The EV Service Scholars Interns cordially invite you to…

All proceeds will go towards supporting students in China recovering from congenital heart diseases continue their education.

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As another school year begins and I witness a new cohort of peers enter college, I’m constantly thinking about the steps these students took to achieve their goal. What I’ve noticed is that the students who are successful look beyond the daily schedule of classes for additional opportunities. There are many programs that recognize students, ranging from middle school and high school to college and post-graduates, and provide them with opportunities to further expand their knowledge. Motivated students seek out and take the time to apply to programs. For students who are interested in issues of social justice, I have listed some opportunities that may be of interest as well as a brief description as outlined by the programs/scholarships. Please use this as a starting point.

High School Students:

1. Bank of America Student Leaders (http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation/index.cfm?template=fd_studentleaders)

College Students:

1. State Farm Youth Advisory Board (www.statefarmyab.com/)

2. US Virtual Student Foreign Service (http://www.state.gov/vsfs/)

3. Go! Volunteer Abroad (http://www.go-volunteerabroad.com/)

4. Google BOLD (http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/bold/)

5. Young People For (http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/)

6. Clinton Global Initiative University (http://www.cgiu.org/)

Search Engines:

1. Fastweb (http://www.fastweb.com/)

2. Zinch (http://www.zinch.com/)

Please feel free to add to this list with other opportunities that you know of. Always check with your school to see if they offer any special programs or have a catalogue of scholarships or opportunities. It takes time and effort, but it will definitely pay off!

Joy Liu

Team 2 – Servant Scholars

Durham, NC

Sophomore – Duke University

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I’ve gotten a restoration of my life purpose. After noticing a common theme of medical health laced through my articles, I know that my passion and aspirations to be a doctor are not in vain. It is truly what God has in store for me. Now I just have to figure out how to use my gift of writing and my deep, heartfelt love for literature.

Reading my fellow interns’ blogs has been fascinating. Everybody has a different perspective that they bring to the table. I am constantly amazed at the level of scholarship and thought put into every article that is published on East Villagers. It is an absolute wealth of information, as well as an amazing nonprofit, dedicated to meeting the needs of communities around the world, especially Asia.

This year I have grown as a person. I have learned what it means to meet deadlines, even when I don’t feel like sitting down at my computer at all. My team leader, Karina, and teammate Joy have been inspirations. Our collaboration paid off in the long run, as we put together and successfully pulled off an international web conference that was located in Palo Alto, California. Something I never dreamed of. I feel so privileged to have been part of a team and an organization that allowed me to write about anything I wanted. It’s allowed me to explore different ideas and cultures, and has enabled me to stretch my writing abilities to the max. 500 words minimum may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by 50 articles. Think about 500 words, and that every week, they have to be written. Homework, tests, volunteering … I had to set aside my time to do it, even if I didn’t want to.

But most of the time I did. I have enjoyed every article and blogging experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat. To whomever is reading this – thank you for being a part of my East Villagers journey.

Jenny Combs

Team 2 Servant Scholars

Grade 12

Alabaster, AL

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Back in 2008, he was locked up in a 3 feet high dog cage. He received minimal food and water and was only let out when his father wanted him to vacuum the house, or do other chores, then was immediately put back in his cage that was chained with 7 separate locks. These 7 locks prevented him from leaving his small confined area. Before the locks, when Christian tried to leave or walk around the house, we would be punished with terrible beatings that often made him pass out. Sometimes, Riley, the father, would chain him to his bed frame and then punch, kick, and beat him with a metal pole to the face and head. His stepmother, who was especially sadistic, liked to make Christian write letters about what he was going through; she often made him write about prompts like “why do you still miss your mother? Why can’t you let the past go? What does it mean to be part of a family”? Other times, he was just told to write, seeing that he had nothing else to do. He reportedly wrote about being sad and depressed that he “just wanted to be liked by his family”, and how he wondered why he was not allowed to play outside like the other children, or why no one would give him any food or water or even check on him. Not only this, but he also wrote how he used to have to steal food or use the bathroom in the dog cage and stated that he was very hungry and thirsty frequently.

