Author: Marcelo Guadiana

As a society we often overlook the suffering that’s coupled with statistics; when you tell someone 5,000 children are dying every day from water-borne diseases, the number can go in one ear and quickly out the other. For professional MMA fighter Justin Wren, that reality was too much to bear; “I was fighting against people, but in reality, I was supposed to be fighting for people,” he said. After several mission trips deep in the jungles of Congo, Wren became closely attached to the Mbuti pygmy tribe. Considered to be the largest group of mobile hunter-gatherers of Africa, it’s estimated…

SEATTLE — In Mexico City, street vendors make up a significant portion of the economy. In 2003, the number of vendors was estimated at 199,328. The Borgen Project had a chance to speak with Miriam Rel, a local vendor selling wrestling masks in the crowded streets of downtown Mexico City. Racks filled with bright colorful masks of famous Mexican wrestlers filled her stand. “We have Blue Demon, El Santo, Mistico,” Miriam said, passionately describing some of her masks. Dating back to 1863, wrestling has become a part of Mexican culture. Otherwise known as Lucha Libre, wrestling is a highly popular…

JHARIA , India — Dr. Jyoti Sinha is a sociologist and ethnographer by training; she teaches at UMass Boston, specializing in labor and gender issues. Having grown up in an industrial town in India, she focuses her research on safety and labor standards in the garment sector of South Asian countries. The Borgen Project had the opportunity to speak with Professor Sinha about her fieldwork conducted on women coal miners in the Jharkhand state of India. As citizens of one of the poorest countries in the world and the world’s third-largest coal-producing nation, workers in Indian coal mines face dreadful…

CARACAS — Venezuela has been in the midst of economic and political turmoil as the majority of its citizens demand that President Nicolas Maduro step down from office. The country declared a state of emergency. Protests have been active since March 20th when Venezuela’s highest court tried to disband the national assembly in an attempt to weaken Mauro’s opponent. Since then, tensions escalate daily. Venezuela’s repressive dictatorship continues to use extreme violence against anyone who opposes its policies, imprisoning hundreds of peaceful protesters. Moreover, the country experienced widespread shortages of food and medicine. As a result, around 81 percent of Venezuelan…

SEATTLE — Artificial Intelligence has vast potential for educating and aiding those in poverty and has already begun to revolutionize societies. Some of its benefits have begun to be displayed in third world countries, where the Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence Lab helps better locate those in need and Minimally Invasive Education has given thousands access to education. Combining Satellite Imagery and Machine Learning to Predict Poverty Alleviating world poverty is highly reliant on knowing where poverty is most prevalent and then finding out exactly what that village or city needs. This information is based on surveys conducted in impoverished areas,…

SEATTLE — The rise of technology has propelled automation in the workplace; businesses have found their profits increased by laying off their workers and switching their production to automated technology instead, the result is a heavy loss of employment for the workers, sometimes entire job sectors are replaced by robots. A 2013 study by Oxford Univeristy estimates that 47 percent of U.S. jobs will potentially be replaced by robots and automated technology in the next 10 to 20 years. The production and service sector jobs will take a hard hit, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, the…

SEATTLE — Nafisa Halim is an applied sociologist and assistant professor in the Department of International Health at Boston University. Currently spread across research in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Peru and Ethiopia, Halim is examining women’s political empowerment and education outcomes, parental access to the credit market, and cash transfer programs. The Borgen Project had the opportunity to speak with Halim about her year of fieldwork with Bangladeshi garment workers and the ongoing challenges faced by this community. “In September 2013, I started working with labor rights groups and garment workers. At the beginning it was a bit difficult for me…

SEATTLE — Punta Cana has become the fastest-growing resort area in the Dominican Republic; once occupied by jungles in the ’70s, the district is now mostly surrounded by hotels that accommodate guests from all over the world. The beaches have become sought-after tourist attractions that employ thousands of Dominicans from all across the country and even from neighboring Haiti and Venezuela. The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) has stated that tourism in the Dominican Republic “hasn’t generated a development that involves the community so that it contributes to invigorate the productive apparatus.” But it has given opportunities to many, including Julio Rodriguez, who…

SEATTLE — Terrorism has been on the rise since 9/11, with an almost fivefold increase in fatalities. Many look to the U.S. state department in the fight against terrorism, yet this is sometimes overemphasized, according to Joseph Brown, assistant professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. The Borgen Project had the chance to speak with Brown about the relationship between foreign aid and the fight against terrorism. About 70 percent of registered refugees come from the 20 deadliest countries for terrorist attacks, according to ABC Australia. This crisis has mostly been due to the Syrian civil war, from which…

BOSTON, Massachusetts — The civil war in Syria has left thousands murdered, forcing millions to flee their homes and become refugees, this includes nearly 2.5 million children. Hundreds of cities have been wiped out taking a toll on the Syrian economy, studies show that $150 million would be needed in order for the country to achieve its levels of fifteen years ago. Northeast Syria however, has become somewhat of a safe haven for many Syrians. This autonomous statehood which the Kurds called Rojava includes the towns of Kobani, Amuda and Afrin. While fighting off the Islamic State, they have been engaged…