June 13, 2006
Op Ed: Educational Equity for Afro-Brazilians
by Nicole Medeiros
With its tropical climate and strong African cultural influences, many imagine Brazil to be a ‘racial paradise ’ — a nation that has extinguished racial and ethnic tensions by successfully fusing diverse racial and ethnic identities.
Brazil is not the racial democracy. Disparities in educational attainment rates among whites and nonwhites are overwhelming. Educational opportunity constitutes a means of social advancement and means of capital; to address these inequities the global community must support Afro-Brazilians in their efforts to gain more adequate educational resources.
In 2004, I traveled to Rio de Janeiro as a Stanford Haas Center Urban Summer Fellow. Working with Mediadors da Paz (Mediators of Peace), a government conflict-resolution program, I visited public schools in the North, East, and West regions of the city — far from the white homes, and tourist-ridden beaches and boutiques of Copacabana and Ipanema.
Teachers were overworked and under-compensated. The parents I met had little education; yet, their graciousness revealed wisdom gained from struggle. The students were bright and perceptive to the shortcomings of their school facilities. Most, if not all, of the parents and students I met were Black.
I was overwhelmed by the inadequacies of the majority Afro-Brazilian schools. I had awakened to the myth of the Brazilian ‘racial democracy, ’ and it resonated deeply. How many of the students I met in Brazil would graduate from college and become professionals? When I returned to the United States, I found an answer – though Black Brazilians constitute 45 percent of the population, only two percent would receive university degrees.
The status of Afro-Latinos is often overlooked. Like the United States, Latin America used the labor of thousands of slaves. Their histories and run parallel to African descendents in North America; unfortunately, their gains in terms of civil rights still are still disparaging. The UN Conference in Durban, South Africa was a great effort to address racial discrimination in our global community. We must continue to address racial and ethnic inequalities by lending our support to the efforts of Afro-Brazilian activists in leaders.
Given Brazil ‘s interest in solidifying their image and role as a regional and international power, they are in tune and susceptible to the critique of their international partners. International government bodies must pressure and challenge Brazil to delve into the fallacies of its racial democracy, and find truth. We must support Afro-Brazilians in their efforts to secure increased diversity programming and educational resources, and affirm the voices of those struggling to address what is a major civil rights crisis.
Posted by hilton at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2006
Op Ed: Managing Volunteers in Honduras
Ben Fohner
When people ask us why we spend so much time and effort working in, thinking about, and advocating for Honduras, the answer seems obvious. We remember the smiling eyes of a Honduran toddler first visiting a doctor, the happiness and celebration of a village after the construction of a potable water system, looks of relief on the faces of family members surrounding a cured patient, and the personal bonds among new friends, standing out on the canvas of hardship that permeates Honduras. One memory, like millions of other factors, can easily justify our involvement in everything from volunteer clinics in Honduras to showing up to the office on Monday mornings, excited to begin another week. In non-profit organizations, as in all assembled groups working toward a common goal, individual motivation is essential to overall success. By understanding why people choose to immerse themselves in Honduras working toward particular humanitarian goals, group leaders can more effectively recruit and retain volunteers, which is essential for organizations to help more people in greater ways across further areas of Honduras.
According to the Harvard Business Review, workforce motivation is key to the success of all groups, whether a corporate office or a non-profit clinic. “Only through [understanding] motivation can managers help their employees generate the excellent performance that enables companies to boost profitability.” While organizations working toward health goals in Honduras are not looking to bolster their quarterly profit, they are striving to implement as broadly as possible highly effective programs that will create the most positive impact. As the key to achieving their lofty goals, organizations must recruit and retain an effective, well-trained corps of volunteers, which is possible only through the effective motivation of such people.
Those who choose to spend their time in Honduras are motivated by distinct factors, which can be categorized. For some, the promise of developing and honing new skills serves as the driving force for involvement, while for others, religious reasons prompt dedication of personal time and resources. Others are inspired by the bonds that form between themselves and the clients served by organizations, while another group attributes their involvement to personal appeals from friends that are already involved in such organizations. A few recognize the opportunities that organizations present to travel to remote areas and experience a foreign lifestyle, with still others pointing to more obvious benefits, such as compensation or recognition by a university admissions committee. Regardless of the factors, motivation plays a key role in staffing non-profit organizations and achieving group goals.