Before he was in the dog cage, in 2000 he had been with his biological mother, but when his parents split, the father gained custody. Over this period of time, the DCS, (Department of Child Services) received more than a dozen calls from neighbors or others that the 11 Choate children were in filthy conditions and were getting beat. But most times they could not have any evidence to support the accusations. Even though Christian was still forced to stay with his father, he went to a pediatrician and once was said to have told them that he was being locked up at night, but the doctor never reported it to the DCS.

….

One night, in 2009 he was too weak to keep his food down and threw up, and his father beat him to unconsciousness then locked his limp body back in eh cage. The next morning his sister found him dead. He died from blunt force trauma injuries and a skill fracture.

But that was 2009…what happened in 2010 and 2011? Christian Choate was dead and was not found until May 4 2011. His father had put his son in a trash bag with a Bible on his chest, buried under a thin layer of concrete in Gary, Indiana. His biological mother had been prevented from seeing her son for this reason, and his father told Christian’s friends and teachers that he was being homeschooled. But once he died, his father claimed that he “ran away”

The terrible murderers have now been charged with murder, battery, and neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement.

Even though they are in jail, I think that something like this should not happen. Nobody knows why the two parents hated their son so much, for they had no purpose to, seeing that Christian never did anything wrong and did not deserve to be treated worse than a dog. Although DCS is already very busy this should not have occurred and America needs to be more watchful about what goes on in this country to make sure anything along these lines ever happens again.

References

Cotz, Pete. “Christian Choate, 13, Buried By His Family Two Years Ago (and No One Noticed) – True Crime Report.” True Crime Report – Strange But True Crime Stories from Across America. True Crime Reports, 11 May 2011. Web. 18 July 2011. <http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/05/christian_choate_13_buried_by.php>.

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The extensive study by the MIT Sloan professors confirm that big corporations such as Nike can lead the way in improving the working conditions of the world’s factories, thus working toward global justice.

According to an analysis on “Beyond Corporate Codes of Conduct: Work Organization and Labor Standards in Two Mexican Garment Factories,” “global brands are more likely to influence the improvement of working conditions in their suppliers’ factories in developing countries by providing technical assistance to suppliers and empowering employees on shop floors.”

These are the findings of Richard Locke, the Alvin J. Siteman Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan, and his former student Monica Romis, who compared working conditions in two Mexican garment factories that supply athletic footwear and apparel giant Nike, Inc.

Both Mexican factories passed compliance according to Nike’s code of conduct, but only one factory earned high scores in overall employee satisfaction with workplace conditions.

This is a factor that is most interesting to those of us who are trying to find out more about global justice.  What was the real difference between the two factories?  Why were the workers of one factory more satisfied with their working conditions compared to the workers of the other factory?

“The key difference, according to Locke, is that the factory with the higher satisfaction scores implemented ‘lean manufacturing processes’ — a term referring to manufacturing methods based on maximizing value and minimizing waste in the manufacturing process — that resulted in employees having greater autonomy and power to make day-to-day decisions on the shop floor.”

In simple English, this process involves greater say-so of employees in the factories.  Such power gave the workers a greater sense of satisfaction.   The following is excerpted from the research:

Both factories complied with Nike’s requirements, but employee satisfaction surveys showed considerable differences in workers’ satisfaction.

“The first Mexican company, which Locke and Romis refer to as Plant A, is situated in an industrial park and has been owned by a Mexican family for more than 50 years. The second factory, Plant B, is part of a Taiwanese group.”

In Plant A, the workers work in teams, and they operate more than one type of sewing machine.  The workers themselves are responsible for routine maintenance. The interviews conducted with employees showed that “the workers appreciate job rotation and value performing a variety of operations.”  It was obvious that the workers felt that there was room to grow and thus there was a sense of work satisfaction.

In Plant B, employees did not experience variety.  They work at “fixed stations and specialize in narrowly defined jobs performing the same operation over the year. “  My interpretation of the situation is that the workers did not experience self worth and consequently did not enjoy the luxury of work satisfaction.

