US Census Bureau, poverty in that year stood at 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, the World Bank’s latest figures show that in 2005, 1.4 billion people in developing countries were living in extreme poverty. Save the Children has tirelessly worked to reach out to those children who live in such conditions, and to their credit, they have met with some success, as it claims to have reached a staggering 41 million girls and boys the world over. One of the areas the organization works in is education, an area at the core of the Literacy ‘n’ Poverty Project’s mission. While Save the Children and the Literacy ‘n’ Poverty Project target different audiences, both organizations believe that education is an extremely important factor for poverty alleviation. An example o...

During my weekly Internet video stroll, I stumbled upon this interesting clip on YouTube. It's about someone who is Standing Up and Taking Action for Poverty . Enjoy! Read on for more information at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTP6CtSGzik .

This post was written by Rizwan Tayabali, a management consultant who works with different non-profits, social enterprises and individuals helping them create financial sustainability. He has started an initiative called the Urban Survival Project which is aimed at helping vulnerable young people survive education, jobs, small business and life. ----------------------------------------- Nothing about poverty is cool. It is tough, brutal, painful and cyclical. But it doesn't affect most of the people who can afford the technologies to be reading this, so for many of us it's always been easy to ignore. A hidden evil lurking in 'third world' countries. The saddest development is that even the little attention poverty had when it was simply the most pervasive of the global problems that didn't affect us directly, is being washed away in the tide of interest surrounding the Green movement. Green has gone from cheap and homemade to cool and chic. From 'tree-huggers...

This post was written by Chanelle Carver, founder of Literacy 'n' Poverty Project , activist, volunteer and consultant for socially conscious organizations. I virtually volunteer writing articles for a website called Collective Lens that " promotes social change with your photos. Upload a photo and help bring awareness to important issues around the world. You can inspire others to become involved ." They're also participating in Blog Action Day 2008 and posted a short blog with some GREAT photos on behalf of those who can't help themselves. I encourage you to go check it out. The Many Faces of Poverty

This post was written by guest blogger Maureen Lee, a wife, mother, author for Just Show Up and Board member of Ideal-Way.ca (a nonprofit organization for special needs individuals. “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” Nelson Mandela Every now and again, I pull out my clay jar. I've been working on it for most of my life, and I suspect it'll never be done. I started it when I was a child. Since then, my jar has undergone many changes. Thanks to many hours of painstaking, backbreaking work, my clay jar has morphed from a tiny lumpen mass of brown goop to a breathtaking vision of loveliness. I've shaped, molded, and finally perfected my jar. Or at least, my vision of it is clear and unobstructed. Now, as I stand back and survey my creation, my fingers get itchy again. Scratching the surface isn't good enough. I need to get into the corners and scour deep within i...

This post was written by Chanelle Carver, founder of Literacy 'n' Poverty Project , activist, volunteer and consultant for socially conscious organizations. It's Blog Action Day! A day the blogosphere unites to discuss the same issue. Not two or three, just ONE. One issue that affects over a billion people throughout the world. One issue that has caused pain and heartache for millions of families, children, men and women alike. That issue is POVERTY . No matter how you define it, the truth is poverty exists. There are families living below and above the poverty line who face great challenges that many may never have to endure. When was the last time you had to decide which of your family members gets a new winter coat? Have you ever skipped a meal just to have enough food for your children? Thankfully, I have yet to bear the burden of deciding which of my kids will eat and hopefully, I won't have to. But like the saying goes... Never Say Never . For two months straight...

October 15, 2008 is the annual Blog Action Day and this year's theme is, guess what...POVERTY! So fitting a subject for Making Social Change a Reality and we definitely will participate. So what exactly is Blog Action Day? "An annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion." Why do we care? Poverty impacts our global society and our blog is all about discussing the issues, sharing ideas and experiences to create social change on a global scale. It would be a crime not to get involved. What's in store for this year? "In 2008, the Blog Action Day theme is Poverty. Bloggers are free to interpret this as they see fit. We invite bloggers to examine poverty from their own blog topics and perspectives, to look at it from the macro and micro, as a global condition and a local issue, and to bring their own ideas, vie...