Directors must remember that their organizations not only contribute to the world by providing a service to those in need, but they also provide an irreplaceable environment to those that spend their time volunteering. They provide factors, from religious experiences to a glimpse into the eyes of a Honduran child, which motivate, drive, and provide meaning to the lives of countless volunteers around the world. Understanding these desires, an essential task for directors, can enable the organization to better highlight their unique service niche, inspire new volunteers to participate, and stimulate existing volunteers, thereby striving toward the goal of painting over the blank canvas of hardship in Honduras.
Posted by hilton at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
June 05, 2006
Op Ed: The Burden
This Op Ed by Naree Chan flows from her research on the most cost-effective means to deliver vacines to prevent hepatitus B to new-borns in Cambodia. A very complex cost-analysis project -- and one with very definite possibilities for application. However, as Naree remarks in her commentary afterwards, this is not really an Op Ed but a reflection on her experience doing the project. Nonetheless, it's interesting and moving. How would you re-write it to make it a more traditional Op Ed article?
The Burden
by Naree Chan
I am guilty. I am guilty of taking time from Cambodian women, health care workers, program managers, NGO workers, and many others to ask them never ending questions. Now that I am writing a thesis, I am now possibly guilty of excluding the very voices I traveled so far to include in my research. I am guilty because I received money to a faraway place not to donate money but spend money — money for gas, phone cards, and drivers — all to simply witness poverty in the rural countryside. Yes, I was able to observe the corruption rampant in the public health system and to discover if my parents’ aversion to preventive care originated in this Cambodia, but at what cost? The money I spent to further pollute the environment and could have been spent to feed the people I met.
So when I saw a young pregnant woman with a foot swollen with infection, what was I supposed to do? She could not afford the $2 moto to the nearest health center. Should I give her money, a ride, or some other type of assistance? But my academic voice and training came through and asked, “How are my actions setting a precedent for future researchers? Would the locals simply think I was taking and not giving? After me, would they always expect outsiders to help?” Yet simultaneously, I wanted to partially absolve my guilt by driving her to the nearest clinic and paying the medical fees. So that’s what I did.
But the guilt did not go away. Instead, I watched as the health care workers in the small clinic clean and bandage her foot, asked her to return within two weeks for another cleaning, and gave her antibiotics to help the healing. She informed us she had gone to a private clinic and spent money on treatment, but she continued to work in the rice fields so she could provide for her four other children at home. How could we ask her to come back in two weeks when her situation required her to work even while seven months pregnant? It took us almost half an hour to drive from her village to the health clinic in a sturdy four wheel drive vehicle. It would probably take almost as long, if not longer, on a moto, but she would have to deal with the rough terrain and driving conditions in her condition.
Cambodia is not a country lacking assistance. Everyone wants to help, just look at the hundreds of NGOs from various countries welcomed by the government. It’s a country with the potential for economical, political, and social change, and there are tons of outside organizations purportedly there to help Cambodians rise out of its developing world status. But when I see non-Cambodians riding in SUVs and dining along the Mekong riverside in Phnom Penh, I seriously wonder if these outsiders are effectively helping the country or simply enjoying a lavish lifestyle on a western salary in a poor country. How is it that the Cambodian government embraces NGOs and appears to cooperate with international assistance but continues to be corrupt – delaying government salaries for up to half a year. Yes, the impossible will take a little while, but with this much assistance pouring into such a small country, how much longer will it take?
Reflection
I still do not feel like “The Burden” is an op-ed. It is more like my reflections on my experiences doing field research in a country that is undeveloped yet contains my heritage. If it is classified as an op-ed, I would say it reflects my poor opinion of the Cambodian government and expresses my skepticism of the altruism behind NGO workers and international development. Though I may distrust these foreigners, should I simply be grateful for their presence and attempts to make change in “my” country?
My background as a public policy major makes me realize that foreign aid is difficult to measure and observe, especially since it is heavily dependent on institutional environments that are difficult to control. In many ways, the success of a private corporation that develops a product or offers a service is much easier to implement, manage, and improve because it exists independently from other agencies. Distributing basic health care services like immunizations, however, is a logistical nightmare that depends not only on money for supplies and training but also on successful implementation in a country with few roads, unreliable electricity, and corrupt officials.
Posted by hilton at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2006
Op Ed:10 Years Later, A Look at the Effects of Welfare Reform for Alaska Natives
Public Service Scholars who completed honors theses in different departments were asked to also write op eds on the research they had done. The idea is to make a connection between research and social action. As I've said, Op Eds are tough things to write -- and these pieces are good evidence for that. After several of them are followed by commentaries by the author on the difficulties of writing an Op Ed.