While the workers in Plant A participate in “decisions affecting production targets, allowing them to suggest alternative ways to perform operations, often rendering it quicker and easier, workers in Plant B must follow orders and do not have the opportunity to give their input.”

In addition to the above, the workers in Plant A are given opportunities to earn bonus incentives and earn 21% more than their counterparts in Plant B.  The bonuses are based on “team results rather than individual productivity. “

The most encouraging fact is that Plant A now sees Nike as a partner in collaboration to improve productivity, and this improvement is not based solely on monitoring codes of conduct, which is the usual way that factories deal with poor working conditions.

My research into global justice as an EV Intern has given me new insights.  Through my reading, I am beginning to understand how the efforts to improve productivity through offering more employees’ involvement and providing better working conditions on the part of big corporations such as Nike may be the beginning of true global justice for the world’s workers.

I understand that the issue of working conditions is only ONE of many facets of global justice.   In my next two blogs, I will pick up the issue of social justice of the DREAM Act, which has made recent headlines.

Sources

http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/2007-locke.php

“Beyond Corporate Codes of Conduct: Work Organization and Labor Standards in Two Mexican Garment Factories” by Richard Locke and Monica Romis

Brian Wong

Team 4: Global Justice

Alameda, CA

July 30, 2011

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Participate in the telethon and join the Asian Liver Center and the Ping & Amy Chao Foundation in raising awareness about Hepatitis B!

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Introduce yourself (age, grade, school, favorite subject in school, hobbies, what you do in your spare time). “Hi my name is …..”

My name is Karina. I am 21 years old and a senior at Emory University. My favorite course while in college has been Contemporary Chinese Politics. More generally speaking, however, I enjoy anything related to international relations and political science. I enjoy photography and film, and chase my family’s new puppy around the neighborhood in my spare time.

When did you start the idea of doing community service? How did this all start?

Initially, I began volunteering because it was mandated by my high school in order to graduate. My passion for volunteering actually started when I went to China specifically to volunteer. I always loved playing with children, and I have a soft spot for orphans, so I decided to volunteer in orphanages for disabled orphans in China. Seeing the direct impact that my actions had on making the lives of the orphans a little brighter made me truly love volunteering.

Growing up, what are some of the events/reasons that lead you to see a need for this project?

Living in America, it seems that we are separated from many of the crises and disasters going on in the world. Furthermore, as young people, there is a stereotype that we are lazy, self-centered and materialistic. I hope that this conference will prove that at least some of the young people of today care about the problems happening in other countries.

What are you learning through the EVSS Internship so far?

I believe that I am learning a lot about leadership through this conference. Having to be prepared for each team meeting and organize conversation for an hour is a more difficult task than it seems. But I have a wonderful team and I think we’re working together equally and successfully.

What are your future dreams in regards to helping others?

I want to live my life as someone who brings hope to others. My future career will most likely be in academia and research, and even though those areas seem a bit more distant from professions that directly help others like the medical profession, they do inspire hope in the future and future generations. I want to help others more practically in my everyday life. This is a continual process of molding my actions into being a person that I truly want to be.

If you were to say something to inspire your peers to do the same, what would it be?

Patience. It’s so rare today, and it’s a golden quality if you possess it.

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From May and ending (based on media reports) in late October, there was a Cholera Epidemic in Northern Nigeria and one that threatened to spread everywhere if not curbed. It is certainly strange that in searching for stories regarding the epidemic, the latest article was on 10/22. The rather dire report speaks of a peaking in the cholera epidemic that had already killed 1500 people and 80% of the sick were women and children. After that article, I could not find any further references by reputable media sources regarding the outbreak.

So after reading reports about this, I decided to go on the trail and find the first reports of the epidemic, and any actions being made by the Nigerian government. The first article I found published August 27th reports on an announcement of the epidemic made by the Nigerian Ministry. It indicated that the epidemic had begun in May, affecting 300 and as of then, killing 350 people. The announcement blames the epidemic on heavy rains and lack of access to clean water and sanitary facilities. Lacking in the article was any recorded plan to curb this spread-only a dire warning of the possibility of a country wide spread is given.

