The road heading towards Qaimjatoi, in Dadu district in Pakistan’s southern Sindh looked like it was literally disappearing into the river. A week ago, it was impassable; now, it was still surrounded by flooded rice fields, but most of the road had, at last, re-emerged from the waters.
With Hurricane Tomas bearing down on Haiti and expected to make landfall on Friday, Oxfam is worried about the ability of the humanitarian community to mount a third simultaneous emergency response in Haiti while still responding to January’s earthquake and the cholera outbreak earlier this month.
After years toiling at factories in the free trade zones of the Dominican Republic, Santa Castillo knows how difficult it can be to survive on the minimum wage. “A lot of times there was only enough for my kids, and I’d go to bed hungry,” she says. Now the factory where Ms Castillo works has committed to pay three and a half times the minimum wage.
In late October 2010, Indonesia was struck by a trio of disasters. An earthquake and resulting tsunami in Sumatra killed at least 272 people and displaced more than 500. The eruption of Mt Merapi, one of the most active volcanos in the world, has displaced nearly 70,000 people in Java.
Our friends at the Robin Hood Tax campaign have posted an interesting talk from Professor Joseph Stiglitz on how and why the financial transaction tax would work.
The Social Studio (TSS) is a Melbourne-based social enterprise which provides young women and men from refugee communities the opportunity to realize their potential as designers, makers and retailers of fashion.
This week on 3things we saluted a young Aussie from Generation Y not? And discovered there are no limits when it comes to recycling...
In north-eastern Uganda where Martina Longom lives, the weather has never been perfectly predictable, but in the last few years it has become increasingly unreliable. As impacts from climate change worsen, Martina and her community are finding new and innovative ways to cope and build their resilience.
In central Haiti, the Artibonite province is awash in water. As we drive through the cholera-stricken region on Sunday, day three of our emergency cholera response, I see water everywhere – rice paddies, irrigation canals, small rivers, cesspools and puddles.
Since the start of the fasting month my mother has been selling clothing to her friends at her factory. She purchases the clothes from outlets and makes a profit of between 5,000-10,000 Rupiah per item (60 cents to $1.15). From past experience my mother has sold at least 50 pieces. If only she had a bit more start-up capital, I’m sure she could get more clothing to sell.