This first one is called 10 Years Later, A Look at the Effects of Welfare Reform for Alaska Natives, and it's by Neepa Acharya.
A Look at the Effects of Welfare Reform for Alaska Natives
by Neepa Acharya
As we near the tenth anniversary of Bill Clinton’s Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act, known as Welfare Reform, we look over that last decade of programming meant to “increase the flexibility of states” in operating a program to remove people from poverty to work. Within the state of Alaska, individuals in need confront a complex process of meetings with government contracted case managers, social workers, means-test and fee agents, and job councilors that serve the holistic needs of the individual in order to get them into the working world. The quality of life in the Native villages is impoverished, with some village homes lacking in electricity, running water, sewage, and heating. Though the system for receiving aid seems an attempt to best serve the needs of Natives, residents living in these homes qualify for aid but still do not take on the programs. Within Alaska, though almost 80 percent of Alaska Natives qualify for public assistance aid, only 18 percent actually participate in any federal or state assistance programs. 10 years after the creation of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) it is time to examine how effectively public assistance and welfare programs support qualified Alaska Natives to determine if government initiatives on Alaska Native part government initiatives can help create a system that more adequately serves the indigenous communities across the nation.
In 1996, the welfare reform act aimed to radically restructure the system of welfare at the state level. The law expands the role of non-cash incentive programs such a Food stamps and Energy assistance. TANF replaced the existing system for aid to families as a state-specific block grant program where participants have a 60-month benefit limit. The mission of this program has been to give individuals their own network of state-contracted case managers and work counselors to help them find jobs as fast as possible. Through all of these programs, TANF becomes a holistic program supplemented with aid for childcare, food, housing, and social services—eliminating as many barriers as possible for impoverished families to improve their socioeconomic state of life.
In 2000, through the construction of Tribal TANF, Alaska Native families now face an even more seemingly-idyllic case management system designed and managed by local non-profits that fall under one of twelve regional Native corporations—creating Native run programs for Natives. Programs case managed by Native non-profits have allowed for Native clients to receive help in applying for federal Welfare-to-Work and TANF, state Alaska Temporary Assistance Programs (ATAP), General Relief Assistance, non-cash incentive programs such as Food stamps and Energy Assistance, in addition to local and tribally-sponsored aid initiatives. Still, while a system has been etched out to help the Native community, no one is taking on the programs, and a closer examination of the basic philosophy of welfare reform and the way in which program have been re-organized reveals a bit about why the takeup rates are so low.
In my investigations of the reasons for low take-up rates around Alaska, I have pinpointed four main reasons why the participation in both rural and urban areas is so low. The reasons range from cultural, psychological and physical barriers to participation, to institutional design problems where a mess of agencies that are supposed to work hand in had create such a bureaucracy that no one receives aid. The Alaska Native community has been plagued by alcoholism—a problem that has led to almost 96 percent of all cases of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Furthermore, 68 percent of children are most likely to be born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other complications due to alcohol consumption. These physical problems create a large handicap for people who are expected to receive aid through holding down a 40-hour per week job. Furthermore, in rural communities, Natives still subsist off of traditional hunting and gathering practices and culturally focus on their devotion to the community rather than acquiring individual wealth. Asking these individuals to work for themselves to receive aid goes against their own values and system of worth. For those seeking to better themselves, there are very few jobs in a community. A given village of 600 families may have 1-2 jobs at the supermarket and post office. If these positions are even open, welfare participants with problems of alcoholism that are known within the community will not be taken seriously and will not get a job.