As I looked further and read more articles, I found an article published merely a week from the first one, and beginning with the words:

“The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has blamed the refusal of most state and local governments to live up to their responsibilities of providing primary and secondary health care to their citizens, as a major contributory factor to the abysmal health system in the country.”(All Africa)

So still no obvious health plan, but accusations and concerns over inefficiency.

Later articles only tell anecdotes and give accounts of the situation in the affected states. The one article that gives measures provided by the government stated that Wells had been chlorinated to kill the cholera pathogen-although the same article notes that the chlorine wears off and conditions that caused the epidemic would soon return.

So I decided to go back even further to figure out why the rains this year had caused the outbreak. That was when I found out that the cholera incidences in that part of Nigeria had been steadily increasing over the past 3 years. And little to nothing had been done to curb it. No infrastructure had been put in place to stop the causes of the coming outbreak. Instead, it appears as if the outbreak happened, and then action is taken.

The morbidly interesting thing is that the Health institutions in those regions of Nigeria were aware of the increasing occurrences in Cholera, but there seemed to be a certain removal from it due to its lack of national and global attention. This once again comes back to the question of What is Healthy? Does the health of a population only depend on a few “hot-button” illnesses? Can nations really afford to ignore the other issues bubbling under the surface till they burst? And when these issues burst open, what kind of resources should be devoted to prevent their recurrence?

There are issues of national incompetency, apathy and no resources available to devote to solving these issues. But perhaps they could be prevented if the definition of health is widened, and resources are devoted to prevention before  those measures are needed by a large population.

-Onome U. Chicago IL, International Health Team, College Sophomore.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-27/world/nigeria.cholera_1_cholera-epidemic-cholera-outbreak-health-ministry?_s=PM:WORLD

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008310464.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008310464.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100910/ap_on_he_me/af_nigeria_cholera

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/10/world/main6853420.shtml

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/afp/nigeriahealthdiseasecholeraunicef

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The HBV is the silent killer. It has the power to enter into the human body and has no way of pointing out to the victim that the virus has entered the body. Only when it is in a critical stage or the virus has almost destroyed the liver, the symptoms of cirrhosis and liver cancer start to become more common. That is why it is so important to get checked if a person is a carrier for the virus. People lack the knowledge of the dangers of the Hepatitis B virus, and thus disregard getting tested for it. Waiting till the last minute only makes matters worse. Also, if the issue isn’t fixed at hand, a majority of the Baby Boomers who are infected with the virus will grow older and many of them will face trouble paying for the treatment of Hepatitis B, thus asking for governmental aid. This problem asks for immediate attention, especially since about 40 Americans die every single day due to the Hepatitis B Virus. The country’s economy lies well if the problem could be eradicated now, or simply get worse by waiting.

Yet, for children this remains a major issue are young kids are more plausible to be attacked by the chronic Hepatitis B Virus. Especially in California, due to the thriving number of Asians, children get attacked more quickly by the virus. Statistics prove that Asians and Pacific Islanders are the most prevalent carriers of the virus. This disease which is often transmitted through sexual activity, blood contact, and through needles, also can transmit to a child while it is in the womb, if the most carries the Hepatitis B Virus. Many might argue that children in California have to be vaccinated for Hepatitis B before they can enter school. While this may be true, many children are still target victims of the virus as if they get in close contact with an open wound of any other child with Hepatitis B, there is a high chance, this child will contract the virus too. Also, research shows that if children are immunized universally, it has a stronger effect than if they are immunized individually. This means that since the carrier pool is drastically decreased, there will be a less passing of the virus between children. Even worse, is how children have a higher rate of Hepatitis B Virus than adults due to the fact that it was given to them at birth. Since the mother carries the virus, the teratogen will enter the baby’s blood and in turn, give out chronic Hepatitis B for the child. Even if the baby is vaccinated, there is a very low chance that the virus can be killed. However, as the child grows older, the immune system begins to fight at the virus, yet this only causes the Hepatitis B to create more side effects. This mishap is still under research studies in the medical field.

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