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Written by Kay Marshall Strom
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 03:00 |
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No one rejoiced on the day Ratna was born. Her father grunted in disgust and turned away. A girl! Another financial burden he would have to bear, and then he would be required to pay a huge dowry to get her married. He wanted to take her to the river, throw her in, and rid the family of the curse. Ratna’s mother kept quiet. She couldn’t help but wonder if it might not be better to let her husband have his way than to condemn her baby daughter to grow up a poor Dalit, forever indebted to a landowner. It was Ratna’s grandmother, her father’s mother, who said, “No, let the baby live. We need someone to clean the house and care for the sons you will have.”
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Written by Jenna Bartlo
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Wednesday, 24 February 2010 02:00 |
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It was in the sludge of dirt, litter and sewage of Kibera, Africa’s second largest slum, that Dan Parris found the paradox of suffering and hope. Walking through the paths between tent-like homes in 2005, joyful children living in despair grabbed his hands to walk with him. It was here where Parris started to give a damn about extreme poverty. In 2009, Parris returned to Kibera where it all started and nearly ended this past August when he narrowly escaped death in a plane crash.
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Written by Peter Greer
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 03:00 |
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Marcel, a 30-year-old friend from Rwanda, wrote an email stating: “I am not good because there has been a long time without a job. I am still looking for a job. My life is not going well for me.” Marcel was not making a veiled plea for a handout; he truly wanted an opportunity to use his skills and abilities to provide for his needs.
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Written by Alyce Gilligan
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Wednesday, 16 December 2009 00:30 |
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Today, India is known as a rapidly growing superpower. But for thousands of years, the caste system has held an oppressive reign over their society, regardless of glittering general improvements. The most affected are those of the Other Backward Classes, or OBCs, and the Dalits, also known as outcasts. These groups, told by the upper castes and years of tradition that they are less-than, make up more than half of the population. The most destructive part of this system is the fact that it is upheld by their moral beliefs and approved by the leadership, prompting the United Nations to call it “the most oppressive social system on the planet.” These people have no hope of breaking the shackles of 3,000 years of history unless a revolution occurs, socially and spiritually.
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Written by Rebekah Fraser
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Wednesday, 11 November 2009 11:30 |
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As little as a few decades ago, those caught in the unforgiving downward spiral of poverty in third-world countries had little means of drastically improving their lives. Lack of knowledge and resources, combined with often corrupt aid, fed a mind-set ruled by oppression and hopelessness, locking communities firmly behind the bars of poverty.
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