In these same villages, there exist a city, village, regional corporation, and tribal government office to administer services to the community. When I asked where I could get energy assistance, I was promptly told that Suzy in the tribal office. Suzy referred me to the city office, who then referred me to a woman named Nette that used to work in the village office but now manages the grocery store. Of course, Nette told me that she used to take care of it, but pointed me right back to the tribal government office. In this shuffle of government offices, the disbursement of aid applications gets lost in the process. Furthermore, the aid is disbursed, not from most regional corporations, but from the state government, so Natives taking on the programs from a rural village will have case managers in their city, and will then have to contact agents from their non-profit agency as well as state level eligibility technicians and vocational counselors located in Anchorage or Fairbanks. For a person who may have family problems and no prospect of jobs, trying to weave through an incredibly complex system of aid disbursement makes the process impossible. Finally, there are economic disincentives for many of these Natives to participate in these programs. While the 1996 reforms created a scaled benefits payout whereby people still had an incentive to get jobs, these scales do not take into account that people receiving welfare take on 4-5 different programs. When the total income increases across programs, aid taxed by 100 percent and there is no incentive to leave the system. Each of these issues ultimately demonstrates that the current system of welfare reform, while even tailored to fit the needs of the State of Alaska, does not suit a community with a differing set of cultural practices that live in a harsh climate with no employment. We could then ask if the government should really be responsible for those individuals that do not want aid and willingly choose not to relocate to cities where the jobs are. But at the same time, there is an entire subpopulation of individuals living without heating and proper sewage in the year 2006, and the children don’t have much say into their lives in these situations.
While visiting the island of St. Paul, I met a man named Jacob Merculief who went out of his way to bring me a portion of his catch of halibut. I had met Jacob exactly once, and I heard that he was unemployed and slept with electric blankets and heated stones because he could not afford heating—yet he went out of his way to give me a bag of fish. It was at this point that I realized that life in a village like St. Paul was not based upon the individuals trying to gain the most wealth possible and it important to create a program that promotes the Native way of life rather than imposing an assistance program that is meant to push individuals into a competetive labor market to survive on their own.
While there has been a lot of research by social policy institutes on the issue of welfare reform, there are very few studies that have been able to understand the effects of these assistance programs on the Alaska Native community and this study functions to raise awareness on this issue and hopefully promote greater collaboration between the think tanks, research institutes, and Native agencies, in the hopes that they can create programs that will better serve the Alaska Native community. Through collaboration, it is possible to someday create systemic changes so that individuals like Jacob can share their fish, but when they sleep at night, the heating will be on.
Reflection
This op-ed will, like any piece of writing, continue to be a work-in-progress. The target audience for this piece is the general public in the lower 48 states who may not be familiar with the current systems of welfare and public assistance, in addition to comprehending the very different lives of Natives in Alaska. As a result, a unique challenge in this op-ed has been trying to understand how much depth and detail I should try to give about the system in Alaska for individuals to understand the level of injustice occurring, while trying to implement several anecdotes that will help clarify the Alaska Native experience and give the reader something to relate to…and all of this has to be completed in the smallest number of words possible! The purpose of this essay was to familiarize the reader with the fact that in the 10th anniversary of Welfare Reform, maybe the new system is not working as well as we had envisioned by examining a specific subset of the population that is often overlooked and ignored. As I continue my project relating to Alaska Natives and public assistance takeup rates, I will hopefully have a stronger set of solutions to offer that could help remedy the problem. Thus, the op-ed will take several forms and I plan to reshape it to fit specific audiences in the Native community, in Alaska, as well as in newspapers throughout the country.
Posted by hilton at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2006
Op Eds Are Tough
I met with honors students who are in the Haas Public Service Scholar program. In this program, students try to have their research apply to some kind of social action, directly or indirectly. One of the things they’re going to try to do is write Op Ed pieces that draw upon their research in one way or other. So, now they have the writing task of producing an Op Ed piece, very different from writing a thesis.
Op Eds are tough.
You have very limited space to persuade readers who may be unfamiliar or dead set against your concerns. You can’t go over the words alloted to you. For one reason, if you write too much, you run the risk of having the newspaper or broadcasting editor cut your piece, and chances are they will cut in ways that will infuriate you or distort your argument. No, you have to write in a very tight manner, and you still want to entice your reader, explain the issue and why it’s urgent to address, and lay out your position. Out of all the complexities you encounter dealing with your issue, you need to focus it, streamline it so that you can argue one main point. You can only allude to complexity. You need to be pointed — there’s simply isn’t enough room. And at the same time you want to be vivid and speak to the level of your intended audience — which is, of course, not the academic audience that would read your research thesis.
Donald Kennedy is an emeritus biology professor, former president of Stanford, and, most important for this discussion, editor of Science magazine. During our How I Write conversation, he spoke about the difficulty of writing editorials. “You can’t ‘Bury the Lead, ’ as newspaper people say — you have to attract people. ” You need to get to the issue in a dramatic, direct way. “You can’t end with a problem, ” he also advised. “If you lead people through your argument, you’ve got to propose something, take them somewhere. ”
This is harder than it sounds. Op Eds are tough.
Posted by hilton at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)