Solutions Project

1. To begin with, I am interested in investigating the decline in education of young adults in St. Louis. It is a problem that is facing many young adults around St. Louis and it is important to me because, in my opinion, high school education is extremely important for young adults to have.  It allows them to have a basis to pursue vocational and educational training and be productive members of the society. The plight of the St. Louis city schools has created a great deal of uncertainity in the academic future of the youth of St. Louis and needs immediate attention and intervention.  A few organizations that can help in this regard are "Turning Point" and the "Saint Teresa and Bridget After School Program".
2. The economic downtrend has left many unemployed in the St. Louis area, as the unemployment rate has stayed about 9.4% at the national level and has affected St. Louis citizens.  There is a growing number of St. Louis people without healthcare coverage, but serious health problems that need to be addressed.  This is important to me because I have had a personal interest in helping indigent patients at the "Volunteers in Medicine" clinic and am well aware of the long term impact of neglected health on an individual and its community.
3. With the economic problems in St. Louis, families have had difficulties in meeting their basic daily needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. It is important to me because I believe that these are the basic needs that should be afforded to all people and organizations such as United Way, Salvation Army, and food pantries around the St. Louis can help meet these needs.

Human Rights Violation: Research Question

1. How has the Taliban diminished the role of women in Afghanistan?
             -politically (not being able to take public office, no right to vote, voice   
              political opinion, etc.)
             -economically (not being able to work, not making significant financial
              decisions).  
             -socially (education, attire, segregation of women and men in society).

It seems like education is the most important aspect regarding the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban.

2. How has the Taliban diminished education in the lives of Afghan women in Afghanistan?

2. I will have to learn exactly how and in which ways the Taliban has altered the education of women in Afghanistan. It will be helpful to also understand why the Taliban has chosen to particularly target the education of women. Why is education the main concern for the Taliban? The sources that I will have to should give insight into how women have been affected by their lack of education and how this has affected the Afghan society. Also, it will be important to use a source that looks at the Taliban's reasoning for curtailing the educational rights of Afghan women.
These are great sources that will help me answer my research question:
http://feminist.org/afghan/facts.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2007161,00.html http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-04/world/afghanistan.mutilated.girl.update_1_afghan-women-afghan-woman-taliban?_s=PM:WORLD
http://www.amazon.com/Women-Afghanistan-Under-Taliban/dp/0786410906
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm.

Human Rights Violation

1. I am interested in researching about the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban in Afghanistan. I would like to research about this specific human rights violation because it is interesting to me to find out more about the Taliban has impeded the progress of Afghanistan by persecuting Afghan women. It is also interesting to understand how this human rights violation has allowed terrorism to prosper and continue there, as they are able to oppress women at every level possible.  
2. Sources that discuss past and current investigations (books and articles) of the treatment of Afghan women under the Taliban:
http://feminist.org/afghan/facts.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2007161,00.html http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-04/world/afghanistan.mutilated.girl.update_1_afghan-women-afghan-woman-taliban?_s=PM:WORLD
http://www.amazon.com/Women-Afghanistan-Under-Taliban/dp/0786410906
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm.

These are just only a few!

3. Questions: What caused the Taliban to begin their oppression of Afghan?
                     In what ways did international support help stop this oppression?

Congo in its current state.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1589559.php/UN-reviews-its-mission-s-mandate-in-Congo-after-mass-rapes
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/world/africa/23congo.html

The first article that I found discussed the current efforts of the UN to help the current "rape spree" in the Congo.  In July 2010, over 300 women in eastern Congo were raped.  The article highlights that the UN finds it necessary to "review its policies and operations in the aftermath of recent fighting and the rape of unprotected civilians" because they truly believe that the current conditions in the Congo present a "clear tragedy".  The UN is trying to find ways to protect the Congolese because of the current situation of the country.  The UN "urges the international community to engage with Congolese society 'on cultural and political issues that contribute to this horrific pattern of abuse'".  After reading this article, it is quite obvious that the state of the Congo is horrible and has, without a doubt, changed for the worse. For me, it is interesting to find out exactly what the Congolese are doing to help their situation and how exactly the UN plans of helping the Congolese.

The second article says that "the rate at which people are dying in the country remains virtually unchanged" after the Congo's war.  It discusses that the mortality rate is increasing because of the lack of control of rebels and the political conflict in the Congo.  The article puts much of the responsibility of the death of the Congolese on the long-lasting effects the war had on the infrastructure of the Congo.  This article also alludes to how the lack of health care in the Congo may be directly related to the rising mortality rate of the Congolese.  This article, very much like the first article, puts in perspective the horrible state of the Congo and highlights some of the many problems that the Congolese have in their country.  This article was interesting to me because it clearly lays out how the people in the Congo are dying.  However, I would still like to know what national and international efforts are being made to decrease the mortality rate in the Congo.

Lingering Comments

I think that the discussion went well.  I was fortunate to have good group members who were willing to collaborate and dive deeper in the text.  However, I feel as if conducting a discussion with only 7 people is often times hard because there is a less of a variety of answers and opinions. 

As for the actual discussion, I thoroughly enjoyed discussing the effect King Leopold would have specifically had on the Congo if he had physically been in the Congo.  We discussed the effect he would have on the people of Congo as well as on his techniques of manipulation.

Response to Reading Assignment #1

Although I enjoyed reading the Introduction and Prologue of the book, the first chapter was somewhat monotonous.  In the Introduction and Prologue, it was particularly interesting for me to read about the history of the Congo and its relationship to European powers, including King Leopold.  Also, I liked reading about King Affonso I because the book highlights that "everything we know about this part of Africa...comes to us from [King Affonso I]" (12).  He was one of the few "African voices" that existed during that time, and it was interesting for me to learn about an African who could represet the supressed African sentiments.  Finally, it was fascinating to read about the different perceptions the Europeans had of Africa, as "they saw the continent as a faceless, blank, empty, a place on the map waiting to be explore" (18).  However, the first chapter was not very intriguing.  The information in the first chapter was specfically regarding John Rowlands, later Stanley, and did not take us into the direct role of King Leopold's imperialistic ways as the Introduction and Prologue have led us to expect. 

Two Discussion Questions:
1: What made the slaves of the Congo the most valuable items of trade for the Portuguese instead of the other vast array of resources in this region?

2: King Alfonso I is an excellent example of an African in the Congo elliciting sentiments to stop the imperialstic takeover.  Despite his efforts, why was there a lack of wider response to prevent slave-trade from the Congo?

Final Class Thoughts

It was interesting to learn about the term known as the "White Man's Burden".  I did not know there was a term like this that existed and never knew that there is a mindset that "there is a duty for a 'white' man to do something".  I would like to learn about this further and understand the context in which it is used.  Also, it is interesting to me if this term is still used today.  I also was not aware of the difference between New and Old Imperialism and I enjoyed understanding the difference.