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The Center for Global Initiatives Discusses HIV/AIDS and Economic Empowerment in Zambia

Earlier this month, the Center for Global Initiatives held a number of meetings in Lusaka, Zambia to discuss ideas for a global health initiative targeting people living in extreme poverty.  Our founder and president, La Toya McBean, met with local government officials, UNAIDS, research institutions, prison officials, religious leaders and families living in extreme poverty, to discuss efforts addressing the prevalence and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS-related deaths in Zambia have declined significantly, thanks to support from the United States and other countries.  During one meeting, a policymaker said “people aren’t really dying from HIV/AIDS at the same rate as before.”

On the village level, most people who are living with the disease in one high-rate village are living normal lives because they are taking antiretroviral medication and visiting the community clinic regularly for treatment.  They are also no longer afraid to talk about HIV/AIDS, which signals progress in efforts to address the cultural stigma attached to the disease.  Church leadership associations are also helping to combat the stigma by educating pastors and congregations about the disease.

 However, despite such good progress, we learned that less than 50% of children with HIV/AIDS are actually receiving treatment.  Children living in impoverished rural villages in the Western Province are particularly vulnerable and in need of lifesaving treatment.  In addition, child marriages and sexual assaults upon children contribute to the spread of the disease among children.  This is an alarming crisis and a human rights issue that must be addressed immediately.   

Further, with the help of Ubumi Prison Initiatives, we toured two prisons to learn more about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in prisons.  We visited and met with officials at the Kabwe Maximum Security Prison and Lusaka Central Prison.  The deplorable conditions from massive overcrowding is a significant problem in Zambian prisons.  Such unbearable conditions foster an environment for the spread of the disease.  Youthful offenders are also at risk of contracting the disease when housed in the same cells as the adult population.

We also met with families living in extreme poverty to get their ideas about entrepreneurial projects to lift them out of poverty.  We learned that in certain villages, there is a dearth of resources to combat extreme poverty.  For example, in Lusoke Village of Chongwe District, many women and youth have no income or opportunities to move them forward in life.

 What The Daniel Society Will Do

 First, to address the pressing need and gaps in providing treatment to children living with HIV/AIDS in the impoverished Western Province, the Center for Global Initiatives will form a collaborative to launch a Rural HIV/AIDS Children’s Initiative.  Over the next few months, we will work with our Advisory Board, research team and various Zambian agencies and organizations to analyze HIV/AIDS data and the severity of the treatment gap based on geography in the Western Province.  In early spring, we will host a stakeholders meeting in Lusaka to discuss the components and goals of the initiative.  To learn more about this project, visit us at www.danielsociety.org/women-economic-development-club.

Second, the Center for Global Initiatives will develop The Daniel Society Women’s Economic Development Club of Lusoke Village to promote the economic well-being of women and families living in extreme poverty.  The Club will provide micro-loans to women for entrepreneurial pursuits and a savings plan to secure their children’s educational future.  To learn more about this project, visit us at www.danielsociety.org/hiv-aids-children-initiative.

Third, the Center for Global Initiatives will continue to have discussions with prison officials about addressing the massive overcrowding and HIV/AIDS prevalence in prisons.  We will also explore areas of research to help prison officials tackle the rate of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevalence in prisons.

The Daniel Society Statement About the U.S. Election 2016

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, our country elected Donald J. Trump as our 45th President. The election outcome has led to various protests across the country and has raised concerns about the rights and future of poor and immigrant communities. On the campaign trail and in recent media interviews, President-elect Trump has promised to take aggressive actions to deport 2-3 million undocumented people. Although the target of this deportation plan is what the new administration calls “criminal arrestees,” it is unclear whether this plan will negatively impact other immigrant families. Regardless of who is in the White House, The Daniel Society Center for Law and Justice will continue to vigorously fight for fair and just policies impacting people living in low-income and immigrant communities. We are developing a Civic Engagement Initiative that will give people a voice in public policies that will undoubtedly impact them. Furthermore, our Welcome Home Legal Aid Initiative will help immigrants understand their rights and achieve a status of freedom.
To learn more about our work and to support our efforts, visit us at www.danielsociety.org

The Daniel Society Expands Advisory Board with Five New Advisers

BROOKLYN, N.Y., November 11, 2016—The Daniel Society, a nonprofit organization with a global mission to reduce poverty and confront injustice, has announced five new advisers to its Center for Law and Justice and Center for Global Initiatives. The new advisers to The Daniel Society’s Advisory Board are:
towera_lopezDr. Towera Loper is an adviser to the Center for Global Initiatives. She is a speaker, life coach, author, licensed minister and guest writer for the Christian Broadcasting Network’s spiritual life section. A native of Zambia, she came to the United States to pursue her education, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northpoint Bible College in Haverhill, Mass., and a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Regent University in Virginia. She served as the director of Strategic Outreach Ministries for a mega church where she organized, trained and led teams to Bosnia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Tanzania and Uganda.

 

 

herbert_murrayHerbert Murray is an adviser to the Center for Law and Justice. He is a native New Yorker and author. After serving 29 years in prison for a wrongful conviction, he has worked for the Times Square Alliance where he cleans and maintains the Times Square area. While in prison, Murray earned his GED and graduated from Ulster Community College in New York with an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. He was a model prisoner, served as director of a youth assistance program, worked as a teacher’s aide and received numerous certificates of appreciation. Murray’s book, Standing Tall in Times Square, describes how he struggled to navigate the complex legal system and learned to survive and remain positive while in prison.

