Author: Madeline Boeding

CONAKRY, Guinea — Due to an abundance of minerals, Guinea has the potential to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet, political instability and economic and environmental challenges keep poverty in Guinea quite high — the people living there some of the poorest in the world. Political Instability: Poverty in Guinea is not a new development. The first democratic election since the country’s independence from France in 1958 was held in 2010, but poverty has run rampant since the beginning. Prior to democracy, the country was ruled by socialistic and authoritarian regimes, and the history of political…

TOKYO — Japan has the third largest economy in the world and has experienced economic growth in five consecutive quarters. This level of growth is unheard of for most countries. However, poverty in Japan is still a prevailing issue. For two decades, starting in 1990, Japan’s economy was in a downfall sparked by the stock market crash. Yet, for the most part, people in Japan live rather upscale lives. This begs the question, how have 3.5 million Japanese children and their families fallen into poverty? One in six children under the age of 17 lives in a family with an income…

MYANMAR — In March of 2016, Htin Kyaw was sworn in as the first democratic president of Myanmar (Burma), ending 50 years of militarized dictatorship. The country has since started to become a part of the global economy, yet the values of a democracy are seemingly remiss as many citizens lack basic human rights and needs. Myanmar still remains isolated from the rest of the world in many respects. While it’s no longer uncommon to see mobile devices or neon signs in urban areas, development of rural areas is slow and access to clean water is minimal for both rural…

SEATTLE — The Asante Africa Foundation, founded in 2006, is dedicated to assessing the root cause of why East African children are not being properly educated. Its members work on the ground in Kenya, Tanzania and Oakland, CA to impart change. “In 2006 I was vacationing in Tanzania when I witnessed the desperate need to improve educational opportunities for the youth of Africa,” said Erna Grasz, the CEO and co-founder of the Asante Africa Foundation. “I left Tanzania realizing that talent and intelligence can occur everywhere, but opportunities do not.” According to Grasz, that was the idea that drove the…

SEATTLE — In 2014, West Africa was declared ground zero for the Ebola virus. The Ebola crisis in Guinea killed 2,544 people, then spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, killing 11,310 people in total. The public health emergency was not terminated until March 29, 2016, making the outbreak the worst since the virus first emerged in 1976. Now the Ebola crisis in Guinea is over, but the risk of its return continues to fuel change. The government of Guinea, in coordination with USAID, focuses on five areas of infrastructure that need to be strengthened. The fragility of the system caused…

SEATTLE — The El Sistema Method for fighting poverty with music has been used since 1975. Originally founded as a free educational program for children and teens at risk of poverty in Venezuela, the method is flourishing into a tool used across the world to help those in poverty integrate into their communities through music. Children’s International, an organization that focuses on creating a safe and educational environment for impoverished children, has created the Music for Development program based on El Sistema. The organization joined efforts with The Sally and Dick Roberts Coyote Foundation in California to fund these music…