 

debbie_ann_paigeDebbie-Ann Paige, BS, BA, MA, is an adviser to the Center for Law and Justice. She is a public historian specializing in local African American history. Paige has worked on numerous local history projects, including “In Pursuit of Freedom” with the Brooklyn Historical Society; “Farm to City” with the Staten Island Museum; and the “Louis Napoleon House” as a site with the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to freedom on behalf of the Sandy Ground Historical Society. She facilitates public history forums throughout Staten Island and lectures as an adjunct professor at the College of Staten Island. She is a policy analyst with the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference. Paige has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Studies from Southern New Hampshire University, and a BA and MA in History from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York.

 

shauna_tonkinDr. Shauna Tonkin is an adviser to the Center for Global Initiatives. She is the education director at Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor. For more than 25 years, Tonkin has worked in leadership roles in academic and museum environments. As education director, she oversees museum education programs and curatorial activities, emphasizing creative, engaging, and relevant experiences for visitors of all ages. She has directed successful local and international programs, and serves as a consultant for leadership and organizational development for non-profits. Tonkin has been a Smithsonian Visiting Professional, and a Fulbright Specialist to Ukraine. She holds a Ph.D. and Ed.S. (education specialist) in Leadership, Policy and Planning from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Regent University, and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

 

christy_williams

Christy Williams, Esq., is an adviser to the Center for Law and Justice. Williams is a native Liberian and an attorney with years of experience representing foreign nationals in various immigration matters, including removal defense, family-based petitions, as well as self-petitions for survivors of domestic violence. Williams has a strong desire for community service. In 2014, she was awarded the Pangborn Pin for providing pro bono services to low-income clients through Legal Aid Detroit’s Private Attorney Involvement Program. Currently, she works for a non-profit organization where she provides nationwide legal and technical support to advocates who work to address state immigration-related legislation. Williams has Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Metropolitan University, St. Paul, Minnesota and a Juris Doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan.

 

ABOUT THE DANIEL SOCIETY

The Daniel Society is a not-for-profit organization that is committed to reducing poverty, one family at a time, by smart compassionate and sustainable initiatives that empower people to hope again. The organization applies a Collaborative Hope Building Model to tackle the challenges of poverty on a micro family and neighborhood level. For more information about the Daniel Society, visit www.danielsociety.org.

Upcoming Zambia Trip to Discuss Global Health Project

Bringing healing to those living in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa is a top priority for us. This is why I will be traveling to Zambia this Saturday, October 29, to discuss ideas that will help us design an HIV/AIDS project that targets children, young women and incarcerated individuals living with HIV/AIDS. On my trip, I will meet with government officials, NGOs, advocates and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Our intent is to be incredibly effective in helping the most vulnerable people suffering, and dying, from this disease. HIV/AIDS may no longer be at the forefront of public policy in the U.S., but this remains a significant problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, there were1.2 million people in Zambia living with HIV/AIDS—85,000 of those infected were children between the ages of 0-14; while 640,000 of those infected were women above the age of 15. In addition, Zambia was among the eight eastern and southern African countries where nearly 50% of new infections occurred. Although new infections have declined by 66% on a pediatric scale from 2010-2015, adult infections are simply not decreasing fast enough.

The Daniel Society’s Center for Global Initiatives is researching these issues and raising awareness about this lingering health crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. During my week-long trip, I will travel to rural communities to meet with people living in extreme poverty and suffering from HIV/AIDS. Reaching out and listening to the ideas of people facing adversity is one of our core strategies. If we give them the dignity to speak, we may discover simple solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our fight against this disease (see Step 1 of our Collaborative Hope Building model).

It Is Possible to Lift Children Out of Extreme Poverty

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” ―Edward Everett Hale

Alarmingly, nearly 385 million children are living in extreme poverty; they live in households on a $1.90 budget per day. While extreme poverty is harmful to all humans, it is most threatening to the rights of children. From lack of health and education to harm and exploitation, this environment harms the development of children on a physical, mental and emotional level. 

Each inequality caused by extreme poverty serves to amplify the effects of others on children. For example, women who must walk long distances to fetch water have limited time with their children, resulting in decreased health and development. Furthermore, traveling long distances for water interferes with a child’s ability to attend school, especially young girls.

Malnourishment coupled with limited access to healthcare, increases a child’s risk of contracting and dying from diseases caused by poor sanitation. Malnourishment alone contributes to over half of the deaths of children under five years of age. Preventable diseases, such as diarrhea and others, kill two million children annually because families cannot afford or even access necessary healthcare services.

However, we must be clear about one thing: it is possible to end extreme poverty. Spending $160 per person in extreme poverty for 15 years is the estimated amount needed to end world hunger. The average consumer in the United States spends $1,043 per year eating out for lunch. It will take $24 million to provide universal access to clean water. This is a small amount considering that people spend $40 million a year on lawn care in the United States.

Moreover, eradicating extreme poverty is actually not as difficult as it seems. To quote Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, “[i]t is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.”

 Ending extreme poverty simply takes motivation, commitment and passion to strategically target resources to achieve the greatest results. NGOs, governments and individual donors have already collectively made significant strides to fight extreme poverty, including:

  • Lifting one billion people out of extreme poverty;

  • Improving access to healthcare services and immunizations, which has helped 48 million children survive past their 5th birthday; and

  • Improving access to sanitation, such as toilets and cleaner drinking water sources.

Despite these gains, more work needs to be done, particularly for the 385 million children who are still living in extreme poverty. Many of these children (just under 50%) are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, and more than four out of five of them live in rural areas.

A combination of targeted initiatives can lift these and other children out of extreme poverty, including quality early childhood education; access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation; and economic security. Equally important and a necessary foundation to ending the cycle of poverty is helping children learn their rights as global citizens and giving them a voice in the development of their communities.